Why do christians have different versions of the bible?

Answer 1

There are different versions of The Bible mostly because of changes in rulers in both the state and the church. Another is because of interpretation. The original texts of the Bible (and Torah) were written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. As time passed, some empires rose and others fell. Of course, not all spoke the same language. To adapt, people translated the Bible into new, more commonly spoken languages. Now, we have a variety of modern translations because different people interpret words in contrasting ways. A good example is 1 Corinthians 13:1-13. The King James Bible interprets the Latin word "caritas" as charity. At the same time, the Revised Standard Version interprets the same word, "caritas," as [brotherly] love.

Answer 2

Different religious groups have different principles, derived from different religious texts. Some religions do not have a single all-important text: instead their sacred writings exist in different forms.

Your question is really no different to "why are there different religions?" The answer to that is because people can't agree on what truth is.

Answer 3

One simple reason there are so many authors for the Bible is that it was written over a long period of time. The earliest words could have been written earlier than the time of Moses around 1400BC, since we know writing was used then, even back to the time of Abraham. The lase New Testament book was written late in the first century AD.

God's dealings with mankind are recorded by a number of different people in varying circumstances. The variety of personalities or personal circumstances involved mean that the Bible addresses every condition people face.

A reason for the different versions is that there are different textual types from which people derive their translations. There are also numerous attempts to express the original languages in modern idiom to make it more understandable.

Answer 4

There are so many different types of Bibles because there are so many different denominations in Christianity. There are many languages and dialects of languages that the Bible has to be translated into to reach all of the people that read the Bible in just about every language in the world.

Answer 5

The Bible is simply a collection of books, some of which belong to the Hebrew scriptures and are referred to as the Old Testament, while those specific to Christianity are referred to as the New Testament. There were many books written that could have been included in the Bible, and the early leaders of the Jewish and Christian religions had to choose those books which they felt best represented the faith they were preaching, and which to discard.

The Catholic Church includes some books, now known as Deuterocanonical books, which were once thought likely to have been included in the Jewish canon, but which the Jews in fact discarded. Bibles used by the Protestant Churches do not include the Deuterocanonical books. There are also some minor changes in Catholic Bibles. For example, the original version of the Book of Esther never mentions God, but the Catholic version has some late additions where God is mentioned.

One of the earliest English translations of the Bible is the King James Version, written in 1611 and updated in 1769, in part to use more modern spelling. In spite of the 1769 update, the King James Version uses what is now considered old fashioned English, one of the reasons for newer versions to be written. Other reasons are to improve readability or accuracy.

Answer 6

Because they are a different religion.