A Personal Journey to a new English translation of the Bible

Some of you have come to me to ask about my decision to switch from the NIV to the ESV.  I decided to write an explanation that would provide greater insight than a simple Sunday morning sound-bite announcement.

Every Christian I know of has the version of the Bible on which they were raised.  Switching for anyone from that version to another is a daunting prospect.  So it has been for me.  I have large portions of the NIV text memorized.  I have been reading from it for 25 of my 29 years of following Christ.  During that time, I have read through the whole Bible many times, each time only in the NIV translation.  One of my most highly respected professors in seminary served on the translation team for the NIV as well.  In addition to these personal reasons, the NIV has been the dominant Bible translation in North American evangelical circles since shortly after its release in 1985.  There are many reasons to continue with this version so examining a switch was not a simple matter of preference.  If that were all that were involved, I likely would have remained with the NIV translation since I had preferred it for so long.

So what caused me to question it?  There are several factors.  I first began to examine the NIV in greater detail in seminary after I had gained some knowledge of Greek and Hebrew.  While the vast majority of the text was a solid translation, the more I preached from it with an understanding of the original text, the more I found myself saying things like, “The NIV says this… but the original says this…”  I was always very careful to use those explanations sparingly and with a great deal of study from people with greater skill than I in the languages.  All the same, I found those moments to be more and more frequent the longer I preached from it.  I began to recognize and become increasingly concerned that the more this happened the more I would be communicating to the congregation that they could not trust that translation.  I feared that this could communicate something even more devastating: that they could not trust the Word itself. 

Just a few years ago, the NIV translation committee then released an updated version, the TNIV.  It was an attempt to be more gender inclusive in its translation into English.  It succeeded on many fronts but failed miserably in others.  Just a few months ago, the translation committee released another updated translation of the TNIV that was moderately improved but still had many of the same issues as their first attempt.  At the same time, publishers announced that the original 1985 NIV text, the one I believe to be the best translation of the three, would now be out of print.  Only the 2011 TNIV would be available from here onward.  I knew that I could not recommend this revised text to our congregation as a translation for regular use either for personal discipleship or weekly worship.  I thought perhaps we could continue with the 1985 NIV text for a while and that would buy us some time…

… then I was led to our series in Hosea.  When looking at chapter 1 in the 1985 NIV and chapter 1 in the ESV, there was no comparison as to accuracy.  The ESV preserves the sense and parallelism of the original while the NIV attempts to apologetically water down the text rather than say what is there.  I could go no further.  I knew what I would have to say if I preached this series from this translation.  It was not a good translation.  If that was so, then why was I preaching from it and encouraging our congregation to hear it?

When I arrived here, the NIV was the Church’s translation.  I have been an NIV preacher my entire career so I simply stuck with what I knew.  However, I am now convinced that the ESV is a more faithful translation.  For this congregation, this actually represents a move back to a better place.

In the Presbyterian Church (pick one, the rules are the same on this score no matter which one you choose), the text to be read in the worship service is chosen by the Pastor.  That means simply what it says.  It does not mean that the congregation has to read from the same version as the one from which the Pastor preaches.  It does not mean that you have to run out and purchase a new Bible.  I know that on any given Sunday there are multiple different English versions being read in the congregation and I hope that continues.  I hope that everyone will really wrestle with the text because it is in the differences in each translation that we can see where some of the key issues are and gain understanding together.  In fact, making use of a number of different English translations is a regular part of my sermon preparation routine.

So if it doesn’t mean those things, what does it mean?  As far as Bibles in the pews and the Sunday school go, we will continue to use the 1985 NIV’s that we have until they are all given away.  Any new Bibles that we purchase will be ESV Bibles.  This includes Bibles for third graders, pew Bibles, and any other English versions that we may purchase or give away.  This will take some time and we are in no rush.  In the meantime, bring your own Bible to worship as has been our emphasis all along J.  The NIV has served us well.  The ESV has as well and will continue to do so in the future.

In Christ, Pastor Pat