Category Archives: Interviews
Nightline Reports: What Happens When You Die?
Video: What Happens When You Die?
New Report: Bishop’s Heaven: Is There Life After the Afterlife?
Nightline did a report yesterday on Bishop Tom Wright’s views on heaven and the afterlife. This interview dealt with the same thing that I post about in an earlier interview this year.
The Interview was good, but I know that they cut out several things that Wright said that could have clarified his views on things. I also didn’t like the way Nightline cast the interview. It sounded as thought Wright was saying that everyone will inherit the new heavens and the new earth, but I know that Wright does not believe that everyone will be saved. Some have accused him of that, but he expressly denies it.
What do you think about the Nightline interview?
Interview: HCSB General Editor
Here is a very helpful and interesting interview with Dr. Ed Blum, who edited the Holman Christian Standard Bible. I encourage everyone to read at least some part of it. The information is extremely fascinating.
Below I have re-posted the portion of the interview that dealt with the HCSB’s distinctions from other translations, in particular the ESV.
Please let me know what you think.
Will: In your mind, what makes this translation distinct from other translations? I’m particularly interested in its distinction from the ESV, which seems to be one of its biggest competitors, if I can use that term.
Ed: The ESV comes from the King James tradition. The King James was revised continuously until about 1750. In 1870 they did a major revision of the King James which never became really popular which was called the English Revised Version, and I think popularly known as the Revised Version. It actually came out in 1881. The Americans who worked on it weren’t happy with it, but they had signed an agreement not to publish for 20 years, so they came out in 1901 with the American Standard Version, their revision of the King James tradition. And that stayed in print until the mid 1930s and the National Council of Churches who owned the copyright started on the RSV. And the RSV NT was done in 1946, and the OT was finished in the early 1950s. Everybody thought the NT was fairly decent, but the OT, they had a number of Jewish scholars and they felt that it wasn’t quite what they wanted. So a group of Americans from the Lockman foundation took the old American Standard Version and made the New American Standard Version. That one began as a revision of the King James tradition. And then there was the revision done by Thomas Nelson; they did the NKJV. Then the NASB was revised again in 1995. The English Standard Version took the old RSV and revised about 7% of it. So it’s not a new translation; it’s a revision of the King James tradition. Although they worked on a lot of things, if you really compare them you’ll see that it’s still the King James tradition. They’ve taken King James word order, much of the vocabulary is still the same. The HCSB is a new translation from the original text. For example, the standard Hebrew lexicon that we used is the most recent one. The ESV is a lot closer to the NASB95 and the King James tradition. For example, how often do you use the word “shall�
Will: Not very often.
Ed: Right. Not very often. Usually in a stylized phrase like, you might say to your wife, “Shall we eat out tonight?†But that is sort of stylized. The ESV has the English word “shall†6,389 times. The HCSB has it zero. So for example, “Thou shalt not,†is stylized. “Thou shalt not commit adultery†is traditional. We would say in English today, “Do not commit adultery. “ So the ESV uses outmoded English expressions of language. How often do you use the word “behold�
Will: I try not to.
Ed: Okay, “behold†is in ESV 1,102 times. HCSB has it once. ESV retains the old form “Oh†plus the vocative: “Oh, King, live forever.†“Oh, Lord.†The TNIV has taken almost all the “Oh†plus vocative out. ESV follows the King James and has “Oh†plus the vocative 1,129 times. We have it in the HCSB 10 times, and in the next edition that will come out in 2009 there will be zero. The use of “whom†is declining. When you answer the phone do you say, “Whom do you wish to speak to?†Or do you say, “Who do you want to talk to?†King James has “whom†763 times. NKJ has it 760 times. NASB has it 755 times. ESV has it 740 times. NIV has cut it down to 394. HCSB second edition coming out has it only 142. So, it’s dropping. If you got engaged, how would you introduce your fiancé? Would you say, “She’s my betrothed�
Will: Probably not.
Ed: ESV’s got it 15 times. We have it zero. Here’s an interesting one. You’ll find that very few translations have this correct. ESV, NIV, a lot of them use the expression “strong drink.†Most people think “strong drink†is whiskey or rum or gin or something like that, but distillation was not discovered until the 9th century ad. So our translation correctly translates it “beer.†ESV continues to use the old terms like “leper.†But then they add a footnote every time they use it, and they have the same footnote 20 times. There’s a confusion in popular thinking about Hansen’s disease. Whatever it was in the Bible period—it grew on the walls and grew on clothing and so on—was not Hansen’s disease. ESV uses old terms like “tithe.†What is a tithe in your mind?
Will: Ten percent.
Ed: Ten percent. And “tithe†is just an old English word meaning “tenth.†So why not use “a tenth� We have several special features that help the average Bible reader. We have these bullet notes. For example, ESV has the same footnote in the book of Revelation 15 times. We would just have a bullet note that takes you to that section in the reverse.
Update: Latest News on Muslim Law Debate in England
Here are some recent articles regarding the recent debate and controversy that was recently started after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, said that Sharia Law is inevitable for Great Britain:
- Rowan Williams Answers His Critics
- Rowan Williams and sharia: time for some satire
- Sharia Law in Great Britain?
- More on Rowan Williams’ lecture
- Mike Higton on Rowan Williams and sharia
Also, for those of you following the Anglican crisis, here is an update from Christianity Today on the latest decision from several African Provinces that have said they will no attend the once-per-decade Lambeth gathering of the Anglican Communion:
Excerpt:
Events in the global Anglican Communion are going from bad to worse. On Feb. 12, an official governing body of the Anglican Province of Uganda announced that they will not be attending the once-per-decade Lambeth gathering of Anglican bishops from around the world. (Nigeria and Rwanda have also indicated they will not attend. Kenya will decide in April.)
Ugandan Anglicans place the blame at the feet of revisionist and “unrepentant” American Episcopal Bishops and a compromised, ineffective Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, saying:
This decision has been made to protest the invitations extended by the Archbishop of Canterbury, The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. Rowan Williams, to TEC Bishops whose stand and unrepentant actions created the current crisis of identity and authority in the Anglican Communion.
Look here for the full statement released late on Feb. 13.
Law and Faith: N.T. Wright Interview
N.T. Wright was briefly interviewed on the topic of Law and Faith related to a recent lecture he gave at the London School of Economics. Here is the link and his lecture download. I’m posting the YouTube video of the Interview below. What do you think? Are people over-reacting to Archbishop Rowan Williams’ lecture on Muslim Law and British Law?
[HT: James Grant]
Should the Archbishop Resign?
Archbishop of Canterbury ‘should resign’ over Sharia row
Well, this is probably not a big surprise to most people, but there are now senior members of the Church of England’s governing body, the Synod, calling for Archbishop Rowan William’s resignation. They don’t think it will happen, but they are trying to show just how much opposition he has these days.
So, what do you think? Is the Archbishop wrong? Has he become incompetent? Or is he just trying to start a debate?
Here is a brief excerpt from the article linked above:
The senior Synod member, who insisted on remaining anonymous, told The Times: “A lot of people will now have lost confidence in him. I am just so shocked, and cannot believe a man of his intelligence could be so gullible. I can only assume that all the Muslims he meets are senior leaders of the community who tell him what a wonderful book the Koran is.
“There have been a lot of calls today for him to resign. I don’t suppose he will take any notice, but yes, he should resign.”
The Bishop of Southwark, the Right RevTom Butler, also challenged the Archbishop’s comments. “It will take a great deal more thought and work before I think it’s a good idea,” he said.
Although the means of forcing an archbishop out of office are so costly and arcane — short of his committing a criminal act, he could never be made to go — the row represents the most serious threat to the authority of his office since he became Archbishop five years ago.
It comes on top of the disintegration of the Anglican Communion in the dispute over homosexuality, with up to a quarter of the world’s 800-plus Anglican bishops intending to boycott the 2008 Lambeth Conference at Kent, and insiders are wondering if Dr Williams’s moral authority has now been damaged almost beyond repair.
Huckabee’s still in!
This is awesome! 🙂
N. T. Wright Interview: Christians Wrong About Heaven
And to this I must say, Amen!
N. T. Wright is one of the best Bible teachers out there when it comes to eschatology and God’s ultimate purpose for mankind and the rest of the creation. One of the things he loves talking about is “life after life after death”. His point is that “life after death” is not the end. It’s not our final resting place. Heaven, as most Christians think today, is not the end goal of the Christian life. The “end”, instead, is the beginning of life as God always planned it to be. Life after life after death begins with resurrection. And in resurrection the Christian inherits a new heaven and a new earth.
In other words, heaven and earth will finally be one, God will be all in all, and man will finally dwell on the earth as God has always intended it to be. Had God decreed something other than the fall, Adam would have fulfilled his calling to expand the Garden and dwelling place of God on the earth (i.e. – to fill and subdue the planet, Gen. 1:26-28) and his descendants would have been brought into a new heavens and a new earth once the Genesis dominion mandate was fulfilled.
Let us thank God for the Last Adam, Jesus Christ, who fulfilled Adam’s calling and guaranteed a new heavens and a new earth to all who trust in him!
So, why the interview? Well, Wright has just published his second book in a trilogy of books on the essentials of the Christian Faith. Thankfully, Time has interviewed him for us here. I am reposting the interview below. Enjoy! Continue reading N. T. Wright Interview: Christians Wrong About Heaven
Great Britain will be under Sharia Law in less than a year
According to BBC news, Rowan Williams (Archbishop of Canterbury) has concluded that Sharia law in UK is ‘unavoidable.’
This is not good news and it means that the positive results of the Crusades over 800 years ago are now being overturned without even a fight by the Europeans. Muslim rule is being handed over to Muslims without any questions asked or any struggle at all. THIS IS NOT GOOD NEWS!
Here is an excerpt from the article:
‘Sensational reporting’
In an exclusive interview with BBC correspondent Christopher Landau, ahead of a lecture to lawyers in London on Monday, Dr Williams argues this relies on Sharia law being better understood.
At the moment, he says “sensational reporting of opinion polls” clouds the issue.
He stresses that “nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that’s sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states; the extreme punishments, the attitudes to women as well”.
But Dr Williams said an approach to law which simply said “there’s one law for everybody and that’s all there is to be said, and anything else that commands your loyalty or allegiance is completely irrelevant in the processes of the courts – I think that’s a bit of a danger”.
“There’s a place for finding what would be a constructive accommodation with some aspects of Muslim law, as we already do with some other aspects of religious law.”
‘Other loyalties’
Dr Williams added: “What we don’t want either, is I think, a stand-off, where the law squares up to people’s religious consciences.”
“We don’t either want a situation where, because there’s no way of legally monitoring what communities do… people do what they like in private in such a way that that becomes another way of intensifying oppression inside a community.”
The issue of whether Catholic adoption agencies would be forced to accept gay parents under equality laws showed the potential for legal confusion, he said.
“That principle that there is only one law for everybody is an important pillar of our social identity as a western democracy,” he said.
“But I think it is a misunderstanding to suppose that means people don’t have other affiliations, other loyalties which shape and dictate how they behave in society and that the law needs to take some account of that.”
[HT: George Grant]
