Bible Stuff

Hi everyone,

 

1). The Voice Bible Translation. It is a nice Sunday, with the Vikings winning on the road at Jacksonville, which gives me a grateful heart this Thanksgiving season. And so with my grateful heart, one of things I am most grateful for is God's Word. And with Bible week coming up, I am thinking of the Bible, God's Word, and some new things taking place recently. First, a new Bible translation is being released called The Voice and the early take on this translation is that it is nothing more than a translation for the Emergent Church, and so should be avoided. And so, I decided to take a look to see if the Voice translation is really all that dangerous. I did this by seeing how it compares to a great literal translation like the ESV. Here is a side-by-side comparison for two passages of the Voice and the ESV:

 

 

 

The Voice:

JOHN 3:16-17 For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. Here's the point. God didn't send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.

 

Hebrews 11:1-2 Faith is the assurance of things you have hoped for, the absolute conviction that there are realities you've never seen. It was by faith that our forebears were approved.

 

 

ESV:

JOHN 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

 

Hebrews 11:1-2 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation.

 

 

And so, my quick take of the Voice is that it seems like a nice translation to help with providing more insight into passages that may seems stale after years of reading. But even from this simple look at just two passages, I am concerned about using the Voice as one's only Bible translation. For example, in John 3:16, instead of saying that those who do not believe in Jesus will perish (as most modern translations use), the Voice says non-believers will "not face everlasting destruction." Is this a major mis-translation? No, but it sure seems to open the door for reading into this verse that non-believers will only die as their punishment. I don't know, but I am careful when it comes to the Bible, and I would need to see more before I am willing to recommend or dismiss the Voice.

 

2) Bible Study Magazine; If you are looking to add some depth to your study of the Bible, check out a new magazine put out by the makers of the great Logos Bible software, called Bible Study Magazine Their selling point is right on: "There is simply no other magazine on the market that focuses entirely on the Bible and Bible study."

I like having something in my hands to read, and so I enthusiastically recommend this new magazine. Even in this age where there is so much to read on the Internet, it's nice to take some time and read interesting articles, like an interview with Josh McDowell, a Bible Study for Hebrews, and an interesting look at the Power described in the Gospel of Luke. There is some basic Greek that is contained in the magazine, but nothing that would discourage someone without a background in studying the New Testament Greek. And so, if you're looking for something new to spice up your time in God's Word, check it out. If you'd like more information, check out this review: http://expositorythoughts.wordpress.com/;

 

3). Every Language with its own Bible Translation by 2025; Story Here. 7,000 workers set sights on Gospel around the globe. A $50 million donation is being used to kick off an effort to reach an estimated 200 million people around the world with a Bible written in their own language by the year 2025.

The Last Languages Campaign is being launched by Wycliffe Bible Translators, whose leaders believe "not only do people comprehend the Bible best when it is written in the language they speak in their home, but that critical community development – literacy, the establishment of water purification systems, AIDS education , human rights, and community empowerment – often starts in the strangest place: with Bible translation."

The organization this year is recognizing Bible Week, which runs over Thanksgiving week, with a variety of events to celebrate a new campaign that will use high-tech translation techniques to accelerate the pace of language development and translation.

What previously was projected for 125 years of work now is being organized into a 17-year effort scheduled to conclude in 2025.