When discussing the Old Testament, Adams ranks which version he prefers; though he notes he thought all translations contained errors. As he wrote to his father on July 7th, 1814:
I promised you that I would answer your questions of my opinions with regard to the Bible, and of my acquaintance with it—I have not studied the Canon of the Old Testament, because to my deep and constant regret I do not understand the languages in which it was written—I have never learnt either the Hebrew, or Chaldaic Characters, and therefore never could read a line of the Old Testament, in the Original—I have only read it in the Modern English French and German Translations for I have hitherto not even had the opportunity of going through either the Greek Septuagint or the Latin Vulgate, as I hope at some future day to do—of the translations which I have read, that in German, made by Luther, is incomparably the Best—The French one, originally made by Calvin, and revised by the Pastors of the Church at Geneva, is upon the whole not quite equal to the common English Bible published with the Dedication to James the 1st.—But in all there are a multitude of errors; and they are all so far from giving me satisfaction, that I shall never forgive myself, for neglecting to learn the Hebrew, when the opportunity for learning it was in my own hands.
So as we see, Adams puts the KJV above Calvin's Geneva Bible, but also puts Luther's German translation at the very top. He notes that because he didn't read Hebrew that he's not competent in the original language to fully comprehend the Old Testament.
The elder John Adams adhered to an extremely "heterodox" faith that contrasted to the orthodoxy that was more institutionally ingrained in late 18th century America. He considered himself a "liberal unitarian Christian." The scholar Dr. Joseph Waligore terms him a "Jesus-Centered-Deist." Whereas Dr. Gregg Frazer terms him a "theistic rationalist."
These terms are used to distinguish from that more conventional orthodox Trinitarian Christianity. John Quincy Adams, during a period of time in his adult life, opted for that more traditional understanding of the faith, with a Calvinist bent.
However, JQA seemed to vacillate, during his adult life, between the two -- the more conventional Calvinistic Christianity and his father's heterodoxy. I've gotten confused more than once when reading the younger Adams during periods of time in history when he supposedly was a traditional Calvinist, and it sounds like it's his father's heterodoxy talking.
As the saying goes, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
4 comments:
In that quote John Quincy is just stating here pretty standard orthodox Protestant Christianity - the original Hebrew and Greek are the inspired standard, and all translations include errors. In this letter he appears to be defending scripture's inspiration against his father's questions which hinted in the opposite direction. Later in the letter:
"with regard to its Authority my Mind rests upon two Pillars—the prejudice of my Education; and my own judgment, upon its internal Evidence—You Sir, and my ever dear and honoured Mother, took care to give me a pious education; and although at the same time you sent me upon the theatre of an infidel World, at an age perhaps the most accessible to impressions of infidelity, I never found any thing there, that could serve me as a substitute for the duties or the pleasures, the Morals or the Hopes which I derive from my Religion—I have seen nothing in the glories of this World, nothing in the pride of human learning which should make me ashamed of the Cross of Christ—My Judgment therefore has confirmed the Prejudice of my Education—My idea of Inspiration, as applied to the Scriptures is neither very clear nor very definite—That in the composition of parts of the Sacred Books, the Writers were actuated by a preternatural interposition of the divine power, I believe, because it is expressly declared by the Writers themselves, and because I cannot disbelieve it without rejecting the whole Bible as an imposture.—But whether Homer and Virgil were not favoured with the same sort of Inspiration I cannot pronounce...."
Thanks for commenting and carefully reading Josh. Do you think it's common though for orthodox Christians to think that all English translations contain blatant errors?
I know this is a tough question because different orthodox Christians have different traditions. I know there's a movement that holds KJV was a divinely inspired translation. But that's a minority position among traditional Protestants.
BTW, I know his book is pricey but Waligore's book goes into some fascinating detail on how Unitarian theologians understand the Bible in contrast to the Jesus-centered-deist. Why he puts Adams in the latter category despite the fact that Adams considered himself a "liberal unitarian Christian."
That depends on how you define blatant errors.... The KJV, for example, translated a then uncertain Hebrew word for an animal as "unicorn." That would be a blatant error acknowledged in what is still the most popular Bible translation.
Plenty of Protestants would say that their favorite bible translation doesn't contain any errors that blatant, but I they would say at a minimum, that the translation falls short of capturing the range of entire meaning contained in the original languages.
And Protestants reject the Greek Septuagint although Jesus clearly cites it. This is because Protestants, especially of that unapologetically anti-Catholic era, would rather take the word of the Jewish Masoretic text finalized 1000 years after Christ rather than the word of Rome.
"Protestants generally do not consider the Greek Septuagint as authoritative for their biblical canon, preferring the Hebrew Masoretic Text for the Old Testament. However, many scholars argue that Jesus and the New Testament authors frequently cited or alluded to the Septuagint, as it was widely used by Greek-speaking Jews in the first century. For example, some Old Testament quotations in the New Testament, such as in Matthew 1:23 (citing Isaiah 7:14), align more closely with the Septuagint's wording than the Masoretic Text."
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