Religion

Topic 5: We looked at various translations of the biblical texts ranging from the early English vernacular prose of William Tyndale to the King James Version in 1611. Focusing on the changes in each of the four versions of 1 Corinthians 13 provided in the text, discuss how Ciceronian or anti-Ciceronian sentences and the changing prose style affects interpretation. Does it open it' Close it' The translation of the New Testament, prior the reformation of England, was considered highly controversial and blasphemous according to the Catholic church. In 1525, English Lutheran William Tyndale successfully translated the New Testament, giving rise to the first available English bible, dubbed “The Great Bible” (Norton Anthology 813). Following the Great Bible, Mary I deemed it necessary to have a scholarly Protestant English bible and created the “Geneva Bible” (Norton 815), implemented in 1560. Afterwards, when the Catholic Elizabeth came to the throne, she revised the Geneva Bible and created the Duoay-Rheims version of the New Testament. Lastly, King James I and multiple scholars fully revised the Duoay-Rheims version to give birth to the more modern “King James Bible”, still used to this day. These multiple translations and revisions of the New Testament give rise to different interpretations of the Bible, with different sentence structure and words such as the Protestant's “love” set against the Catholic's “charity”. William Tyndale's translation of the New Testament, named “The Great Bible”, from the original Latin scriptures contains a much more indirect sentence structure in comparison to modern prose. This translation contains a very elegant and grand sentence structure compared to later New Testament versions. The usage of tripartite sentences is common (“ And though I could prophesy, and understood all secrets, and all knowledge” (Norton 619)) following the nature of Ciceronian sentence structure. Perhaps the most important difference is the translation of the Greek word “agape”, which Tyndale translated as “love. The use of the word “love” in the Great Bible illuminates that the Protestant's view of a “true Christian” involves a much stronger personal devotion to the church than the translation “charity” from the Catholic translations. The next variation occurs near the end of the paragraph from 1 Coriinthian 13 (Norton 618) ,in the sentence “ Now we see in a glass, even in a dark speaking: but then shall we see face to face” (Norton, 618). This can be understood as : what we see in the mirror may be bleak,but if we have love we shall see face to face with God. Overall, the Great Bible (Tyndale's) is the most difficult of the four translations to read and interpret due to its close ties with the sentence structure of the Latin text. Mary I employed the Geneva Bible in 1560 to serve as the true “Protestant translation”, so it shares close ties with the Protestant William Tyndale's translation. The word “love” is still used, implying to the reader that a strong devotion to God is all that is needed to be a “good Christian”. The sentence structure in the Geneva is still quite Ciceronian, with most of the verbs placed near the end of the sentence (“and have not love, I am as sounding brass”(Norton 619)), however, there is progression towards a more modern non-Ciceronian prose structure. There are a few sentences that are flipped around (veering away from the older Ciceronian complexities) such as : “Love doth never fall away (Norton 619)”, perhaps encouraging the reader to love God before reading the rest of the sentence, “though the prophesyings be abolished, or the tongues cease, or knowledge vanish away”(Norton 619). Lastly, the addition of “For now we see through a glass darkly”(Norton 619) is much different from that of the Great Bible because it conveys an impression of seeing our dark reflection for a short period of time before we are connected to God. This translation was more accessible than the past New Testament versions, and was much more focused on making the reader more comfortable with the belief of “love” with God. The Duoay-Rheims version of the New Testament changes the sentence structure as well as the concentration on the word “love”. The Catholic translation swapped the word “charity” for “love”, imparting a much less personal attachment to the belief in God. The word “charity” implies more of a tangible kind of generosity with God, encouraging “good Christians” to give things to the only physical form of God, the Church. This is the main difference between the Catholic and Protestant interpretations of the New Testament. The prose of the Duoay-Rheims version differs significantly from that of its predecessors, with a heavy inclination on writing in anti-Ciceronian sentences. This version takes the comfort of the reader into consideration even more than the Geneva Bible with it's substitution of delicate words, such as: “puffed up”(Norton, 620) instead of “swelleth”(Norton, 619). It is much more accessible and easy to understand, even though the entire basis of “love” and “charity” can be interpreted differently from the previous two versions. The final version of the New Testament, named after King James I, is another Catholic translation which shares a lot of similarities with the Duoay-Rheims version. Yet again, the more recent translation shifts into a more non-Ciceronian sentence structure, allowing easier reading and interpretations from its readers. There are more “softening” of certain words from the previous translations such as: “it shall vanish away”(Norton, 620) instead of “shall be destroyed” (Norton, 620). Also, all sentences beginning with “if I should..”(Norton, 620) have been replaced with “though I have..”(Norton, 620), empowering Catholics while they read the text making it easy to express their chairty towards God. As the final version of translation for the New Testament, it is very easy to understand and read, and is understandable why it is still used to this day. In conclusion, all four translations of the New Testament can be interpreted quite differently due to the many subtle changes in sentence structure and word use. The use of “charity” instead of “love” depletes the strong sense of self-devotion to God, and replaces it with a more common tangible feeling. The delicate word changes allow the reader to interpret without discomfort, and the change from Ciceronian to anti- Ciceronian sentence structure creates a less confusing atmosphere to decipher your religious ideals. Works Cited Greenblat, Stephen (editor). “The English Bible”. The Norton Anthology: English Literature