humblemuslim posted in message #1 of this thread:
Do you feel compelled to learn the ancient languages to better
understand the Bible or would you just rather leave it up to and
trust people deemed experts?
Greetings.
A Christian doesn't have to know ancient Hebrew or Greek in order
to sufficiently understand the ideas that the Bible teaches, because
the ideas that the Bible teaches can be, and have been, translated
into every language. If there is ever a question whether the
translation of a verse in the Bible correctly expresses the idea of the
original Hebrew or Greek, there are plenty of interlinears (both printed
and online) which show what the original Hebrew and Greek says, and
plenty of dictionaries (both printed and online) showing the meanings
of the ancient Hebrew and Greek words.
humblemuslim posted in message #1 of this thread:
Do you believe the original language is less/just as/more important
as the translation?
The original Hebrew and Greek of the Bible is more important than
any translation, for the original Hebrew and Greek was inspired by
God and is infallible in doctrine (2 Timothy 3:16). But this doctrine
can be translated into any language, and what is important is the
doctrine, not the language. The only reason the Old Testament was
written in ancient Hebrew was because that was the most common
language of believers during the time of the Old Testament, just as
the only reason the New Testament was written in ancient Greek
was because that was the most common language of believers
during the time of the New Testament. Today, the most common
language of believers is English, so if God were to inspire the writing
of a Newer Testament today, he would probably have it written
down in English. But there is no need for a Newer Testament, or for
God to inspire it in English, for the Old Testament and New
Testament already contain all of the doctrine that is needed for
Christians to be saved and to be perfect (2 Timothy 3:15-17). And
the doctrine of the Old Testament and New Testament has already
been translated into English, not to mention every other language,
so that all people throughout the world might know the whole Word
of God for themselves (Matthew 4:4).