Question about Cambridge Bibles

[CGS]

I did a PB search on this but wasn't able to find anything. Feel free to direct me to an existing thread if I've overlooked it.

This has been going on for years, but I just became aware of it yesterday. Cambridge University Press is an active supporter of the LGBTQ agenda, "pride" month, etc. Would/should these unbiblical positions taken by Cambridge University Press impact a Christian's decision to purchase or use Cambridge bibles?

I realize that Cambridge Bibles is probably a tiny cog in the massive wheel that is Cambridge University Press, and that they likely have no control or influence over the larger Press's policies. In fact, it could be that the employees of Cambridge Bibles find this just as concerning as we do. I guess we have no way of knowing for sure.

Also, similar concerns could be raised for Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, who are now owned by publishing giant HarperCollins Publishers.

Should the ethics of these larger publishers impact our decisions to purchase and use their bibles? Can we separate the smaller divisions that are publishing the bibles from the larger umbrella publishing corporations?

I have a Cambridge Topaz that is one of my favorite bibles, and just this week (before I knew about the LGBTQ support) I purchased another Topaz. Now I'm wondering if I should return it. Is this a valid concern or an overreaction?

I realize that if we stopped doing business with any and all companies that support unbiblical positions, we would be extremely limited in the electronics we use, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the cars we drive, etc. But is this different when it is actual bible publishers that hold the unbiblical positions?

Any thoughts are appreciated!

 

[RamistThomist]

I did a PB search on this but wasn't able to find anything. Feel free to direct me to an existing thread if I've overlooked it.

This has been going on for years, but I just became aware of it yesterday. Cambridge University Press is an active supporter of the LGBTQ agenda, "pride" month, etc. Would/should these unbiblical positions taken by Cambridge University Press impact a Christian's decision to purchase or use Cambridge bibles?

I realize that Cambridge Bibles is probably a tiny cog in the massive wheel that is Cambridge University Press, and that they likely have no control or influence over the larger Press's policies. In fact, it could be that the employees of Cambridge Bibles find this just as concerning as we do. I guess we have no way of knowing for sure.

Also, similar concerns could be raised for Thomas Nelson and Zondervan, who are now owned by publishing giant HarperCollins Publishers.

Should the ethics of these larger publishers impact our decisions to purchase and use their bibles? Can we separate the smaller divisions that are publishing the bibles from the larger umbrella publishing corporations?

I have a Cambridge Topaz that is one of my favorite bibles, and just this week (before I knew about the LGBTQ support) I purchased another Topaz. Now I'm wondering if I should return it. Is this a valid concern or an overreaction?

I realize that if we stopped doing business with any and all companies that support unbiblical positions, we would be extremely limited in the electronics we use, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the cars we drive, etc. But is this different when it is actual bible publishers that hold the unbiblical positions?

Any thoughts are appreciated!

I buy books from Cambridge University Press. That's the nature of scholarship. I grant that bibles are a little different. But unless you are going to be full Luddite, you can't avoid it.

 

[gkterry]

I fear these sordid lifestyle choices likely extend deeper in our society than we may think.

 

[Miss Marple]

I recommend Trinity Bible Society for Bible purchases. They seem to be an excellent group.

 

[Polanus1561]

Your pastor probably has books from such publishers.

 

[CGS]

I recommend Trinity Bible Society for Bible purchases. They seem to be an excellent group.

I agree, but they only offer the KJV. So, if folks are looking for something other than the KJV, then they must look elsewhere.

 

[Blood-Bought Pilgrim]

I like supporting publishers who have solid beliefs, but I think it's rare to live in any society where we can really avoid doing business with people who oppose our values. Of course, if they were distorting or tampering with Scripture in any way I wouldn't patronize them, but I don't think we can draw a hard and fast rule about whether or not to buy from a business because they support a sinful cause.

 

[CGS]

Your pastor probably has books from such publishers.

I have no doubt that he does. And I have books from them as well. I don't know...it just seems different when we are taking about the bible, not just any book. And especially when we are talking about Cambridge Bibles, the oldest Bible publisher in the world. It was probably just a knee jerk reaction on my part. I guess it is somewhat unavoidable.

 

[Polanus1561]

I have no doubt that he does. And I have books from them as well. I don't know...it just seems different when we are taking about the bible, not just any book. And especially when we are talking about Cambridge Bibles, the oldest Bible publisher in the world. It was probably just a knee jerk reaction on my part. I guess it is somewhat unavoidable.

The Masoretic Text of our bibles were preserved by Christ-hating Jews.

 

[Jerusalem Blade]

The Second Rabbinic Bible of 1525 is the Hebrew Masoretic text which is believed to have been used as the source text by the King James Bible translators for the Old Testament. The margins contains copious notes about the text in Hebrew. Yaakov ben Hayyim (also known as Jacob ben Hayyim ibn Adonijah or Ben Chayyim), a Masoretic scholar who became a Christian around 1527, helped compile the text and notes. The four volumes were first published by Daniel Bomberg in Venice.

It has been said that the Jews were the librarians of the Christian church.

The history of the publishers of the Greek NT is far more serious and troubled than the OT.

 

[MarrowMan]

You know, the establishment principle solves these problems, lol

 

[CGS]

You know, the establishment principle solves these problems, lol

Agreed! Most, if not all, problems could be solved by either the establishment principle or the regulative principle.

 

[iainduguid]

You know, the establishment principle solves these problems, lol

Hmmm...how would that be, seeing as Cambridge University Press publishes in a country with an established church? "The Establishment principle" often seems to serve as shorthand for "An established church that exactly agrees with me and enforces godly laws in a perfect way (which is democratically elected and popular because of a great revival)." But anyone can make the same claim; there are plenty of systems of government that, perfectly run and governing a largely Presbyterian and Reformed populace, would not have the same issues as we do in our fallen world. But that isn't where we live.

 

[MarrowMan]

Hmmm...how would that be, seeing as Cambridge University Press publishes in a country with an established church? "The Establishment principle" often seems to serve as shorthand for "An established church that exactly agrees with me and enforces godly laws in a perfect way (which is democratically elected and popular because of a great revival)." But anyone can make the same claim; there are plenty of systems of government that, perfectly run and governing a largely Presbyterian and Reformed populace, would not have the same issues as we do in our fallen world. But that isn't where we live.

It was a joke. I do hold to the establishment principle, but I was just trying, apparently unsuccessfully, to be funny.

 

[Northern Crofter]

Cambridge University Press publishes in a country with an established church

Maybe not for long. A recent bill was introduced in The House of Lords to end the last established church in the British Isles.

 

[CasualWestminsterEnjoyer]

Maybe not for long. A recent bill was introduced in The House of Lords to end the last established church in the British Isles.

Wouldn't the Church of Scotland still be established?

 

[Northern Crofter]

Wouldn't the Church of Scotland still be established?

I believe it was in the 1920s that the state churches in both Wales and Scotland both became disestablished (N. Ireland has never had an established church to my knowledge). With regard to the OP, both the Geneva and KJV(AV) were adopted or produced by established churches during the reign(-s) of James VI/I.

 

[Northern Crofter]

"In 1921 the state severed its old relation with the Church of Scotland, leaving it the national church but not the established state church." (Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia (2024, September 2). Church of Scotland. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Church-of-Scotland)

"The 1914 Welsh Church Act provided for the disestablishment of the Church of England within Wales, and the creation of an independent but non-established Church of Wales." https://www.secularism.org.uk/disestablishment-in-wales

"Irish Church Act 1869
1869 CHAPTER 42
An Act to put an end to the Establishment of the Church of Ireland, and to make provision in respect of the Temporalities thereof, and in respect of the Royal College of Maynooth." https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1869/42/enacted

 

[michael_topple]

Maybe not for long. A recent bill was introduced in The House of Lords to end the last established church in the British Isles.

I don't think this will ever come to pass - it won't have the traction and won't be without its opponents. Suspect the HoL will be abolished before the CofE is disestablished!

 

[CovenantPatriot87]

It was a joke. I do hold to the establishment principle, but I was just trying, apparently unsuccessfully, to be funny.

I'm not establishmentarian, and I found it humorous, haha.