I read German at the most elementary level. Here is what I have and how I would translate it. Can you improve this?
wird er kaufmann und Gerät in die sekte advenisten, durch die er mit der phantasien uber das bald kommende weltende bekannt wird.
He became a merchant and active in the Adventist sect,
through which he became acquainted with their fantasies about the near ending
of the world.
nun beginnt er, ohne jemals mit wissenschafitich-theologisschen forschungun die leiseste fuhlung genommen zu haben, auf eigene faust als bibelerklarer aufzutreten.
At this point, without any knowledge of scientific
theological research, he presented himself as a Bible teacher.
4 comments:
My knowledge of German is from high school, 50 years ago, but your translation seems pretty accurate.
That word Gerät is challenging; it's a noun meaning instrument or device. The translation "active" is adequate, but "Gerät" might suggest a little more, such as his being a figure in the movement.
For "near ending" I would suggest "imminent" or "impending".
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In the second paragraph, "ohne ... die leiseste fuhlung" suggests "without the slightest".
"bibelerklärer" is literally "Bible explainer", which seems to indicate a little more than a teacher, but not quite an expositor.
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I hope my observations are somewhat helpful. Either way, your rough translation gets the meaning across.
Hello, I´ll give it a try.
Er wurde Kaufmann und aktiv in der Sekte der Adventisten, wodurch er mit ihren Phantasien über das nahe bevorstehende Ende der Welt bekannt wurde.
Ohne jegliche Kenntnis von wissenschaftlicher theologischer Forschung stellte er sich selbst nun als ein Bibellehrer dar.
That´s the simple translation, but I like your text better, you use very nice expressions (die leiseste Fühlung; auf eigene Faust auftreten), and so I´ll give it another try (but I´d prefer past tense because it´s past tense in the original).
Er wurde Kaufmann und geriet in die Sekte der Adventisten ("geriet in" is an expression which gives a negative evaluation, which is not in the original), durch die er mit ihren Pantasien über das bald kommende Weltende bekannt wurde.
Nun begann er, ohne jemals mit wissenschaftlich-theologischen Forschungen die leiseste Fühlung genommen zu haben, auf eigene Faust als Bibelerklärer aufzutreten.
Thanks everyone for your help. Some more coming when I can. Life is hard right now. Be patient.
Here we go. With mistakes. Correction welcome.
…, he lacked the scientific ability. So he is carrying with him all the trash of suspicions and he passes it on to others unchecked!
This said, we have made personal acquaintance with the founder of the sect, with
Mr. Charles Taze Russell,
whom his followers, in really magnificent modesty, call „the greatest religious teacher since the apostle Paul“. Born in 1852 in Pittssburgh in the state of Pennsylvania, he becomes a merchant and happens to get into the sect of the Adventists, getting acquainted with their fantasies about the imminent end of the world. Now, without having ever had the slightest contact with scientific-theological research, on his own initiative he starts to present himself as an authority for explaining the bible.
This turns out to be quite profitable, because in America you can make money out of everything under the condition that you are active and industrious. 1872 he marries a devout listener to his bible wisdom, a certain Miss Frances Ackley, but the marriage ends up in a divorce after 17 years, although his wife had been a reliable co-worker as his assistant editor. When the lady claimed for maintenance, the new founder of a religion , as we say here, „settled in legally“ which means he transferred his assets to the society he had founded and of which he was the president, and so he wanted to let the lady go empty-handed, because he was poor and penniless! The court called by the lady didn´t share this opinion, and „The court of civil matters“, as wrote the Brooklyn newspaper, „The Brooklyn Daily Eagle“ of May 6, 1912, „where Mrs Russel had filed a lawsuit against her husband for maintenance, rejected Pastor Russell´s objection that he was poor and penniless. It was ascertained that he had transferred his assets of 317,000 Dollars to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. The purpose of this activity, the court determinded, was to rob Mrs Russell of her dowry, that means of her maintenance.“ (Compare Scheurlin, Sekten der Gegenwart ((Contemporary sects)) S. ((Seite, page)) 24 Anm. ((Anmerkung, comment)) 2) So „the greatest religious teacher since the apostle Paul“ hat to pay! The real reason for the couple´s separation was that the wife, too, had developed the awareness of being a prophet herself, but the main prophet could not bear a prophetess beside him. It seems absolutely ridiculous when „the greatest religious teacher since the apostle Paul“ tries to defend himself (Watchtower 1907) telling that it had been his wife who had first … the works ...
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