Saturday, March 20, 2021

Cleaned Garage, Now Musing about Bible Wrecking

 

From Westcott Hort, to Nestle, to Aland - the harmonious KJV Majority Text was replaced by an imaginary one, where omitted passages and words were favored.

I did the work of several men this morning, mostly because there were no conflicting opinions. I opened the garage door for light and went to work. Faithful Sassy watched by the driveway, to make sure no one stole the junk I was throwing away.

The couch has been declared a no-laundry zone, so I fixed up a little used open chrome closet, from our dear friend Mike, Ranger Bob's sainted brother. Two bookshelves were ooched over to replace it and the chrome contraption was ooched over to be close to the washer and dryer. The bookshelves are the remainer of our library room in Phoenix.

 Tischendorf


While I was working, I thought about the effect of four con-artists on the English-speaking Bible. Doubtless that spread to other translations simply of their international influence in texts and translations. Sometimes I compare the Luther Bible to the other German Bibles and see the same decay.

How did this happen? First of all, Tischendorf made a name for himself with a manuscript where the valuable writing was erased to be replaced by Ephraim the Obscure. He found the writing underneath and became famous.

His next two adventures involved Sinaiticus and Vaticanus, two highly suspicious manuscripts that he pumped, inflating his reputation.



Meanwhile, Hort was dreaming about getting rid of the traditional New Testament text behind the KJV, called the Received Text, or Majority Text, or the Stephanus. Almost all existing manuscripts and scraps and versions and lectionaries and quotations support the Greek text of the KJV.

Westcott and Hort secretly prepared their own Greek New Testament, based on wild non-sensical rules and their hatred of the KJV. When the revision of the KJV came out, the Westcott Hort Greek New Testament was revealed at last. The English revision failed (except in America it became the NASB), but the Westcott Hort took over. 

The late Kurt Aland declared the Majority Text defeated and dubbed his constantly changing Westcott Hort variation - The Standard Text of the New Testament.

Eugene Nida had tremendous influence and took great liberties with his PhD, longevity, and leverage through the United Bible Societies.


To cap the destructive actions, Eugene Nida introduced an entirely new way of translating, which inserted or erased concepts in the actual text. The best example is Romans 3 now declaring "all" are justified, which matches the dogma of LCMS-WELS-ELCA and the apostate mainline denominations. 

It only took four dishonest men to accomplish this:

  1. Tischendorf's magical minority manuscripts;
  2. Hort's fanatical hatred of the KJV and love for Romanism;
  3. Westcott's partnership and support;
  4. Eugene Nida's translation revolution - dynamic equivalence - or, Who Do You Trust?*
* I know it should be whom, but that would be "wooden" in an age where grammar don't matter nohow.


Classic Movies and Musicals



One couple was interested in good movies from the past, apparently finding that most movies today are garbage, even by the most forgiving standards.

The place to start is 1939. Nominated for Best Picture that year! - 


I only marked the ones I have seen, and I have seen them three to ten times. Every second of Ninotchka is hilarious and I would watch it again today.

Many silent movies are excellent because the actors had to deliver the story with their faces and bodies. Comedy is often better with slapstick rather than an effort to be funny through dialogue.

We favor movies produced before 1945, but we also look for famous ones we never saw or movies with talented actors. Turner Classic Movies is the best source for these, which we get on fiber optic cable.

Musical talent does not run deep - or at all - in my family, but I enjoy musicals of the past. The more recent attempts are unwatchable.

Oklahoma! - That is the first real or reel musical. Before that, movies were onlyh set up to showcase musical numbers with no real plot. Holiday Inn is one example, later remade as White Christmas, a musical with a plot.

Music Man is the ultimate Illinois-Iowa musical. I know every frame of it; I refuse to watch the remake.

We have seen quite a few famous musicals live, the best way - from Fiddler to Guys and Dolls. The movie version of Guys and Dolls was horrible ("Brando sings!"), but it was fun live. We saw Fiddler live, two days in a row in Arizona. We watch Man of La Mancha live with the author sitting at the next table. I told our guest - "Get your program signed. He will love it and likely you will never have this chance again." I was right about both.

I enjoy the big production numbers of the past, more than Mrs. Ichabod does. We bargain on movies, except she never wants to watch MM again - ever. In those days, people had to take lessons and work into starring roles. Debbie Reynolds had to rehearse until her feet bled for Singing in the Rain.

The biographical films are always worthwhile. One of our favorites is Madame Curie.

If a movie is old and famous, it is likely worth watching and viewing again.

Mark Steyn is a popular conservative commentator on TV. He is also an expert of music and musicals of all types. Our oncologist loves Mark Steyn's commentary on politics and music. 

If you want doctoral dissertation level information about popular songs, look up his website 

https://www.steynonline.com/.

And his song histories -



Heathcliff! - Cathy!