There are over 450 versions of the Bible in English alone.\u00a0 New versions continue to be published, not all of which have as their primary interest that of being a precise translation of the ancient manuscripts.\u00a0 In fact, very few have that as their intended purpose.\u00a0 The September 25, 1995 issue of U. S. News & World Report carried an article entitled “Street Talk, Simplicity and PC” which reported the aim of many of the modern-day versions of the Bible is to make the “ancient scriptures more relevant and comprehensible to modern readers than the standard King James Version.”\u00a0 I am all for comprehending the Biblical text and for using understandable translations that help us understand it.\u00a0 Current language rather than archaic words and expressions can be very helpful toward that end.\u00a0 At the same time, we must recognize there are Bible “translations” that do not faithfully translate the ancient text.\u00a0 Rather than producing faithful translations, such versions are “thought” translations, offering us interpretations of the text rather than translations of it.\u00a0 These will not help us arrive at an accurate understanding of God’s word since their objective is not a word-for-word translation.\u00a0 Such versions cannot be confidently relied on as God’s word.<\/p>\n
Some attempts at modern language Bibles are nothing short of blasphemous.\u00a0\u00a0The New Testament and Psalms: An Inclusive Version<\/em>, published by Oxford University Press, uses gender-neutral language and other departures from the original text.\u00a0 God the Father is now the “Father-Mother” and the Son of Man is “the human one.”\u00a0 So as not to offend left-handed people, God’s right hand is now His “mighty hand,” and to avoid racial overtones, “darkness” is not used to depict evil.\u00a0 Ah yes, politically correct scriptures yet woefully corrupt translations.<\/p>\n Then there is the\u00a0Black Bible Chronicles<\/em>, a paraphrase by P. K. McCary, a Houston educator.\u00a0 She has used slang to “liven up” Biblical narratives for African-American teenagers.\u00a0 Here is her treatment of creation from Genesis One:\u00a0 “Now when the Almighty was first down with his program, He made the heavens and the earth.\u00a0 The earth was a fashion misfit, being so uncool and dark, but the Spirit of the Almighty came down real tough, so that He simply said, ‘Lighten up!’ And that light was right on time.”\u00a0 McCary also offers a paraphrase of the gospel called\u00a0Rapping With Jesus<\/em>.<\/p>\n We can learn at least two things from this.\u00a0 First, when we are not convinced the Bible is the verbally inspired word of God we begin to take more and more license with it.\u00a0 We fail to respect it as we should.\u00a0 We begin to shape it and mold it into what we want it to be, instead of conforming ourselves to it.\u00a0 The Bible calls such manipulation of the scriptures sin that leads to destruction (II Peter 3:16).\u00a0 Man has become the standard by which the Bible is judged instead of the other way around.<\/p>\n Second, could it be that we have become so lazy in our reading and study of the Bible that we simply do not want to exert the energy and effort required to know and properly use it?\u00a0 (II Timothy 2:15)\u00a0 We want all the work done for us.\u00a0 We have become comfortable with mediocre Bible knowledge.\u00a0 We should remember that Israel was destroyed for her lack of knowledge (Hosea 4:6).<\/p>\n God’s word is “living and active” and “abides forever” (Hebrews 4:12; I Peter 1:23-25).\u00a0 We should use a translation of the Bible that we can easily read and that is faithful to the Hebrew and Greek text.\u00a0 But we must not alter the text and meaning of God’s inspired word with “modern versions” that are really perversions (Galatians 1:6-9).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Joe R. Price There are over 450 versions of the Bible in English alone.\u00a0 New versions continue to be published, not all of which have as their primary interest that of being a precise translation of the ancient manuscripts.\u00a0 In fact, very few have that as their intended purpose.\u00a0 The September 25, 1995 issue…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[311],"class_list":["post-58138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-translations"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28669,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-matthew-2314-missing-in-some-versions\/","url_meta":{"origin":58138,"position":0},"title":"Why is Matthew 23:14 missing in some versions?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 31, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How come every single Bible I have ever seen (I mean every kind, every version, every one) has a verse missing. The verse is Matthew 23:14. It's like it doesn't exist, the Bible goes 13 then 15 but no 14. Look at any Bible and I can almost guarantee\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88983,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/modernizing-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":58138,"position":1},"title":"Modernizing the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Michael Ray Baggett When King Jehoiakim of Judah heard the writings of Jeremiah read to him, he destroyed the scroll. The King did not simply disagree with what he heard but took his penknife and cut off three or four pages and threw them in the fire until the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37328,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/should-we-trust-the-translation-of-the-bible-since-languages-change\/","url_meta":{"origin":58138,"position":2},"title":"Should we trust the translation of the Bible since languages change?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, I was wondering, should we be so confident to trust the translation of the Bible, seeing that language changes and the Greek spoken back then is most likely not the current Greek. Also with English and any other language, Language changes through time, words and meanings sometimes change\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-bible-translations-are-the-best\/","url_meta":{"origin":58138,"position":3},"title":"Which Bible translations are the best?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Which Bible translations have the highest accuracy? Answer: At one time, Bible translations were an arduous task that took years, if not decades, to complete. Now translations are appearing in rapid succession, and it is becoming difficult to keep up with the many that are available. I'll restrict my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":50437,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-kjv-the-only-true-bible-version\/","url_meta":{"origin":58138,"position":4},"title":"Is the KJV the Only True Bible Version?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Ethan R. Longhenry via\u00a0De Vibro Vitae There has been some discussion in the world today, even in the church, that there is one Bible version which is the only true version, the Authorized or King James Version. Is this so? How can we determine which Bible version is better,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":68224,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-newer-translations-leave-out-verses\/","url_meta":{"origin":58138,"position":5},"title":"Do Newer Translations Leave Out Verses?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"A meme has been passed around a good bit, usually with a warning that these newer versions, like the NIV, have removed certain phrases and verses. This is quite misleading and does not comport with how translations work and why certain phrases and passages are \"missing.\" The truth is, one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/KJV-NIV-meme-300x300.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}