In view of the major revisions to the New International Version, a translation evaluation committee has been appointed. Their work will lead to a broad discussion of translations. Here's a starting point.


Session 3:
We cannot underestimate the importance of choosing a translation that is faithful to the original texts.

Jesus told Pilate, " 'Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.' 'What is truth?' Pilate asked" (John 18:37,38). His question has a modern ring. The same question comes from cynics, critics of Christianity's claims, and even Christians. Jesus told his disciples that he was the truth (John 14:6) and on more than one occasion said that he had come from heaven to share the message of his heavenly Father with our sin-scarred planet.

We treasure the truth of Jesus in the Scriptures because we came to know Jesus through the Scriptures. That's why the apostle John said they were written: "These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name" (John 20:31). In good and bad times, we have turned to the Scriptures for strength, courage, and comfort. Especially as we have walked life's darkest valleys, we have pressed important passages close to our hearts. We memorized them and underlined them in our Bibles. Finally, we know the Scriptures are God's words and give us the truth in a world that questions everything. When skeptics seem to erode every truth in the name of scholarship, political correctness, and progress, we look for answers in Scripture, as the Bereans did (Acts 17:11).

The Bible is still the most purchased book in the world, but most Christians don't buy the Scriptures in the original texts of Greek and Hebrew. We purchase and use a Bible in the language we speak every day. In whatever language we read, we want the translation to be true to the original. As confessional Lutherans, who understand sola Scriptura, we are serious about what God says.

When a translation changes, our ears perk up and our guard comes up too. The jarring sounds of once familiar and treasured passages spoken in slightly different words and expressions get our attention. We ask, "Is this right?" "Is it better?" "Why did they change it?"

Years ago, many of us went through a transition from the treasured tones of King James English to a more contemporary English. The King James Version celebrates four hundred years of use this year. That long history had deeply engrained passages in Christian hearts. We are being asked to shift again, and we have questions.

Is the translation accurate?