Wednesday, February 28, 2007

When is enough, enough?

A new article in the Adoremus bulletin by Fr. Ralph Wright, a Benedictine monk of the St. Louis Abbey, asks the question, "What Words Will We Use in God's Word?" and one can only wonder when Liturgiam authenticum will be followed.

Fr. Wright reminds us that the International Commission for Preparing an English Lectionary (ICFPEL) is to produce a Lectionary for the other English speaking regions of the world and that it (ICFPEL) it to use the (gag) NRSV.

As an aside, the Liturgy Office of England & Wales reported in February of 2006 that:
The Holy See has granted the request of the Bishops’ Conferences of England and Wales, Ireland, Scotland and Australia and agreed to the establishment of an International Commission (ICPEL) to prepare a fresh translation of the Lectionary for Mass. The Holy See has agreed that the NRSV translation should be used as the basis of the new edition. The NRSV translation will need a certain amount of adaptation so that it conforms to the expectations of the Church as presented in Liturgiam authenticam.

One has to wonder how it can be possible that the Holy See granted its approval to use the NRSV texts as a basis for the Lectionary when, in 1994, it (the Holy See) revoked its 1992 confirmation of a U.S. bishops' decision to permit liturgical use in the United States of the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) translation of the Bible.

Fr Wright has documented(space permitting, I'm certain) several examples of the horrid translations conrtained in the NRSV. Many are they who have followed the frenzied neutering of the Holy Scriptures to satisfy radical feminism, and the apparent desire to promote other agendas. And the insanity continues to this day.

Having refused to waste even spare change on a copy of the NRSV, I have chosen to rely on others to remind me of its defects, and Fr. Wright gives us this, among numerous others:
Another case where the NRSV opts for the non-memorable at the expense of the memorable for no apparent reason is in the translation of Caesar by the word “emperor”. In Chapter 22 of Matthew’s gospel (Mt 22:17) Jesus is asked the question “Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”, which becomes “Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor or not?” And in the NRSV, His answer has become “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s and to God the things that are God’s”, in place of “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s” in the RSV. The loss in terms of euphony or memorability is self-evident.

Again, in the dialogue with Pilate during the Passion narrative, the NRSV says, “If you release this man you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor”; and a few lines later Pilate says “Shall I crucify your king?”, to which the answer is given “We have no king but the emperor” (Jn 19:12).

Perhaps "Caesar" was removed from the text because few today have heard of him. Many may not even have a rudimentary knowledge of basic history for that matter. What can one expect after decades of a concerted attack on authentic education, resulting in a process to "dumb-down" children, stripping them of the necessary skills to be able to think and reason properly?

What might be more upsetting for some is the fact the the NRSV uses "emperor," a "male" noun rather a generic term like 'leader'. And again, how many even understand what an "emperor" is or was?

Something even more puzzling and disturbing is the fact that the evangelists used improper grammar in the Scriptures. Apparently, it seems, they were not under the inspiration when they recorded Jesus' own words, for we see numerous instances in the NRSV where the translators, after having received some divine gift of some sort, give us the true words of Jesus:
John 14:23
NRSV - Those who love me will keep my word, (ean tis agapei me) and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.

RSV - If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

There are all sorts of problems with changing the singular to the plural, especially when one is tinkering with the Holy Scriptures. This type of 'revision' contributes to the error of individuals becoming more accomodating to the notion of "collective" sin rather than the "individual" sin - so that, over time, one loses any and all sense of "individual" sin - sin has morphed into a group thing...requiring, of course, "communal" penance services to the exclusion of an individual, auricular confession.

And the surface has barely been scratched! The issue of gender neutering is rampant in the NRSV - so rampant as to be an assault of the worst kind on the eyes and ears of a Christian. The "spirit"-filled translators, again having to correct the evangelists and others, tells us what God truly meant to reveal to us:

Matthew 4:19
NRSV - Follow me, and I will make you fish for (anthropoi) people.

RSV - Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Fishers of "People"? That's a keeper, for sure!

or this one:
John 2:11
NRSV - But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.

RSV - But he who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
It's difficult for me to uunderstand how one could even have the audacity to presume to be able to retranslate the Scriptures in a manner which changes the intended meaning. I cannot help but wonder if this may not be the result of some sort of mental disease. But then, I suppose not being filled with the "spirit", I am unable to grasp what's truly going on here. Then again, I do hope and pray that I never succumb to that "spirit" which seems to have overtaken so many others. Perhaps the best thing to do is to pray for those who have become slaves of that "spirit" whose intent is to bring confusion and darkness into the world.

In the meantime, I'll stick with my Ignatius Bible (RSV-CE) or the Douay and pray that the voices of those like Fr Wright and so many others might be heard far and wide.

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