why are there 12 versions of the bible?
463614
If you count all the different translations to different languages there are a lot more. :-)\n\nBasically, the original text is in ancient hebrew or greek.  Translating from one language to another is very hard -- in fact there is no translation without interpretation. There are idioms (sayings) in any language that don't translate.  If someone called you a cabbage in French, it would be sweet and endearing.  In English it's just rude.  Then consider translating from one time to another.  The world is different, and English has changed from the time of King James to now, and sometimes the words don't carry.  For instance the word "suffer" used to mean "allow" so when Christ said "Suffer the little children to come unto me" in KJV, he wasn't suggesting that the kiddies be hurt.\n\nSo, in interpretation one can either be "literal" or "meaning preserving" or somewhere in between.  If somone asked Jesus when evil could be done in heaven and he said "when pigs fly" (I am just making this part up) then one interpreter could say "on the day that pigs fly in the sky" and the other could say "that would neve happen!".   Two interpretations, both correct.  This provides some of the division.  NAS is more literal, NIV is more meaning-preserving. \n\nOkay, to make it a little harder: when the early translations by Tyndale and the like were made, they only had a limited set of ancient copies to work from.  Since then, there have been more found, and older ones.  When you look at a modern translation (CEV, NAS, NIV) they are based on a wider collection of older manuscripts.  That probably means that they're more accurate.\n\nThen finally there are paraphrases like the Living Bible or the Amplified Bible, which are not translations from original manuscripts but a retelling of an existing translation in modern english, perhaps with more text added to get the point across better.\n\nSo the answer is to read a few of them.  It's a perfectly acceptable thing to get a paraphrase or a very modern easy-to-read translation (The Message, The Living Bible, etc) for your first read-through so that you become familiar with the overarching story line and the characters. You might like to get a chronological bible which orders the books in timeline order (most Bibles are ordered by category like law, history, wisdom, prophesy, life of Christ, early Christian church history, and then letters from disciples).  A chronological bible would help you see the story as it unfolded.\n\nThen, if you like, get a parallel bible so that you can see two, three, or four translations side-by-side and compare them. \n\nOn one hand, the real bible would be the original manuscripts or their most faithful reproductions in Hebrew or Greek.  \n\nBut if you are willing to look at it this way, the REAL bible is the events that happened, not any one recording of them by a particular author. If you see it this way, then reading any of them, or (better) several of them is the way to get the REAL bible. \n\nBut equally important are some small little tidbits: If one wants to know God then one must first believe that He exists, and secondly that He rewards those who honestly seek Him.  Secondly, that his word is never wasted.\n\nI hope this helps you.
41556
It appears 109 times in the King James.  Here they are.  You can do the count of how many are in the Old and how many in the New if you need the breakdown.
390848
The recognised number of books in the bible is 66 + 7. this was agreed by all parties at the councills of constantine. The Catholics however still do accept these extra seven books as part of thier canon. \n\nThe Apocrypha is a name given to those books which by thier title or contents have some resemblance to the insppired books of the bible, but were not officaly recognised by the church as part of scripture. these books include, 3 and 4 maccabees, the psalms of solomon, the gospel of St Thomas, the Acts of St Peter etc.\n\nApocripha means 'cryptic'/ hidden from outsiders, it was used favourable regarding supposed sacred texts that were only for the accademic ellite.\n\nSo if your catholic the bible contains 66 + 7 books as divinely inspired. if you are any other type of christian then it only has 66.\n\nThe seven books were removed by protestants because the books were not part of the Jewish canon of holy books. since the old testiment is the jewish canon, they couldnt understand why the early church had included them.\n\nI hope this answers your question, \nKindest Regerds, \n\nPaul...
830958
Not only that, but *originals* for the vast majority of books in the bible haven't existed for thousands of years.  All the translators have to work from are copies of copies of copies of copies...\nOh, but of course, we *know* that nobody made any errors, changes, or intentional additions or deletions when they made those hand-written copies, right? ;-)\n\nForget about the actual content, OF COURSE there are errors in just getting what's called the bible into your hands from the people who originally wrote the books.  Anyone who thinks there are no errors of any kind in the bible is very, very deluded.
1057961
the bible has been changed
615735
I dont believe there are any versions outside of the original texts that are more accurate than the next. There are flaws in the 1611 KJV as well as the NIV and every other version... I dont like the NWT though because it deliberately changes text to fit the Jehovah's Witness doctrines. (if you dont believe the KJV has flaws, contact me and I'll be happy to share them with you)
1037600
i've read the bible 5 times in 3 different translations.\n\nnow im an athiest.
1136677
9...\n\nWe know on the authority of Scripture that there are nine orders of angels, viz., Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, Throne, Cherubim and Seraphim. That there are Angels and Archangels nearly every page of the Bible tell us, and the books of the Prophets talk of Cherubim and Seraphim. St. Paul, too, writing to the Ephesians enumerates four orders when he says: 'above all Principality, and Power, and Virtue, and Domination'; and again, writing to the Colossians he says: 'whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers'. If we now join these two lists together we have five Orders, and adding Angels and Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim, we find nine Orders of Angels.
988142
No. There has been too much lost in the numerous translations. And I would question your statement about the book being in existence for 'thousands' of years. The new testament and the gospels were not instantly assembled upon the death of Jesus of Nazareth. The old testament was passed on by word of mouth long before the books were written.  Compound these necessary flaws with the council of cardinals who decided which books were going to be part of the bible and which books were not, and the church's practice of censoring anything that did not agree with doctrine, and you have a less than perfect product.
35391
I am not sure if he was, but our current bible is missing several books.  Each of the 11 disciples wrote a book (all but Judas), but we only have 4.  Also, bear in mind that the Catholic Bible and Protestant Bible have different books.  However, although I am sure he probably wrote "something" about Christ, I can not say for sure it was a "book," and that his book was rejected.
944296
On Biblegateway.com there are 69 translations of the Holy Bible.\n\nThey do not include the JW version of the Bible.\n\nMormons I know read the King James Version of the Bible, however the Mormon writings take precidence if they conflict with it.\n\nRoman Catholics read the King Jaes Version of the Bible, however the edicts of the Pope and other Papal writings take precidence if they conflict with it.\n\nMary Baker Eddy made up her own version of the Bible.\n\nThere are others as well.
148194
There have been thousands of different versions of the Bible.\nMany books have been edited or dropped over the centuries \nWhat we now call the Bible was asssembled many years after the events described
837593
Try looking on the wikipedia site. They are controlled by the publishers of the NIV Bible and are pushing it and its ideas. Of course there has been a lot of controversy over that version just because it reverses the meaning of some sections by changing the wording.\n\nI will always prefer the unannotated K.J. version, at least the political and philosophical biases in that are from a culture that is fading away (Monarchy).\n\n\n.
1174668
It's common knowlege that there are tons of scriptures that where left out of the bible. Many thought that the "Holy Grail" was these lost scriptures. \n\nAnswer - No, the bible is not complete
942367
The truth is there are at least 7. Haven't you ever heard the saying, "I'm in 7th heaven." :)
1044596
I couldn't list them all for you if I wanted to. There are more that were rejected than there were that were approved. Everyone that has suggested looking up Apochrypal texts is on the right track. The life of Adam and Eve was a good one from the old testament. The Book of Enoch, The gospels of Mary, and Judas, Peters Revalations. Those are just a few of the interesting ones.
482906
5 Books of the Bible in the Pentateuch.