“Suffer the children to come unto me.” – Matthew 19:14

What?

How accurate are the statements and directives found in the Bible?

It’s safe to say that most of the familiar Bible quotes come from the King James version of the Bible. Printed in 1611, this edition of the Bible is written in the contemporary English of the time. The language is archaic and almost poetic.

It is probably the most successful version in history, but certainly not immune to criticism.

The history of the Holy Bible is complex. Multiple versions were created over the centuries, and the changing political climate contributed to the mix. The King James version, in particular, was an undertaking of 47 scholars of the Church of England, at the direction of King James using multiple earlier versions as well as Greek, Aramaic, Hebrew, and Latin texts.

Considering that printing was still a new technology and the earliest texts were copied by hand, it was a massive undertaking to revise and distribute the new version.

But the greater challenges, that continues to this day, were the elements of translation, and the inevitable changes in the meanings of words in the past 400 years.

Any of us, older than the internet, has witnessed the swift change in our language. Terms we routinely use today had a completely different meaning just a few years ago. Imagine then, the possible changes in language over a period of several hundred years. Add to that, the confusion that could result in translating from one language to another and then to another.

Thankfully, newer translations of the Bible, based on advanced understanding of ancient languages and archaic English have become available. So, “Suffer the children to come unto me” becomes “Allow the children to come to me.” That is a simple and easily understood variance in translation.

Unfortunately, there is another element that has come into play to further confuse us. That element is interpretation, and the various denominations of the Christian community have joined the debate, and political views have tainted those interpretations.

So, what do we believe? Which denomination is true to the message of Christianity?

Perhaps we need to step back a bit from the debate and recognize the true meaning of those messages. It is the deeper meaning of the message that is important. The minor deviations of the message, and the debate is of human making. If we tune into God’s language – the language of emotion and love – we will be on the right path, even if some of the human language confuses us.

Perhaps “listen to your heart” is the best interpretation.