Religious Words Don't Belong in the Bible - History Matters - MLT Bible Translation

History matters when translating the Bible. In this video, Larry G. Overton explains how religious words entered English Bible translations and why historical development is essential to understanding Scripture accurately.

History matters when discussing religious words that appear in modern English Bibles. In this video, Larry G. Overton explains why many familiar religious terms do not reflect the original meaning of the biblical words found in the Greek New Testament—and how historical development played a major role in that shift.
Rather than beginning with individual words like church, this teaching lays the historical foundation necessary to understand how and why religious terminology entered English Bible translations. Larry traces the timeline from:
• The Greek New Testament manuscripts of the first century
• The hand-copying and transmission of Scripture before the printing press
• The institutional changes that followed Constantine in the 4th century
• The rise of Latin Christianity and the dominance of ecclesiastical language
• Early English translations influenced by religious tradition rather than original meaning
This video explains how religious vocabulary—already deeply embedded in church structure, clerical hierarchy, and institutional practices—was carried over into English translations, even when those terms did not accurately represent the meaning of the original Greek words.
Larry also discusses key historical figures and developments, including:
• The shift from Greek to Latin in Western Christianity
• John Wycliffe and early English Scripture efforts
• Erasmus’ Greek New Testament
• William Tyndale’s English translation and martyrdom
This teaching provides the necessary historical context for the videos that follow in this series, beginning with why the word “church” is not a biblical word, but a religious one.
👉 If we want to understand First Century Christianity, we must understand the history that shaped later translations.

📜 Translation Information & License
Mostly Literal Translation © 2025 by Larry G. Overton
Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
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