The Ultimate Challenge: Picking A Bible Translation (Part I)

Religion

Choosing a Bible translation today for personal use is as easy as picking out a box of breakfast cereal at the supermarket. Wait a minute! That’s not easy. Have you been to the supermarket lately? An entire aisle is dedicated to cereals. When I started eating cereal again, to help lose weight, and had to choose a cereal, I almost had a panic attack. There were probably 50-60 different types to choose from, maybe more! And, if I wanted to stay on my Sugar Busters diet I had to check the labels for sugar content. What a chore. Forget it! Just give me my Wheaties and I’m outta here.
( If anyone likes Wheaties, Kroger has a Kroger brand Wheaties “taste-a-like.” You can get three large boxes for about $5.00. In this economy felt compelled to let you know)

Choosing a Bible is no easy task either. There are so many choices. Sometimes I long for the good old days when you only had to decide between the King James and the Revised Standard. I must be getting old.

At the outset let me acknowledge that some Christians will maintain that there are no valid translations other than the King James. However, my purpose here is not to enter into that argument. There are books on that topic and I, personally, have nothing against the King James Bible other than its use of English words is four hundred years old and a bit hard for some folks to follow.

But, for the sake of those who are unfamiliar with the argument let me just say that it is a fact, as proponents claim, that the modern translations will have fewer passages than the King James or New King James Bibles. Why? Because modern translations are based on more recently discovered texts whereas the King James is based on the textus receptus that does contain many more passages. The question is which set of texts is correct? Did someone add some words or did someone leave some out? That’s the rub and you will have to decide for yourself.

Today, if you don’t want any fancy stuff, just a straight translation, you have over 75 or more to choose from. If you want a study Bible then you have another choice to make from probably three-dozen offerings. From my investigation study Bibles usually only come in the most popular translations such as the King James, New King James, New American Standard, New International, The Living Translation, and increasingly the English Standard Version.

Therefore, when you go to pick out your next Bible you should set aside about six hours. Be sure to take a sack lunch, a change of clothes, and aspirin. You will get a headache.

Maybe I can help lessen your pain and shorten your hunt. We can ask ourselves a few questions and eliminate a lot of choices. Here are the questions:

1. Do I want a literal (word-for-word) translation or do I want a dynamic (thought-for-thought) translation?

2. Do I want a translation produced by one person or by a committee?

3. Do I want just a translation or do I want a study version?

a. If I do want a study version do I want it to be written from the perspective of one person and have a single theological bias, which they all will?

b. Or, do I want one written through the efforts of a committee or group which will have more safeguards against personal bias built into the process in most cases? There are also a few study Bibles that are fairly neutral and simply provide information or references to aid you in your own independent study.

Think about these questions over the next week and we will pick up on this and continue our search for our own best Bible translation in my next week’s column.

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