A real conversation, remembered and translated from the French

At the Maison de la Bible, a tall elegant couple in their fifties comes to the counter. The lady speaks:

Lady: Do you have any French translations of the whole Bible that date from before the Council of Nicea?

Alan takes deep breath and remembers to try to avoid mansplaining: OK, well you know that at the time of the Council of Nicea the French language didn't exist, everyone spoke Greek or Latin. But the translations we have here are all based on Greek and Hebrew texts that have been edited from copies that date from before the Council of Nicea.

Lady: The thing is that at the Council of Nicea the Vatican suppressed the text in the Bible that speaks of reincarnation.

Alan: We have Bibles here from Roman Catholic publishers and from Protestant publishers who are not at all influenced by the Vatican or the Roman Catholic Church. (Thinks) Have you ever seen this little book, The transmission of the Bible. (Thankfully the lady bought the book)

Lady: Do you have any books that speak about the suppression of the text that speaks of reincarnation in the Bible by the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Nicea?

Alan: I don't know of any publisher, either Christian or secular, that would publish serious books about that. That kind of thing is spread by the internet, and you will find websites that talk about that and more. But if you like, why not go to Mollat, France's largest bookshop and speak to Arnaud in the religion section. If anything exists in French along those lines, he will know.


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