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CHAPTER FOUR - March 1914
"So," Billy said to his father, "all the books of the Bible were originally written in various languages and then translated into English. "
"Aye," said Da. "And the Roman Catholic Church tried to ban translations-they didn't want people like us reading the Bible for ourselves and arguing with the priests. "
Da was a bit un-Christian when he spoke of Catholics. He seemed to hate Catholicism more than atheism. But he loved an argument. "Well, then," said Billy, "where are the originals?"
"What originals?"
"The original books of the Bible, written in Hebrew and Greek. Where are they kept?"
They were sitting on opposite sides of the square table in the kitchen of the house in Wellington Row. It was midafternoon. Billy was home from the pit and had washed his hands and face, but still wore his work clothes. Da had hung up his suit jacket, and sat in his waistcoat and shirtsleeves, with a collar and tie-he would be going out again after dinner, to a union meeting. Mam was heating the stew on the fire. Gramper sat with them, listening to the discussion with a faint smile, as if he had heard it all before.
"Well, we don't have the actual originals," Da said. "They wore out, centuries ago. We have copies. "
"Where are the copies, then?"
"All different places-monasteries, museums. . . "
"They should be kept in one place. "
"But there's more than one copy of each book-and some are better than others. "
"How can one copy be better than another? Surely they're not different. "
"Yes. Over the years, human error crept in. "
This startled Billy. "Well, how do we know which is right?"
"That's a study called textual scholarship-comparing the different versions and coming up with an agreed text. "
Billy was shocked. "You mean there isn't an indisputable book that is the actual Word of God? Men argue about it and make a judgment?"
"Yes. "
"Well, how do we know they're right?"
Da smiled knowingly, a sure sign that his back was to the wall. "We believe that if they work in prayerful humility, God will guide their labors. "
"But what if they don't?"
Mam put four bowls on the table. "Don't argue with your father," she said. She cut four thick slices off a loaf of bread.
Gramper said: "Leave him be, Cara my girl. Let the boy ask his questions. "
Da said: "We have faith in God's power to ensure that his Word comes to us as he would wish. "
"You're completely illogical!"
Mam interrupted again. "Don't speak to your father like that! You're still a boy, you don't know anything. "
Billy ignored her. "Why didn't God guide the labors of the copiers, and stop them making mistakes, if he really wanted us to know His Word?"
Da said: "Some things are not given to us to understand. "
That answer was the least convincing of all, and Billy ignored it. "If the copiers could make mistakes, obviously the textual scholars could too. "
"We must have faith, Billy. "
