One True Bible Translation?

Lately I've encountered some groups who claim that the 1611 King James Bible is the only valid Bible translation. I even read a statement on one website that said the 1611 King James is the "exact Words of God". When I read, or hear, statements like that my first reaction is, "Does that mean that God speaks 1611 King James english? Wasn't the Bible written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek?"Our God is above all language and nationality and time. The Gospel message transcends all language and nationality and time. In my opinion, people who focus too much on language are focusing on the wrong thing.

Why do some people insist that the 1611 King James is the only valid Bible translation? Is it because it sounds more authoritative and formal? What some people apparently forget is that in 1611, the KJV was written in the common language of the day. Is it because it's old, and therefore not corrupt like all modern things? Is it because of tradition? Do some people assume that the older a translation is the more pure it is? If that is the case, why stop at 1611? Why not go back to the Geneva Bible of 1560? Why not go back to Tyndale's New Testament, or the Great Bible? The Geneva was the Bible of the reformers, and it was the Bible the Pilgrims brought to America. Interestingly, in its day, the 1611 King James was considered a corruption of the Geneva Bible. It is, in fact, based largely on the Geneva Bible.

If the 1611 King James is the only valid Bible translation, what does that mean for people who don't read or speak English? Does this mean that they cannot hear God's Word in their language? I am reminded of what a missinary to Russia said in my church, "People ask me what version of the Bible the Russians use. I tell them that they use the Russian version. Then these people ask me which one? The Russian version. There is no King James or NIV in Russian. There is THE Russian version." In other words, there was only one Russian version of the Bible when this missionary spoke in our church. We Enlgish speakers are blessed to have many different versions of the Bible. Many other languages do not have this choice available to them. This blessing also brings with it grave responsibility. We must be careful that the Bible we read is a valid, accurate translation of God's Word.

Today there are a lot of English Bibles, and more are added as time goes by. It's true that there are some really poor Bible translations out there, and there are some that are really good. There was a new translation released recently called the SMS Version. It is intended for mobile phone and messaging services. Here's a quote from Genesis 1:1, "In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth." Hmmm... One tranlation that gets a lot of publicity is the Message. I advise you to steer clear of this one, and steer clear of those who quote, or teach, from it. The Message is, in my opinion, a watered-down paraphrase of a poor translation. It seems to have been written for the liberal preachers and feel-good easy-believeism of our day.

Right now I'm using the Holman Christian Standard Bible as my main Bible. It was well researched and it is in modern language. The messages of the Bible are not watered-down or distorted. As far asI can tell, and my research shows, it is a good, valid, modern English Bible. I also like the New American Standard, and I use a King James, also. I like the King James, but I am against the idea that it is the only valid Bible translation. I tend to stay away from the NIV, but I don't really have anything against it - I just don't prefer it. I do tend to prefer Bibles that are more formal inlanguage. On my PDA I have several versions of the Bible, includingthe ASV, Rotherham, Darby (considered by many to be one of the most accurate English translations), KJV, Literal Version, MKJV, World English Bible, Bible in Basic English, Weymouth New Testament,Young's Literal Translation, and part of the Geneva Bible. It is handy to have all of these available for comparison.

So what's my message in all of this? Choose your Bible carefully.There are a lot of good Bible translations available to us today. When in doubt, go with a trusted, respected translation of the Bible. And remember Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and effective and sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating as far as to divide soul, spirit, joints, and marrow; it is a judge of the ideas and thoughts of the heart."

Bish

A good resource on the Web for Bible translations is www.Biblegateway.com. They have Bibles in many languages and translations. However, they do not have the Geneva Bible. TheGeneva can be found at http://www.genevabible.org/Geneva.html .