Books of the New Testament written by Paul

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CSB - Christian Study Bible
ESV - English Standard Version
HCSB - Holman Christian Standard Bible
KJV - King James Version
NAS - New American Standard
NASB - New American Standard Bible
NIV - New International Version
NKJV - New King James Version
NLT - New Living Translation
NRSV - New Revised Standard Version
REB - Revised English Bible

It’s interesting to compare different translations. The Bible I grew up with and know best is extremely biased (although it’s been updated and isn’t as bad as it used to be), so it’s been fascinating to read key scriptures in various translations to see what the Bible actually says. None of them can be totally accurate but some are certainly less so than others.

What is the oldest translated bible? Or a better question would be what are some translations of the dead sea scrolls or whatever archaic documents were used to create all the bibles?

I've heard for example that some of the translations condemning homosexuals and 'witches' to die were wrong. Like the original quote was not "though shall not suffer a witch to live", it was "though shall not suffer a poisoner to live".

Also in regards to the Leviticus quote about "if a man lies with another man they should be killed and their blood shall be upon them" (or something like that)

I heard that the original version was actually talking about raping young boys, not homosexuality.

But why should the rapist and his young victim BOTH be put to death? Ah, that victim blaming that the Abrahamic religions are notorious for.

The oldest printed translation of the Bible into the modern English language dates back nearly five hundred years, when in 1524 William Tyndale first printed the New Testament. He used the Greek and Hebrew texts of the New Testament (NT) in addition to Jerome's Latin translation. Tyndale did not complete his Old Testament translation.

With the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, manuscripts now exist from as early as 0168 B.C., and confirm that Hebrew was still the language used by Jews during the time of Christ. Their discovery has helped establish the preciseness and integrity of Hebrew scribes in accurately reproducing manuscripts throughout the ages.

The oldest Bible versions available to us today are millennia old. The Masoretic Text, written in Hebrew, became the standard authorized Hebrew text around 0100 AD. It existed prior to the writings of the New Testament, confirmed by the Dead Sea Scrolls as early as 0168 BC, and was used as the official Hebrew Old Testament at the time the biblical canon was established.

More recent translations benefit from a greater understanding of the nuances of ancient writings.

Parts of the Bible (especially the Old Testament) are anti-homosexuality. Sometimes apologists unsuccessfully try to find ways to make certain passages seem less homophobic (and misogynistic) than they really are.

Liberal Christians often focus more on the accounts of Jesus and what he actually said than some of the less enlightened parts of the Bible that reflect the attitudes of the time periods they were written in.

There are no original texts, just copies written in the same language as the originals. The Dead Sea scrolls are just some of the oldest copies. As far as the Old Testament and Mitzvah go, it also basically says if you do any work on a Saturday (the Sabbath day) you are to be put to death. Or at least I know there's a passage about someone being put to death for gathering wood on the Sabbath.

However concerning homosexuality along with; "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act." –Leviticus 20:13

There is also “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.” - Romans 1:26-27

I wouldn't say even 17th century English is totally "modern" English. It has been described as "Early Modern English."

I would purport that "truly" modern English really took hold after the Restoration in 1660.

How hard is it to read the King James Version of the Bible, in comparison with reading the Good New Bible?

Or Shakespesare vs. a person like Joseph Addison (early 18th century writer).

Sometimes fundamentalist Christians like to take those scriptures in Romans and run with them. That would be a fun topic for the adult forum one of these days.

Please cut back on the nested quotes. Thank you.

I get it, all versions of the Christian bible hate homosexuals and think we deserve death, but modern new age liberals try to sugar coat it as best they can for those who don't want to give up their religous beliefs because they understand how cruel and unfair it is to us while trying to teach the haters love and tolerance.

I guess that's why I'm not a Christian, or a Muslim or Jewish as they both condemn homosexuals too.

I favor wicca and paganism more. While they do believe in the importance of a man and woman to "create" like in the role of The God and The Goddess, they don't really hate homosexuality to the extent that the Abrahamic religions do. They don't believe in a hell and The Wiccan "Charge of the Goddess" says "All acts of Love and Pleasure are My rituals".

Sounds good to me.

It’s different strokes for different folks, I think.

I know liberal Christians who aren’t in any way homophobic. They try to live by the Golden Rule which doesn’t leave much room for homophobia.

One thing to consider: the Bible was written in a very different time.

There are many ministers and religious people in general who do not condemn homosexuality. In fact, there are some Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis who are openly homosexual. I'm not sure about Muslim Imams.

The key is to realize that the Bible was written in a different time----by many different people with divergent viewpoints (who wrote down THEIR interpretation of what God wanted them to convey).

There is a movement in some of the less-conservative Christian churches to be more inclusive and less judgmental of LGBTQ people as members of their congregations. The more liberal Christian churches will even ordain LGBTQ people as deacons, elders and clergy. Christianity is not monolithic.

I think every religion has some form of a "golden rule" but it often gets ignored whenever it's inconvient to people. Like during war.

I drove past a church the other day that had a sign which said “LGBTQ Friendly!” and even had a rainbow flag next to those words.

That's something---in the land of Trumpism and northern Confederate flags