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These sacred texts (books) are offered as reference materials and study aides. They are
meant to be only a starting point or point of reference, and should not be
relied upon for advanced scholarly studies. In the case of those texts not
originally brought to us in English, remember there are considerable
inaccuracies in any translation no matter how well done nor how well
intentioned. All translations suffer from inadequate, incomplete
idiomatic and cultural interpretations. Even within the same country during the
same era or even the same generation, certain words and phrases will have
varying meanings depending on how, when and/or by whom they are used.
A classic example of this would be the Christian bible's reference of the
"The camel going through the eye of a needle". Some scholars say the word
translated as "camel" was actually the word for "rope" or "yarn". The two words
are similar enough to be confused. It could even have been the way the word was
used. In one sense it could mean camel and in another sense it could mean rope,
yarn, string etc.
In this case the spirit of the passage is the same. That is the unlikelihood
of something occurring Sometimes however the mistranslation of a word or the
improper interpretation of a word, phrase or action, can have devastating
effects.
Below you will find links to plain (ASCII) text renderings of sacred works.
Please feel free to copy them, as they are in the public domain. |
