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So, Mark decides to go to a men’s group that meets at the golf course before work on Friday
mornings. It is an inspirational
meeting that encourages men to be more spiritual, in a Christian way. He likes it so much, it becomes one of
his favorite weekly activities. The
references to the Bible have really been intriguing and so Mark decides
he
wants his own Bible. Heading to the nearest Christian bookstore one day, he
walks in to find the Bible shelf totally overwhelming! There
are so many different
translations . . . how would he ever choose a Bible, and how would he
know that
he got the right one?

‘I’d like to get my husband a Bible for Father’s Day,’ the woman said, ‘would you
recommend
one?’ ‘There’s that cute little
gal down the street getting married soon . . . I could get her and her
new
husband a Bible with their names imprinted on the front, which one
should I
get?’ ‘Christine, my nephew, who
has everything, is graduating from high school, and heading to college,
I’d
like to get him a Bible…which one?’
Yep, they called me to ask which Bibles should be purchased.

And then the question arises, which translation is the best one? I can give you an ironclad answer to that: The
translation that is the best is the
one that you will be the most compelled to read. People
can actually get quite indignant with their positions
on this matter, for instance: ‘A
pastor tried to introduce a revised version of the Bible to his rigidly
conservative congregation. “So
what’s wrong with the King
James Version
?” said one woman in defense. “In my opinion, if it was good enough for Jesus, it’s
good
enough for us!” Of course, the
amusing irony is that Jesus obviously did not speak the Old English of
the King
James Version
—actually Jesus didn’t speak English at all!’ Remember the Old Testament was written
in Hebrew, the New Testament
in Greek.
So, all of the Bibles we hold in our hands are translations from
those.

Why are there so many translations? Dr. Lewis Foster, who helped translate the New International Version and the New King
James Version
said this, “It is necessary to continue making new
translations
and revising old ones if people are to read the Word of God in their
contemporary languages. With the
passage of time, words change in meaning . . . to keep the translation
of God’s
Word living, it must be kept in the living language the people are
using.”

While the subject can indeed be overwhelming, it is helpful to know this about the various
versions of the Bible—some
have been translated word for word from the
Hebrew/Greek
à New
American Standard Bible
; others have been translated thought
for thought

à New Living
Translation
, phrase for
phrase
à NIV, etc. “The Message” and the “Living Bible”
(including “The Way
and that old green Bible from the 70s that I love) are paraphrases.

The next question is, ‘Well, Christine, which one do you use?’ I don’t . . . I use many. I often cite the NIV,
since so many folks are used to that,
and it is very readable. It really
depends on my purpose—am I reading Scripture for study and writing, or
for personal
inspiration? In either of these
cases, I profit greatly from having the study notes on the same page,
like the
Life Application Bible does, and the NIV Study Bible. (In
my writing, though, I use several different
commentaries--from old preachers, new theologians, and Bible translators. There are Bibles with explanatory notes
or devotionals geared toward leaders, mothers, wives, men, women, teens,
spirit-filled people, and those who want archaeological notes to
accompany the
text of Scripture, and many more.
Find one that suits you, and your season in life.

Am I taking it to church with me? Then, I like to use the one my church uses, and I may not wish to carry a big thick
study
Bible. Am I sharing a verse with
someone? Maybe, if I memorized
it. Honestly, my best chance of
sharing a verse comes from my memory; so then, it just depends on what
version/translation I memorized. Memorizing
Scripture verses
that are inspirational is key to being able to
encourage other
people
; you usually aren’t going to be able to run to your car to
find your
Bible and locate the inspiring
words
—the moment will be lost. When I was
in high school, I memorized
all of James chapter 1, from the Living Bible, so when I recall verses
from
that amazing chapter, my mind still sees those inspiring, and
easy-to-understand words.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of God stands forever.”
(Isaiah 40.7) So, just get a Bible, and
make it yours. Read it, underline or highlight in
it,
write notes (with dates) in the margin.
Which Bible is the best?
The one you will devour.

Christine

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Comment by JB on June 17, 2010 at 10:01pm
Very interesting Christine, Some think I am a little wired, because I don’t carry my bible to church, the reason is the preacher reads or preaches from a different translation than I, So when we or I, try to follow along, my translation reads a little differently than his, and I find that I will concentrate on what mine is saying and fall behind, or can’t keep up, or it will get a little confusing, because we are not in unity on the text. So I find it easier for me HA! (my wife ) to take notes and just listen to the sermon, try to understand his thoughts that he is trying to convey to me. See I feel he is talking to me, because everyone will receive a little differently, based on where they are in their spiritual life. If I find it different than the way I understand, I will usually study it out and see if I can discern if it is of the Spirit or intellect.
I am not a preacher, but, if I were preaching, I would prefer the congregation listen rather than following along in their favorite translations, because of that very reason.
I study the KJV extensively, quote from it more than others, though occasionally I will quote or study the NIV, and other times will go to the parallels just to get the other translators understanding of it. I will read the commentaries of the writers, but have found that even then I will not receive the same meaning of that passage as they do. Mainly because of their references to other scriptures. Usually though after more study I will see where they will get their thoughts and will sometimes agree.

However I bought a set of Mathew Henry Com. And I had to give them away to another preacher that believes the way he does, and he just loves them, needles to say we were both very happy.

Though I don’t speak the Elizabethan language, I find that the KJV is more understandable for me. I know that there are a lot of people that will say, “well I just can’t understand the bible when reading from the KJV“. But I find that they are trying to understand the Word of God “intellectually” or from a sense knowledge point of view rather than with an open mind to the spirit. The Word tells me that “my Words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit and they are life” Also it does help when we understand the difference in “Logos” and “Rhema”
So to understand the Word we must let the Spirit of God do the interpreting.
There are scriptures today that I have been studying for years, knowing there are more to that scripture than I have been able to understand, even after listening to some of the more notable ones, Ones you think are more knowledgeable in the Word and they will have the same interpretation as the others, but still there is something that is gnawing inside of my spirit, that tells me there is something that we are not grasping what the Spirit is trying to get across to us, I believe that it is from our traditional back grounds and teachings and we just can’t seem to let it go. And that alone will blind our hearts and minds to the truth. The traditions of men make the Word of God of none effect.
I found that my earlier thoughts were ratified when I learned something a little deeper than I could understand before. I believe what I heard someone else say, the bible will interpret itself if we will just keep an open mind Spiritually, rather than intellectually.
Some things I wanted to share here on AAG but I don’t because of it being too controversial to the religious, and I have no desire to cause confusion to those that are here to learn the basics of the Spirit filled life. Or the joy we have in Christ Jesus. So I just keep studying & ………,
Enjoyed your post.
Blessings to you,
Joe

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