Atonement! It's one of the central ideas of Christianity, and is absolutely essential to Christian theology... so what is it? You might be surprised to know that throughout Christian history, atonement has meant many very different things. On this week's show, we'll discuss the twists and turns this idea has taken, as influential thinkers have grappled with the idea of the atonement of Jesus.
Then, it's time to get lost in translation! Very few of us have put in the effort to actually learn to read ancient Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic, and the ones who have are just a bunch of show-offs (lookin' at you, McClellan!). So if we want to read the Bible, most of us are stuck with translations.
But here's the thing: a Bible translation is WAY more complicated than people might think! It's a shockingly in-depth process, where thousands of decisions have to be made, and those decisions can deeply impact the meaning that gets transmitted. Yes, we're talking about choosing how to render a certain phrase or ancient idiom, but it's more than that. They have to choose which source text to use! There are competing source texts! It's a mess.
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