John MacArthur Discovers the Greek Word DOULOS
T. C. Robinson posted the promotional video, in a post titled John MacArthur Charges Bible Translators with Conspiracy, which I’ll embed here for reference:
One must make some allowance here for publisher hype, but nonetheless I find the promo a bit cringe-worthy. One of the commenters asks what MacArthur did before he discovered the meaning of the word doulos. Of course, I doubt he did discover it; this is marketing.
On the other hand I believe there is some validity to the idea that doulos should be translated slave more frequently than it often is.
What does bother me here is the implicit accusation against Bible translators. One way to get persecuted–today as in the past–is to translate the Bible. I like to have respect for these folks. They do hard work, and quite frankly get little thanks for it. It’s one reason I also object to pastors telling congregations that their translations are “wrong” or “inaccurate” and claiming that they’ll provide the correct translation. As I often say when I’m asked to translate on the fly, “Don’t expect me to produce a better translation while I’m standing here than a highly qualified committee produces working over a period of months.” In most cases, when I hear a pastor say tell the congregation that their English translations are “wrong,” it would be more correct to say the pastor is wrong.
My favorite instance was when a speaker announced that a text was not accurately translated, then said it consisted of four Greek words (wrong!) and then he said the four Greek words, none of which were in the Greek text. I know this because I was, as usual, following along with my Greek New Testament.
Besides the misinformation, this makes people distrust their English translations. There is a certain healthy level of mistrust that goes with any translation, but it’s easy to overstate, and it’s easy for people who don’t understand translation to misunderstand what does and does not work in translation.
The fact is that while I’ll frequently complain about various translations, it’s not because the renderings are stupid or incompetent, it’s just that I disagree. Likely some members of the translation committee disagreed as well. But you have to use one rendering in the end.
I had to laugh. This post reminded of a preacher who began to squirm nervously when he noted the Greek New Testament I was carrying after he had delivered a particularly erroneous sermon “based” on the Greek. He asked me if actually knew how to read it.
This is a topic I wish more people would speak to. In all of my classes I would spend at least one session presenting some basics about the translation process. I never once encountered a student who realized the fact there is a committee, or recognized the devotion of the people who have committed their lives to this work. It is time the world knew how we have been given the gift of God’s word in language, instead of Dan Brown’s conspiracy theories.
http://exploringthepagus.blogspot.com
I’ve had a number of pastors comment when they see I’m carrying a Greek New Testament with me. The most uncomfortable thing is when they ask me to confirm something they said in front of others. I must be honest, but I don’t want to tear down.
BTW, I have subscribed to your blog as well.
Mr. Henry Neufeld,
It is quite obvious from your post that you possibly have not done your homework concerning the information in the video. Not sure if you are commenting solely on the
video alone or if you had access to the book at that point since I am late in the game. Either way there was ample information in the video to continue further research on MacArthur’s book “Slave”and the correct translation of “doulos”.
I would like to believe that you would have at least did some research before posting your comments concerning the translation of the greek word “doulos” and the book ‘Slave”. Most if not all of your comments do not give any overwhelming proof that you read the book or checked your lexicons. Perhaps at the time you did not have access to the book. I have much respect for Bible translators and the hard work they do but also believe they can be swayed during the translation process for various reasons.
These reasons can be as varied as theological,liberal,gender inclusive,cultural or social agendas. I realize Bible translators are not perfect, but still nonetheless very accountable.
Bottom-line: MacArthur has done his research regarding the translation of “doulos”. There are over 350 footnotes in the book “Slave” to prove it. Any who doubt that their has been a cover -up in translating the greek word ‘doulos’ as ‘slave’ would do well to research this on your own. Murray J. Harris, and John MacArthur are correct on this one. I might add also if MacArthur’s book doesn’t convince you please read M.J. Harris’ book “Slave of Christ: A New Testament metaphor for total devotion to Christ”. These men have both written excellent books packed with sound evidence and conclusions concerning the New Testament metaphor ‘Slave of Christ’.
By the way, it was Murray J. Harris’ book ‘Slave of Christ’ that first peaked MacArthur’s interest in this topic. Murray J. Harris was also part of the (NIV) Bible translation committee.
A couple of points here …
1) When you accuse someone else of not having done your homework, it is useful if you do your homework, for example, reading the post on which you comment. My comment only had to do with the video, not the book.
2) As I noted, I prefer the translation “slave” myself. But I know that MacArthur can’t have suddenly discovered this, because it is information that has been available for years. There are certainly arguments on the other side, but I generally prefer “slave” as a translation.
Whether MacArthur is correct or not is irrelevant to the way in which that video makes its case for his book. I don’t care if his book is the best researched book around and his thesis is absolutely valid, I still maintain that the video is not appropriate.
Which leaves me with the question: Just what did you want me to say? None of what you wrote actually responds to anything that I wrote, as far as I can tell.