My Christian Theology

Someone once asked me, how does a Christian know if their doctrine or belief is biblically correct?

The answer I gave can be summarized in one word: Harmony. My Christian Theology is to harmonize all things written in the Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic text of the Bible. When a verse is understood correctly in the original language, there won’t be a contradiction to that verse elsewhere in the Bible. It’s knowing that the Bible does not contradict itself and comparing scripture to scripture is how believers come to understand what is true and what is false. Without biblical harmony, there is no truth regardless of what we profess as our doctrine.

My Christian Theology came about after I began my own search for biblical answers. I wanted to know about the times we are living. For a while, I was part of an online Bible study group. The group was made up of individuals like myself who had departed their church and was focused on end time prophecy. Some were actually analyzing verses in the original Greek and Hebrew text. Until then, I had always thought you had to be ordained or a theologian to do such studies. This is how I first became familiar with using a Hebrew and Greek interlinear for studying the Bible. I began digging deep into scripture, going line by line, and word by word in the original Hebrew and Greek text and then was amazed to see things I’d never seen before. Even more amazing, I received understanding of verses that I never expected or thought possible.

I had discovered the secret to uncovering hidden truth by achieving harmony in the Bible. Learning to analyze the original text in Greek and Hebrew also helped me realize things about translations I never knew.

My eyes became open to the fact that translations are a mixed blessing. On one hand, Bible translations can guide people into acceptance and study of God’s word in a native language, but on the other hand, translations also provide an open door to misguided biblical interpretations. In any case, all translations must never be trusted because they are not the inspired word of God. Because translations are the works of men, no Bible version is exempt from mistakes at varying degrees.

Therefore, my Christian theology is an approach to Bible study that recognizes the undeniable flaws in biblical translation. It is an approach to harmonize scripture to scripture in the original inspired text of Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, not from relying on translations.

It is an approach based on the fact that word-for-word Bible translation is impossible to render. The purpose of a translator is to extract the meaning of one language and put it in the target language. The required technique is to paraphrase because no two languages are exactly alike in grammar, vocabulary and sentence structure. So, when paraphrasing, it’s possible to have multiple interlingual renditions that maintain correct communication of ideas, facts, and details–except when it comes to translating the Bible.

When it comes to translating the Bible, it’s a different matter. It’s a different matter because the Bible is written in spiritual language. We must face the reality that in the process of translating God’s word, translators have had to interject their own viewpoints, either intentionally or unintentionally. This is never a good thing when dealing with the inspired word of God. Every detail in the original language is important because it comes from God. God wrote the Bible using figurative and parabolic language; therefore, the Bible is cryptic in nature.

Omitted, deleted, added, or changed words and phrases are common flaws in translations that hinder correct interpretation of God’s holy manuscript. As harsh as this may sound, the evidence for saying so are manifold.

I find that translators stumble upon verses where a word has more than one rendition for example. To illustrate, 1 Corinthians 7:1 and its companion verse, Matt 5:28 are two verses that come to mind. From the translation I could never comprehend how a man is not to touch a woman or how a man would commit adultery in his heart just by looking at a woman. I couldn’t reckon how there could not be appropriate touching between an engaged couple such as holding hands, kissing, hugging, etc. apart from sin. It was as though both verses go against human nature. Isn’t it human nature for a man to feel a strong desire for the woman he plans to marry? This may be the rationale for some translators to interject their viewpoint and translate “touch” to imply sexual intercourse as in the NIV and ESV translations. However, there is no biblical justification for doing so. In all the other instances where the Greek word, haptomai occurs, it never means anything other than “touch.” It is the same Greek word used in certain passages about the woman desiring to touch the hem of Jesus’s garment (see Matt 9:20-21; Mk 5:27-31;Lk 8:44-47).

Only by examining the actual text in 1 Cor 7:1 and Matt 5:28, the correct interpretation emerges: I discovered the problem was not the translation of “touch;” rather, the problem was the translation of “woman.” In both of these verses, the greek word for “woman” is gune. However, the alternative translation for gune is “wife.” Imagine had the translators used “wife” instead:

“Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a man not to touch a woman [wife].” (1 Corinthians 7:1, KJV)

“But I say unto you, that whosoever looketh on a woman [wife] to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” (Matt 5:28, KJV)

Moreover, it’s interesting to note in 1 Corinthians 7:1 that anthropos is the Greek for “man.” Anthropos tells us that an unmarried man is in view. Not having the Greek word, aner, which would be translated, “husband” is self-explanatory. Just as I suspected, both passages carry similar messages that are now clear to understand: It’s inappropriate and sinful for a single man to lust after or touch a married woman. Now as simple as this may be, I have yet to find one version of the Bible that uses “wife” in either passage. What a travesty, I must say.

In translating the Bible, it is a mistake for translators to simply adhere to general rules of grammar and syntax. Adhering to the exact text should be the guiding principle for translations, otherwise, details that are spiritual in nature are lost.

More often than not, errors occur where translators try to judge something is implied, but fail to realize there are apparent spiritual reasons for the absence of words in sentences, clauses, and phrases.

What better example that I can give than Mark 13:6 and Luke 21:8:

“For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Mark 13:6, KJV)

“And he said, Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draweth near: go ye not therefore after them.” (Luke 21:8, KJV)

In these two verses, “Christ” is not in the original language as noted by the italics. However, In Matt 24:5, “Christ” does appear in the original: “I am the Christ.” People have automatically assumed that the Luke and Mark passages are missing “Christ” because of Matthew’s version. Therefore, the KJV translators felt obliged (incorrectly) to also add “Christ” in Luke and Mark. Other translators such as for the NIV, ESV and NASB found it grammatically expedient to put, “I am he” or even, “I am he!” with exclamation!

Sometimes, I get the impression that God has placed statements in the Bible as decoys. I suspect this may be one such case with Matt 24.5 where people get thrown off track. Otherwise, perhaps they would have thought about the tie in to “I AM” (according to Mark’s and Luke’s version) from the Old Testament when Moses asked God who to say sent him to the children of Israel, and God told Moses to say, “I AM hath sent me unto you.” (Exodus 3:14)

Without a complete expository on these verses, I will say that in all three accounts, the deceit is not about individuals claiming themselves to be the Christ or God (I AM). The deceit is from those who call themselves Christians, those who profess that Jesus is the Christ, and those who claim to know God (I AM), but their doctrines are false. Jesus is reminding his followers that just as in the Old Testament there were false prophets not sent by God (see Jer 14:14-15), so shall there be deceivers up until Judgment Day.

Again, my purpose of this example is to point out problems with translations. Think how twice–in Luke and Mark– the translators decided to amend the original language by interjecting a view. And then think about a zillion other places translations have amended text in every book of the Bible.

I will, however, give some credit to the KJV translators for at least being somewhat sensitive to italicize most instances where they added words or phrases; but unfortunately, not always.

For instance, even in the KJV, the translators stumbled with the definite article “the,” a grammatical issue that affects all translations. Examples are when we read phrases such as “the Son of God,” “the Son of man,” even “Lord of heaven and earth” and many others, we are not always getting the literal Greek translation. In the literal Greek, these particular phrases have the definite article “the” before “God,” before “man,” before “heaven” and before “earth.” Thus, reading from scripture, “the Son of the God,” “the Son of the man” and “ Lord of the heaven and the earth” may not be suitable for grammatical idiom, but are necessary for correct biblical interpretation.

Likewise, adding “the” in phrases where it is not present in the original languages is also wrong. For example, “the Holy Ghost” does not always include “the” in the literal text, but only as “Holy Ghost” or “Holy Spirit” in many places throughout Scripture. For example, it literally says, “baptize in Holy Ghost” in Mark 1:8.

The smallest of details enable us to correctly interpret scripture. When comparing scripture to scripture, it may appear that slight differences between passages are minor. But they are never minor. Consider these verses with different Greek prepositions describing the Son of the man coming: “on the clouds”(Matt 24:30), “in clouds” (Mk 13:26), and “with the clouds” (Mk 14:62).

And then shall appear the sign of the Son of [the] man in [the] heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of [the] man coming in the clouds [on the clouds] of [the] heaven with power and great glory. -Matt 24:30 (KJV)

And then shall they see the Son of [the] man coming in the clouds [in clouds] with great power and glory. -Mark 13:26 (KJV)

And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of [the] man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in with the clouds [with the clouds] of [the] heaven. -Mark 14:62 (KJV)

With careful observation of the Greek prepositions, epi (on), en (in) and meta (with) in the original text, we should interpret these verses as describing separate events.

So, regardless of the translation, checking and analyzing the original language of Greek and Hebrew is always necessary. There is “hidden manna” (Rev 2:17) in scripture; however, the time may be near or now that God reveals all that is hidden (See Matt 10:26, Lk 8:17, Mk 4:22). Details covered by translations must also be unveiled. When we study the Bible, we must go deeper than translations where truth comes directly from God’s holy manuscript. Truly, God in his infinite power and wisdom preserved his holy manuscript, uncorrupted and untainted and without deletions, additions, or amendments and that’s how it must be studied.

I acknowledge the fact that I am not fluent in Biblical languages. Therefore, I use the KJV as a reference and study aid along with other Bible study tools such as a concordance and interlinears to biblical Greek and Hebrew. In this day and age, I also find it valuable to analyze scripture with computer software such as Logos, e-Sword, and Scripture Analyzer.

Finally, for My Christian Theology, the most instructive verses on how to study the Bible are found in Isaiah chapter 28. This is where the overall message is to compare scripture to scripture, a bit here and a bit there. This is the formula for achieving truth and harmony in the Bible.

Above all, we must allow God to be our teacher. Also, with prayer, God will direct us to the “hidden manna.” This is what My Christian Theology is about.