Sunday, July 30, 2006

The KJV vs. Receptionism

Pastor William Weedon has, as always, written an insightful analysis of modern Bibles as seen through the lens of a single verse. Pastor Weedon notes the King James Version all-but-alone opposes the heresy of Receptionism (e.g., the Westminster Confession of Faith, 29:7):

The passage at issue is 1 Corinthians 11:20. The difficulty arises from the mistranslation of an infinitive. The KJV is quite accurate here: “For when ye come together therefore in one place, this is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.” The point of the verse is to reveal the problem in the Corinthian Church: the people were gathering together, well enough; but they were gathering together for the wrong reason...

But most modern versions simply lose this entire nuance and instead foster a most pernicious doctrine. Take the ESV [English Standard Version-BJ] as a case in point: “When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper that you eat.” The NIV [Not Inspired Version New Intl. Version-BJ] is substantially the same...What the ESV and NIV put forward is that the Corinthians’ ill behavior has the power to destroy the Supper. What they are eating is then NOT the Lord’s Supper because they are abusing this meal. But this is utter nonsense. It quite misses the point that it was the Supper that was most certainly being celebrated, even to the point that their misuse was sickening and killing them (vs. 30). The Lord’s Body and Blood were there whether they behaved rudely and cruelly to one another or not.

Which two modern versions does Pastor Weedon say also get the meaning of this verse right? You'll have to read his article to find out.

(Hat tip: Orthophile)

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