Responsible exegesis / application

[quetzalphoenix]

As students of the Greek and Hebrew texts and men and women who may hold teaching/leadership roles within the church, how should we approach "textual difficulties"?

How do we avoid "undermining people's faith in their Bibles" while at the same time not allowing translation tradition to bind us from telling what the scriptures say?

Does anyone have specific examples of these kinds of situations, where they have successfully navigated between?

[Solly]

Depends what you mean by "textual difficulties".

If you mean "unresolvable", then I usually say there is some uncertainlty about the best translation, but give the variations and comment on them. I wouldn't base a sermon on a doubtful text though.

If you mean resolvable, but by going outside the version we use (which is KJV for myself and the church I minister to) then I do it in the best way that doesn't interrupt the flow of the sermon, but gets across the idea that no translation should be accepted in an unthinking fashion. If people have a rpoblem with holding to one version, regardless, it is not my job to bolster that opinion, but to move them on to a maturer view.

Best example recently, 1 John 5.7,8. I addressed the pro and con, and came down on the pro, while pointing out that sincere believers hold to the con, and the doctrine of the Trinity does not rest on one verse.
There have been others, but I can't think of them at the moment.
In fact, the church as a body of people have appreciated my dealing with shibboleths when we come across them. they want to get a better understanding for themselves, rather than take it just because someone said so 150 years ago.

[JohnStevenson]

A change of translations can go a long way. It was many years ago that I switched from my old KJV to the NAS and my style of teaching immediately underwent a drastic change as I rarely had to say, "In the Greek/Hebrew this really says..." because now the English translation had it right.

Occasionally, I will point out that another translation captured the flavor of the original language a bit better.

[quetzalphoenix]

Yesterday @ 11:39 PM post located here (http://www.theologyweb.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=72399#post72399)
JohnStevenson:

A change of translations can go a long way. It was many years ago that I switched from my old KJV to the NAS and my style of teaching immediately underwent a drastic change as I rarely had to say, "In the Greek/Hebrew this really says..." because now the English translation had it right.

Occasionally, I will point out that another translation captured the flavor of the original language a bit better.

Sometimes it's difficult to get folks to switch translations, or I've heard criticism as well that if you tell people "the NIV has it wrong" in a given instance, they will lose faith in their translation entirely.

I guess I am wondering how all of the minutiae and the skills that exegetes learn are, in the end, useful for the church. Without everyone learning the languages, how can the congregations learn to be better interpreters of the word?

(I know this is really vague; I am really looking for examples, I suppose. Kind of a seminary struggle...)

[JohnStevenson]

Sometimes it's difficult to get folks to switch translations, or I've heard criticism as well that if you tell people "the NIV has it wrong" in a given instance, they will lose faith in their translation entirely.
We live in a world that has a LOT of translations that are readily available. Unless folk are living in seclusion, they know this and are regularly exposed to the fact that there are different renderings.

If we ignore this fact, then we leave our people open to the attacks of the cults and they will be blown away the first time they come across it. How much better is it that they should be informed at the outset of what the issues really are.

The majority of times, a good study Bible will have marginal notes that contain either clarifications or alternate readings. Our people can make good use of these user-friendly resources.