Knowledge vs Realization

Greetings! Here is a situation which illustrates how important it is to have a consistently literal translation of the Bible if we are to grasp the full essence of what God’s Word wants to teach us.

I want to use this seemingly minor mistranslation as an example and then caution that other mistranslations can actually cause MUCH, MUCH GREATER harm, as set forth in the last paragraph of this Post. Wonderful truths can remain hidden and horrible, unscriptural doctrines can emerge from careless translations. Here is this example:

In Ephesians 1:17 Paul writes: ” the Father of glory, may be giving you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the REALIZATION of Him” (emphasis mine). (Concordant Literal New Testament). Sadly, though, the versions mentioned below and others used the WEAKER word “knowledge” instead of “realization”. Concordant was the only one that was right on the money out of numerous translations.

The Greek word used here is “epignosis” and the meaning differs CONSIDERABLE from “gnosis”, which merely means “knowledge”. It is VERY important to distinguish the two! The following is an excerpt from http://biblefocus.net/living-word/knowledge/index.html:

“The two words generally translated as ‘knowledge’ are ‘gnosis’ and ‘epignosis’. Whereas ‘gnosis’ conveys the idea of just ‘knowing’, ‘epignosis’ is a knowledge that involves a ‘full discernment’, which is ‘to become fully acquainted with’ or to have a full understanding of something.” (End of excerpt)

And yet, all the major translations I reviewed (New American Standard, Revised Standard Version, King James, New King James, Good News Translation, Holman Christian Standard and others) simply used the INFERIOR word “knowledge”, or similar.

These versions used the same rendering of this word at Ephesians 4:13, which really WEAKENED what the Scripture is telling us. You don’t have to grow and seek to attain”knowledge” of Christ, that was given to us at our conversion….you grow and seek to attain to a “realization” of what that “knowledge” represents!!!  The Concordant Literal New Testament had it absolutely correct, again.

This verse , properly translated, is to teach us there is something far beyond just having “knowledge” of a truth….we can go on and actually EXPERIENCE the “realization” of that truth. When not properly translated, this lesson from this verse is not seen and is lost.

As an illustration, ‘knowledge’ is like your corresponding with someone by mail and ‘realization’ is like your meeting them in person. BIG difference!!  So it is with having a ‘knowledge’ of God and Jesus along with Spiritual truths in contrast to ‘realizing’ Them and experiencing the truths as a reality. This is what Paul wanted all believers to attain to and why he used the word “realization”.

Don’t get me wrong….the above mentioned Bibles do a very good job and service overall. You can go to http://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-versions and have access to a large number of versions and see how they rendered this verse….a few came close to a proper translation. Rotherham’s has “personal knowledge”. Bullinger’s Companion Bible has “further knowledge” but goes on to get it right with his footnote referring the reader to his Appendix 132.

Actually, this is “small potatoes” compared to the ENORMOUS DAMAGE done by the vast majority of Bible versions that do not translate “aion” (New Testament) and “olam” (Old Testament) properly and consistently. Please reference the Post on “Eon vs Forever” for further information on how these mistranslations have hidden WONDERFUL truths, such as set forth in the Posts “God’s Eonian Plan and The Present Secret Administration” and “All Creation Will Be Saved”. GOD HAS A GLORIOUS PLAN FOR HIS ENTIRE CREATION, which can easily be seen if there is accurate translation of His Word.

The 3 best Bibles I have found for consistent accuracy in properly translating God’s Word are:

ROTHERHAM’S EMPHASIZED BIBLE [ http://qbible.com/ebr-rotherhams-emphasized-bible-1902/ ], CONCORDANT LITERAL NEW TESTAMENT and CONCORDANT LITERAL OLD TESTAMENT [ http://www.concordant.org/version/index.html%5D  and YOUNG’S LITERAL TRANSLATION [ http://www.biblestudytools.com/ylt/ ].

They can be purchased in print at Amazon.com, although the Concordant Literal Old Testament was not available the last time I checked.

Another really good reference Bible is E.W. Bullinger’s THE COMPANION BIBLE which can be found FREE  online at http://companionbiblecondensed.com/. The marginal notes  can be excellent at times.

All the best, in Him,

Fred

Dry Prayer And Monkey Chatter

Hi, there!

We all have had those times in prayer when we felt like nothing was accomplished, and even felt somewhat guilty because of our seemingly fruitless effort. We couldn’t “get spiritual” in our frame of mind and/or there was that constant bombardment of unsolicited thoughts. This is abundantly true especially in the early stages of our Christian journey.

If we are persistent in a faithful walk, these problems will be taken care of by the Holy Spirit….not only in time, but at the present:

“In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness ; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words”. Romans 8:26

Even if we struggle often in prayer, rest assured that what is necessary and has to be said to the Father and Christ Jesus on our behalf is ALWAYS automatically taken care of by the Holy Spirit within us (again, Romans 8:26!!). Never feel as though you have to “perform” in any prescribed manner when praying formally or informally. The MOST IMPORTANT consideration here is that we are going to Them, however feeble our efforts may be.

And, Christ Jesus, Himself,  is ALWAYS there making intercession (“pleading”….Concordant Literal New Testament) on our behalf on every front. Romans 8:34

Let’s not forget Matthew 6:8: “for your Father does know those things that you have need of before your asking Him.”.

Finally, a prayer of thanksgiving is an excellent approach when coming before our Father and Christ Jesus. Just start thanking Them for any and everything that comes to mind….not only the “good stuff” they give us but for our least and worst trials, as well as our failures. Those failures should lead us to depend on Them more than ever!

Sometimes, as brought out in the Post on “God’s Silent Treatment”, it is good that we just come to Them in silence. If monkey chatter persists, usually repeating in our minds or verbally “Lord”, “Lord God”, “Father”, “Jesus” or similar words will keep the intrusive thoughts at bay.

And, your position in formal prayer should not be an issue: my favorite is lying in bed where I am very comfortable. (You might want to reference the Post “Pray On The Potty”)

The most important consideration is that we are coming to Them, giving Them our attention….as such, They and the Spirit within us will take care of the rest!

I would like to leave you with these words about prayer from Oswald Chambers that can be found at http://utmost.org/thinking-of-prayer-as-jesus-taught/, along with his other 364 daily entries. Here goes:

“The correct concept is to think of prayer as the breath in our lungs and the blood from our hearts. Our blood flows and our breathing continues “without ceasing”; we are not even conscious of it, but it never stops.

Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the saint. Beware of anything that stops the offering up of prayer. “Pray without ceasing…”— maintain the childlike habit of offering up prayer in your heart to God all the time.”

End of excerpt. The “pray without ceasing” quote came from 1 Thessalonians 5:17.

Later, in Christ,

Fred

Who Is A Saint?

Hey, there…..there are so many scriptures in the New Testament that identify ANY person who is called by God to be a believer is a ‘saint’. One example is Ephesians 1:1 (Rotherham’s Emphasised Bible, Concordant Literal New Testament, Young’s Literal Translation, American Standard Version, etc, etc.)and there are numerous others:

Acts 9:13, Acts 26:10, Romans 1:7. 2 Corinthians 1:1, Philippians 1:1, Colossians  1:2, etc.

You don’t have to croak/kick-the-bucket/die and have mortal men decide whether you are/were  a ‘saint’ or not……this designation is a FREE gift, by grace and in faith because of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.

Catch you later.

Fred

(If you wish to leave a comment rest assured your email information is never shared)