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  • From: "chuckles77 AT juno.com" <chuckles77 AT juno.com>
  • To: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Re: Usage of Various Bible Translations
  • Date: Fri, 7 Jan 2005 19:54:25 GMT


My two cents on the differing Bible translations in English:

I've ministered in a full-time capacity for over ten years to college
students here in the U.S., and I can attest to the steady decline in biblical
literacy. I see this more as a result of a cultural shift occurring in the
States but it also has, I think, to do with some fundamental problems in our
education system.

I doubt, for example, that the average high school or college student has
enough background in either the classics or the Bible to be able to
understand such works as Dante or Milton or even parts of Chaucer or
Shakespeare on their own. Furthermore, the "microwave-ready" mentality
prevalent in our culture (yielding passive interaction with texts vs. an
active one) has certainly produced an atrophying influence to the next
generation's ability to wrestle with a text, be it biblical, classical, or
otherwise.

I think the flood of English translations over the last few few decades,
which tend to be more towards the DE end of the spectrum, is a signpost for
these things. However, that should not be taken as a criticism of DE
translations in and of itself. It's simply a fact.

I know and have befriended many students who have a minimal knowledge of the
Bible. They are completely unfamiliar with its accounts, and are often, to
be honest, not very good readers. For them, a translation such as the NLT or
NIV really is the best translation to start out with.

As a student develops a familiarity with the Bible, I encourage them to be
exposed to translations more on the FE side of the spectrum, such as the
NASB, the ESV, or the new HCSB. In this way they take on more of a
responsibility to actively engage themselves with the text--and discover much
more with a translation that is more transparent to what the original authors
wrote.

My point, in echoing Comfort, is that different translations can play a
vital role in the step-by-step process a person goes through in developing an
understanding of the biblical text. The DE translations make the biblical
text much more accessable at the outset for our students. Yet my desire is
for them to gradually "graduate" to FE translations that will offer a greater
challenge to strengthen their exegetical "muscles" as well as opening their
eyes to nuances of the text that are ofttimes missing in the DE translations.

So, can we agree that all the English translations discussed can serve a
useful, and even important, role in helping people understand the Bible, if
used appropriately?

All the best,
Chuck Wynn
Campus Staff, Riverview Church
www.eriv.net




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