The Word of God

Before I gave my life to the Lord I had started reading the Bible.  I spent a lot of time trying to figure out which translation of the Bible to get.  I had an old Living Bible from my young childhood (which I still have) & I had a KJV Bible, which was hard for me to understand.  I finally ended up getting a NRSV Bible & that's what I was reading. 

As time passed & I gave my life to the Lord I ended up hearing about the Amplified Bible & I really liked it a lot & used it for many years.  I will never forget how the father of the guy I was dating long ago as a new Christian always insisted that it was a "chick's Bible" because it was so wordy.  His own wife loved it just as much as I did.

While I was dating my husband we were doing a Bible study together & I remember I was having a hard time answering questions in the study.  I did not know what my Bible was saying in the verses the questions were referring to.  I went to him & asked him how he had answered those questions & he showed me the same verses in his Bible & it was clear & simple.  I soon went & bought a Bible like his--the New Living Translation. 

A couple of years after we married we decided to get "study Bibles".  I ended up with Life Application NLT study Bible & my husband chose a NLT study Bible, but I can't remember which one it was.  Later on my hubby wanted a large print Bible & I got him the Life Application NLT in large print.

Since way back in my early days as a Christian up until now I have heard many, many comments on the NIV not being a good translation.  Yet somehow it remains the most popular translation out there.  I have never owned an NIV because so many highly respected people say it's not to be trusted.  The thing that bothers me is that no one ever explains WHY it's not to be trusted. 

Our pastor at our church preaches out of the NKJV translation.  I have often wished I owned a NKJV so I can follow along more easily in church.  And recently our pastor keeps reminding us that while the NLT is a nice version for READING, it should NOT be used for STUDYING the Word of God.  I was planning to get my hubby a NKJV study Bible for Father's Day (or possibly our anniversary) & then I was gonna hope for one for myself for my birthday or Christmas. 

A friend of mine recently shared on her blog that she had gotten the NKJV MacArthur study Bible & how much she loved it.  I was thinking about getting that one for my hubby & when I googled it to see if it was available in large print I found some distressing links popping up about false doctrine in this Bible.

Some time ago I saw something that mentioned that modern Bible translations are not to be trusted, but I sort of brushed it off.  And of course I've always known there's a possibility of the NIV not being trustworthy.  So now that I've seen this info more than once I decided to dig deeper & make sure I'm not overlooking something important. 

I did a little more searching & stuck with 3 websites to really look into. 

1) As we looked at this website  we pulled out our YouVersion app on our iPhones & found that what they are saying is true of the NIV but not of the NKJV.  We did not take the time to look at more translations than that. 

2) As we looked at this website we were shocked to see that (according to this website) the NIV was translated by homosexuals & they removed the word "sodomite" from the NIV.  We checked & yes indeed the word sodomite is not in the NIV, but it does still say "men having sex with men".....so I'm not too sure about this website.

3) This website is a little more disturbing to me because it clearly says sooo many translations are suspect.  I still need to take a closer look here & at the verses & translations they are referring to.  We haven't yet dug into these on this website.

When I asked my friend (who had bought the MacArthur study Bible) about this she took some time to look into it, & then she shared with me that she also contacted her church & they told her to read this book.  But personally I have issues with this.  For one I can already tell what the book is going to say based on the title.  And also I have an issue with the fact that it's referring to people claiming the KJV is the only version to be trusted.  I didn't see that being said anywhere.  Even though they are listing many modern translations as being untrustworthy, I did not see the amplified Bible listed anywhere as being suspect & I'm sure there are other translations that are not listed as being suspect & nowhere did I see it saying that the KJV is the ONLY one to be trusted.  So I am not going to bother with this book.

I did, however, email my own church & ask about this.  The high school pastor responded, asking me for sources that I got the information from, so that he could look into it more.  I sent him the 3 links I listed above & he answered back saying he had never heard of this before so he really wanted to take some time & delve into it thoroughly.  He mostly pointed out that they aren't citing any sources of their information they are proclaiming.  He also pointed out that they aren't considering what Greek text the Bible was translated from.  He stated that the NIV should be regarded on the same level as the NLT.  His bottom line was the NKJV can be safely used & trusted for studying God's Word.

He did suggest this book & also this pamphlet for further understanding HOW Bibles are translated.  I might look into these at some point I think.  But right now I have too much on my plate to read these.

And we did already pick out new Bibles!  I chose this one & the hubs chose this one.  We are very happy with our choices & love being able to follow along word for word in church!!