A dash of theology

Over the weekend, I attended a seminar on ‘Warning Signs of Fundamentalism and Feminist Responses.’ I gave a lecture on ‘The Religious Left’ as part of the program. I spoke in English, as my Serbian is not yet advanced enough for much nuance.

I used the ‘go the extra mile’ part of the Sermon on the Mount to illustrate a ‘Jesus supported resistance to authorities’ point. It turns out that the Serbian translation of that phrase is ‘go the extra hour.’ It doesn’t really change the meaning of the idea, but it is curious.

I learned about a discrepancy in translation that is a bit more troubling on the car ride home. A friend asked me about the English translation of ‘Love thy neighbor.’ I translated it to Serbian for her and explained how it is typically interpreted to mean ‘love everyone.’ She said that the Serbian version is much different. She told me that the Serbian version of that passage is ‘Love thy nearest’ and is usually taken to mean ‘love your family.’ It’s interesting—and also troubling—that the translations and interpretations vary so dramatically.

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I guess that is just another reason (are more needed?) not to take every word in the Bible as the literal truth.