WHAT VERSION OF THE BIBLE?

As I take the time to read my Bible I love to read it in various translations and I'm thankful that it's not just the King James that I get to read. Now I know that there are some people that love the King James and feel like it's the only approved and authorized version but it's also just a translation. If one wants to defend a certain Bible translation as the only one to use, I think they need to go all the way back to the original Greek and Hebrew (and some Aramaic) if they're going to be so strong about it. But since most of us don't read those languages I'm glad that we have wonderful translations available for us to read and study from.

When I'm studying, I like to read from the New American Standard Bible (Old Testament) and New International Version (New Testament) and also the New King James. I use the King James when I use different commentaries and tools that link up to the King James Bible only. In addition to that, I'll search multiple translations once I find the text I'm using in church and look to see if it reads easier or has a slightly different wording that matches what I'm trying to say. That's why sometimes I'll use the Contemporary English Version, New Living and New Century Version as well as the others I've mentioned.

When I'm reading, for devotional purposes (Yes, I do read just for devotional purposes because before I'm a pastor, I'm a follower of Jesus and I need to just read, pray and love God.) I like to read contemporary versions. I really like the Message version and also the CEV and I have one pocket Bible that's the Holman translation that I use. One year I used the J B Phillips translation for the New Testament and it felt like I was reading the newspaper. I liked it as a change up to my normal translation.

As a pastor, I'm not that concerned if people want to read or use any number of translations, my real concern is that you're reading the Bible. I really believe that most people don't read it enough and I would encourage you to get a regular reading program to take time to get into God's word. Our SOAP program has been great and we will do it again in 2010. We will read a chapter a day and we will do many different chapters than we're doing in 2009 so get ready for SOAP 2010 and if you want to change it up some more, use a different translation as well.

Comments

[Nancy]

I think the best advice I ever got on reading the Bible is "find the translation that is easiest for you to read." Better to read the Bible in a translation that may not be totally accurate than not at all. If I find something I need to confirm or clear up, I can check other translations. I personally love the New Living Translation.

[Faith]

Is it true that the next NIV published is going to leave out that homosexuality is a sin? I've been hearing that . . .

[Liz Poch]

Thanks for this blog, Pastor Rob!

I emailed one of my previous Biblical Studies professors at NCU, Amy Anderson, and she had some interesting comments. I probably learned most of this in Bible college, but was so desperately sleep deprived, I guess I forgot!

Dr. Amy suggests that students/Christians own at least one of each type of translation:

A literal translation such as the NASB
A dynamic equivalence such as the TNIV
A paraphrase such as The Message

The first type gets you as close to the Greek (or Hebrew) as you can without
knowing the language. The second smooths out the awkwardness of the literal translation but stays pretty close to the Greek. And reading a good
paraphrase is like listening to a good sermon. It can open your mind to see
the text more vividly.

Also, Dr. Amy comes to churches and groups with a 6 hour basic course on the Bible that would include the question of translations as well as formation of the canon, etc. I would love it if RVC could ever host this!

Thanks again!