Scripture Readings As Intended By Mrs. Eddy

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Scripture Readings As Intended By Mrs. Eddy

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The following was sent to me to-day: Sheep alert 6/28/12 (submitted by an alert "sheep") This week's Bible Lesson on "God" (July 1, 2012) uses the "New King James Version" as a Bible translation for the Golden Text and the Responsive Reading. The first citation in the Responsive Reading (Acts 17:22) translates the familiar passage "Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious" into "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious." The use of the words "very religious" in this translation instead of "too superstitious" seemed odd to me – a contradiction of the intended meaning. So I researched how it was written in the original Greek (from the Diaglott – a word-for-word, literal translation into English) and found the following: "Athenians, I perceive that in all things you are extremely devoted to the worship of Demons." A translation that uses "very religious" in place of the original Greek, which literally means "the worship of Demons," could never be considered by a Christian Scientist as legitimate. My question is, why would that translation be chosen for a Christian Science church service over the King James Version? Mrs. Eddy cites the importance of our Sunday Lesson-Sermon in the Manual as "a lesson on which the prosperity of Christian Science largely depends" (Art. III, Sect. 1). For this reason, the "New King James" translation of this verse should not be read from the desk at a Christian Science service. Not only is it an inaccurate translation, it does not correctly express the teachings of Christian Science. I am proposing to our local board that we use Concord to print the Golden Text and Responsive Reading from the original King James Version of the Bible and insert a copy into our Quarterlies for this week's Sunday service. I feel that we are entitled to do this since Art. XXIII, Sect. 10, of the Manual states that "each branch church shall be distinctly democratic in its government, and no individual, and no other church shall interfere with its affairs."