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Zosan
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| Joined: | Mon Dec 10th, 2007 |
| Location: | Biloxi, Mississippi USA |
| Posts: | 63 |
| First Name: | Norm | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Roman Catholic - Worldwide Church of God - Assemblies of ... |
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Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 02:30 am |
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Recently a friend made an interesting comment about John 3:16. He said the protestant bibles do not read the same as the Catholic bible. Hmmm...This prompted me to take a closer look with the versions I have here at home. This is what I discovered:
King John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosover
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Living Bible John 3:16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone
who believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
New Revised Standard John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish, but have eternal life.
New American Bible John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that
everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life.
Of course my favorite bible for the 30 plus years I spent as a protestant was the King James. During these years I believed John 3:16 stated everyone who believed would inherit eternal life. After all it does state "should not perish". The living bible conveys the same thought "shall not perish" yet the New Revised Standard introduces some doubt with "may not perish" while the New American Bible nails it with "might not perish".
Why I have not noticed this before is beyond me. I guess I was too comfortable with the belief "once saved always saved" during my journey outside of the Church.
In Christ We Are One
Norm
aka Zosan
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David W. Emery
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Brownsville, Texas USA |
| Posts: | 2068 |
| First Name: | David | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Catholic |
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Posted: Mon May 19th, 2008 03:52 am |
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Norm, I checked different versions beyond those you present, in English, Latin and Spanish, and they all come down to this: the “may,” “might,” “should,” “shall,” et cetera, are all based on a subjunctive verb in the original. The shades of meaning between the one and the other (apart from “shall not” and “is not to,” which are too strong for a subjunctive) appear to be essentially insignificant.
The interesting thing to me is that several versions, both Protestant and Catholic, have something like “God loved the world so much,” whereas the sense of the original appears to be “This is the manner in which God loved” or, as the late Jesuit James A. Kleist has it (see below), “So marked, indeed, has been God’s love,” just as the Latin “Sic enim” construes it.
Here are the the wordings in the Catholic versions I consulted, arranged chronologically:
Latin Vulgate (4th century): Sic enim Deus dilexit mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret: ut omnis qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam æternam.
Douay-Rheims-Challoner (revised 18th century): For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.
Spencer (1937): For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son, in order that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but possess eternal life.
Confraternity (1943): For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that those who believe in him may not perish, but may have life everlasting.
Knox (1950): God so loved the world, that he gave up his only-begotten Son, so that those who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life.
Kleist (1956): So marked, indeed, has been God’s love for the world that he gave his only-begotten Son: everyone who believes in him is not to perish, but to have eternal life.
Jerusalem Bible (1970): Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be lost but may have eternal life.
Novus Vulgatus (revised 1980): Sic enim dilexit Deus mundum, ut Filium suum unigenitum daret, ut omnis, qui credit in eum, non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam.
New Jerusalem Bible (1980): For this is how God loved the world: he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Biblia Navarra (2004): Tanto amó Dios al mundo que le entregó a su Hijo Unigénito, para que todo el que cree en él no perezca, sino que tenga vida eterna.
Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (1965, 2006): For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
David
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Howard the Pilgrim
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| Joined: | Sun Dec 16th, 2007 |
| Location: | Lamar, Colorado USA |
| Posts: | 59 |
| First Name: | Howard | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | United Presbyterian, non-denom, American Baptist, non-denom, Conservative Baptist, United Methodist ... |
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 03:49 am |
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| The only safe place is to keep walking with Jesus.
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Dave Armstrong
Network Apologist
| Joined: | Fri Nov 2nd, 2007 |
| Location: | Melvindale, Michigan USA |
| Posts: | 1644 |
| First Name: | Dave | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Evangelical (1977): Diverse Protestant Influences / Catholic in 1990 |
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Posted: Tue May 20th, 2008 10:59 pm |
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I chuckle to myself every year when John 3:16 is read at Mass (as it was last week). You know how anti-Catholics are always saying that Catholics never hear the "gospel" at Mass? They sure do with John 3:16! And -- truth be told -- we hear all the elements of an evangelistic gospel tract like the famous Four Spiritual Laws all year round, as I demonstrated in a paper about it.
If someone doesn't listen to the prayers and readings, that's another thing, but of course the blame for that has to be placed on the person and not the Church.
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I'm happy to offer whatever theological & personal assistance I can. My blog, Biblical Evidence for Catholicism, contains 2000+ papers & web pages (absolutely free) & 16 apologetic books (for sale):
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