Over the past six months or so, we have made a number of changes to the default Bible version/translation here at Christianity Board. We know that this is a touchy subject among many and we are not here to declare our version choice the best or necessarily better than others. In fact, each translation is truly a compromise because they all have their issues and quarks.
The reason that we settled upon the New International Version (NIV) is related to the clarity and relative accuracy of the translation. I personally consulted a number of resources and people across denominations (Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, etc.) to look not only at the translations themselves, but also at the basis, goals and outcomes of the translation process. What I discovered is that translation is a mix of art and science, and that it is certainly not an exact science. We simply must look at what we have, use a little logic and common sense, and trust that if God preserved the Bible in the first place, he would preserve an acceptable translation (or translations) of it to this very day. I personally believe that He accomplishes this with most translations on the market.
The NIV offers the perspicuity (clarity) that we Protestants accept and expect with God's Holy Scripture. The NIV uses modern language, but it does retain a good portion of some key phrases that are not exactly modern in truth to Scripture. The latest revision, the NIV 2011, does offer updates to the English language that are confirmed by my own academic background in English and my limited background in linguistics. We do acknowledge that the NIV falls a little short in the lack of traditional Biblical vocabulary (propitiation, et al.), yet we also understand these terms must be theologically defined for many who have not grown up with these terms anyway.
In regards to gender concerns, the NIV seeks to include women yet not change key passages where gender roles are defined. For example, I Timothy 2:12 is actually translated the same way that John Calvin translated the controversial passage in his translation. All language for God retains its masculinity, but women are rightfully included in the Bible with the shift to "brothers and sisters" where the Bible indicates both sexes, as well as the shift to the third person singular they.
The NIV is most often called a mediating translation or sometimes a dynamic equivalence translation. The truth is that the NIV falls virtually at the absolute center of being a literal or dynamic translation, meaning that it mixes word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation because the exact literal rendering of a passage would be unintelligible in English. This retains the figurative language (and often ambiguity) of the Bible, but also makes it accessible to modern readers just as the common Greek of the New Testament would have been accessible to readers of that era.
We also have confidence in the NIV and the translation committee (known as Biblica) for the endurance of the translation. It's position at the top of the charts for Bibles means that it's the closest thing to a universal translation of the Bible that we will get.
To wrap my thoughts up, we selected the NIV from the likes of the NKJV, ESV, HCSB, NET, NRSV, NASB, and NLT. As you can see, a number of translations were considered, and we briefly used the HCSB after longtime use of the ESV. While the ESV is a great translation I will continue to consult, there are certain details that the translation committee maintains were carried out in regards to literalness that are just not so. This leaves the ESV unnecessarily difficult to understand at times. The HCSB, while coming quite close to being a better NIV, falls short with its inconsistent usage of Yahweh (God's name) and Messiah (over Christ). For new or nonbelievers, the HCSB's usage of the aforementioned words can lead one to believe that the Lord and Yahweh might be different Gods when the words are sometimes used interchangeably in the same sentence. The NLT is another great translation, but it just becomes too dynamic at times.
We hope and pray that we've made the right choice. We've carefully considered the alternatives, and discussions amongst my team lead to this change. I thank them for their excellent input and patience. May the peace of God be upon you, and may all glory be His!
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The reason that we settled upon the New International Version (NIV) is related to the clarity and relative accuracy of the translation. I personally consulted a number of resources and people across denominations (Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Anglican, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, etc.) to look not only at the translations themselves, but also at the basis, goals and outcomes of the translation process. What I discovered is that translation is a mix of art and science, and that it is certainly not an exact science. We simply must look at what we have, use a little logic and common sense, and trust that if God preserved the Bible in the first place, he would preserve an acceptable translation (or translations) of it to this very day. I personally believe that He accomplishes this with most translations on the market.
The NIV offers the perspicuity (clarity) that we Protestants accept and expect with God's Holy Scripture. The NIV uses modern language, but it does retain a good portion of some key phrases that are not exactly modern in truth to Scripture. The latest revision, the NIV 2011, does offer updates to the English language that are confirmed by my own academic background in English and my limited background in linguistics. We do acknowledge that the NIV falls a little short in the lack of traditional Biblical vocabulary (propitiation, et al.), yet we also understand these terms must be theologically defined for many who have not grown up with these terms anyway.
In regards to gender concerns, the NIV seeks to include women yet not change key passages where gender roles are defined. For example, I Timothy 2:12 is actually translated the same way that John Calvin translated the controversial passage in his translation. All language for God retains its masculinity, but women are rightfully included in the Bible with the shift to "brothers and sisters" where the Bible indicates both sexes, as well as the shift to the third person singular they.
The NIV is most often called a mediating translation or sometimes a dynamic equivalence translation. The truth is that the NIV falls virtually at the absolute center of being a literal or dynamic translation, meaning that it mixes word-for-word and thought-for-thought translation because the exact literal rendering of a passage would be unintelligible in English. This retains the figurative language (and often ambiguity) of the Bible, but also makes it accessible to modern readers just as the common Greek of the New Testament would have been accessible to readers of that era.
We also have confidence in the NIV and the translation committee (known as Biblica) for the endurance of the translation. It's position at the top of the charts for Bibles means that it's the closest thing to a universal translation of the Bible that we will get.
To wrap my thoughts up, we selected the NIV from the likes of the NKJV, ESV, HCSB, NET, NRSV, NASB, and NLT. As you can see, a number of translations were considered, and we briefly used the HCSB after longtime use of the ESV. While the ESV is a great translation I will continue to consult, there are certain details that the translation committee maintains were carried out in regards to literalness that are just not so. This leaves the ESV unnecessarily difficult to understand at times. The HCSB, while coming quite close to being a better NIV, falls short with its inconsistent usage of Yahweh (God's name) and Messiah (over Christ). For new or nonbelievers, the HCSB's usage of the aforementioned words can lead one to believe that the Lord and Yahweh might be different Gods when the words are sometimes used interchangeably in the same sentence. The NLT is another great translation, but it just becomes too dynamic at times.
We hope and pray that we've made the right choice. We've carefully considered the alternatives, and discussions amongst my team lead to this change. I thank them for their excellent input and patience. May the peace of God be upon you, and may all glory be His!
2 Timothy 3:16-17 NIV
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
