Friday, May 10, 2024

15 Things that Happened on May 10 in History

The History and Mystery of Alchemy is now available on Amazon...and it is only 99 cents.

Robert Dreyer, a Florida resident drowned on his 89th birthday after he crashed his car into a fire hydrant and was then swallowed by the sinkhole created by the broken water line which had fed the hydrant on this day in 2017. 

J. Edgar Hoover was appointed first Director of the United States' Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on this day in 1924, and remained so until his death in 1972.

Marvel Comics published the first issue of The Incredible Hulk on this day in 1962.

Sony introduced the Betamax videocassette recorder on this day in 1975.

One World Trade Center became the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere on this day in 2013.

John Wilkes Booth, American actor and assassin of Abraham Lincoln was born on this day in 1838.

Arguably the greatest dancer who ever lived, Fred Astaire, was born on this day in 1899.

Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious was born on this day in 1957.

Confederate General Stonewall Jackson died on this day in 1863, 8 days after being shot.

Serial killer John Wayne Gacy was executed on this day in 1994.

American race car driver and designer Carroll Shelby died on this day in 2012.

The horror movie classic Friday the 13th was released on this day in 1980.

Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer Donovan was born on this day in 1946.

The movie Twister, starring Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton and Jami Gertz was released on this day in 1996.

Mommie Dearest, Joan Crawford died on this day in 1977.


Saturday, May 4, 2024

Bible Translator Charles Bray Williams on This Day in History


This day in history: Bible translator Charles Bray Williams died on this day in 1952. C.B. Williams should not to be confused with Bible translator Charles K. Williams.

Williams graduated from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem NC, and was a Baptist minister. 

Williams stated, "Our aim is to make this greatest book in the world readable and understandable by the plain people."

Some have noted that there are many similarities between Williams New Testament and Goodspeed's New Testament (one of the greatest New Testament translations ever produced).

Here are some comparisons:

Revelation 5:10 "and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God, and they are to reign over the earth." Goodspeed

"and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God; and they will rule over the earth." Williams

While "over" is a better translation, most Bible use the word "on".

John 10:38  "But if I am doing so, even if you will not believe me, believe the deeds, that you may come to know and continue to know that the Father is in union with me and I am in union with the Father." Williams

"But if I am doing them, then even if you will not believe me, believe the things I do, in order that you may realize and learn that the Father is in union with me, and I am in union with the Father." Goodspeed

Both Goodspeed and Williams use the phrase "in union with" many times.

John 8:58 "Jesus said to them, 'I tell you, I existed before Abraham was born!'" Goodspeed

"Then Jesus said to them, 'I most solemnly say to you, I existed before Abraham was born.'" Williams

This is a better translation than the traditional "I am" as the "Greek at John 8:58 fits an idiom described by grammarian Kenneth McKay as the “Extension from Past”, which occurs when a present tense verb is “used with an expression of either past time or extent of time with past implications.” (A New Syntax of the Verb in New Testament Greek: An Aspectual Approach), p. 41, 42 (Source)

However, Williams was much more conservative/fundagelical in many passages.

For instance at John 1:1 where Goodspeed has "the Word was divine",  Williams goes overboard with the horrible rendering of "the Word was God Himself."

At John 1:18, where it should read, "No man hath seen God at any time; an only begotten god, who is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him", Williams has, "No one has ever seen God; the only son, Deity Himself, who lies upon His Father's breast, has made him known." 

Where Goodspeed would use "homage" in places like Matthew 2:2, Williams reverted back to the word "worship,"

Additionally, Williams insisted on continuous action of a Greek verb made Mark 1:5 sound like the people were being repeatedly baptized, "And people from all over Judea and everybody in Jerusalem kept on going out to him and being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins."