Lost in Translation

Tue 23 Jun 2020, 09:34 (last edited on Tue 23 Jun 2020, 09:37)

Thank you for an excellent response to my plea last week:  it was really good to have some people join us who aren't members of any of the Charlbury churches.  This series of seminars should interest anyone who has a love of languages, or a curiosity about the accuracy (or otherwise!) of the Bible as we know it today.

Sally has invited me to extend the series till the end of July, which means that we can cover the whole of John's gospel, and unearth every instance where the original Greek has a different flavour from most of our English translations.

Each session stands in its own right .. you don't have to do the whole course to benefit.  To join us at 11.00 am tomorrow, or any week, contact the Parish Office, or me (john@pjohnp.me.uk) for a link & password.

Mon 15 Jun 2020, 09:32 (last edited on Mon 15 Jun 2020, 12:36)

In the Events section of this website you'll see a "Zoom Bible Study" advertised, weekly from this Wednesday.

That way of describing these seminars that I'm leading isn't inaccurate, but it may put off one or two people who might in fact find them quite interesting.

I've been learning, and latterly teaching, Latin for almost sixty years now, and Classical Greek for more than fifty;  and in retirement I'm in the process of writing a little book applying that to Bible translation .. getting behind the conventional translation of John's gospel to tease out some easily-overlooked but significant nuances.

So when Jesus met Mary Magdalene on the first Easter morning, he said "Mary" .. and she recognised him.  But he said something a bit different, in the original Greek, which is how she knew it was him.  And then he famously said "Don't touch me" .. but again, he said something a bit different in the original.

It would help my writing to have a good cross-section of people joining in these seminars, not just those who would be most readily attracted to a "Bible Study".  So if you're interested (churchgoer or not, Christian or not), contact the Parish Office for details of the Zoom link.

Thank you.