Unlike N J Dawood's revised translation of the Koran (see Part 1 below) the New International Version of the Holy Bible has a many translators.
The preface informs the student that the NIV was translated by over a hundred scholars working directly from the best available Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts.
Consider the Biblical Flood in Genesis, the greatest punishment ever inflicted on mankind:
The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become . . . and his heart was filled with pain. So the Lord said, 'I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth - men and animals, and creatures . . . and birds . . . for I am grieved that I have made them.'
. . . the ark came to rest on the mountain of Ararat.
And now consider the account from Hud in the Koran:
God said to Noah: 'You shall not plead with Me for those who have done wrong: they shall assuredly be drowned.'
The ark came to rest upon Al-Judi, and a voice declared: 'Gone are the evil-doers.'
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WHAT RELIGION? PIR'S DO-IT-YOURSELF TEST
Are the following quotations taken from the NIV translation of the Holy Bible or the revised Dawood translation of the Koran?
1 - Tell of Abraham, who said to his father and to his people: 'I renounce the gods you worship, except Him who created me, for He will rightly guide me.'
2 - 'Lord,' said Moses, 'I have killed one of their number and fear that they will slay me. Aaron my brother is more fluent of tongue than I; send him with me that he may help me . . .'
3 - Those that obey God and His apostle, those that revere God and fear Him, will surely triumph.
4 - Give good news to the righteous. God will ward off evil from true believers. God does not love the treacherous and the thankless.
5 - Garments of fire have been prepared for the unbelievers. Scalding water shall be poured upon their heads, melting their skins and that which is in their bellies.
6 - Whenever in their anguish, they try to escape from Hell, back they shall be dragged, and will be told: 'Taste the torment of the Conflagration!'
7 - They journeyed on until they fell in with a certain youth. Moses' companion slew him, and Moses said: 'You have killed an innocent man who has slain no one. Surely you have done a wicked thing.'
8 - If you punish, let your punishment be commensurate with the wrong that has been done to you. But it shall be best for you to endure your wrongs with patience.
9 - On the day when the earth is changed into a different earth and the heavens into new heavens, mankind shall stand before God, the One, who conquers all. On that day you shall see the guilty bound with chains, their garments pitch, and their faces covered with flames.
10 - They set up false gods as the equals of God to lead men away from His path.
11 - Go, my sons, and seek news of Joseph and his brother. Do not despair of God's spirit; none but unbelievers despair of God's spirit.
12 - Joseph's brothers arrived and presented themselves before him. He recognized them, but they knew him not.
13 - A voice cried out: 'Earth, swallow up your waters. Heaven, cease your rain!'
14 - Moses threw down his staff, and thereupon it changed into a veritable serpent. Then he drew out his hand and it was white to all who saw it.
15 - It is God who splits the seed and the fruit-stone. He brings forth the living from the dead, and the dead from the living.
16 - If you fear a breach between a man and his wife, appoint an arbiter from his people and another from hers. If they wish to be reconciled, God will bring them together again.
17 - God will wrong none by as much as the weight of an atom. A good deed He will repay twofold.
18 - 'Lord,' said Zacharias, 'how shall I have a son when I am now overtaken by old age and my wife is barren?'
19 - 'I come to confirm the Torah which preceded me and to make lawful for you some of the things you are forbidden. I bring you a sign from your Lord: therefore fear God and obey me: God is my Lord and your Lord: therefore serve Him. That is a straight path.'
20 - There shall be no compulsion in religion.
Scroll down for answers.
Quiz answers:
Maybe you guessed?
The quotes used for the quiz were all from Dawood's revised translation of the Koran. The best quote, in my opinion, is number 20.
Yes, but this translation would not be accepted as valid by fundamentalist Muslims. A true Muslim would never read the Koran in any language other than Arabic. Moderate Muslims would respond just as modern Jews and Christians now respond to all the exhortations in Leviticus.
ReplyDeleteAll that may be true. But this translation will have to suffice for the purposes of the exercise. The search for peace and reconciliation goes on with Tony Blair at the helm. The one time crusader warrior has a multi-religious charity people can donate to.
ReplyDeleteAllah was at one time a peaceful man, but later he became a conquerer and all man should worship only Allah and all idols should be destroyed. There is no peaceful solution.
ReplyDeleteThere is no peaceful solution, as you say. Very sad comment on human nature. But history bears it out.
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