What's the Difference?

Have you ever wondered what the difference between various Bible translations really is? Or why it even matters which version you use as long as it’s a Bible?


Let’s take a moment to evaluate. There are two different types of Bible translations. The most widely accepted is the “dynamic equivalent,” or thought-for-thought version. This type of translation takes the original Greek and Hebrew texts and translates the thoughts and concepts into English while leaving out certain words or metaphors that may not be understood by the modern audience. While there are indeed some very decent and reliable dynamic equivalents, they do not compare with “formal dynamics” or literal translations, which translate the exact, or nearly exact, words from one language to another. Among these is the widely acclaimed English Standard Version, or ESV.

Within the past fifteen years or so, a new craze has taken flight in America’s Christian culture with the use of The Message Bible. What is The Message? Well, it’s a very liberally translated paraphrase of the original texts that attempts to make the Word of God more accessible and comprehensible to the modern reader. It does this, however, at the expense of many foundational elements in the Word. Eugene Peterson, the lone author of the work, downplays demonic activities and homosexuality and attempts to convey an overall more “friendly” tone.

Allow me to give you an example. Many of you are already familiar with Ephesians 6:12. “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” That’s in the ESV. Now, notice how earnest the text is in conveying the seriousness of the fight—“rulers,” “authorities,” “cosmic powers,” “darkness,” and “forces of evil.” Weighty, right? Let’s turn to Ephesians 6:12 in The Message. “This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.” Tell me, does this seem to be nearly as convincing as the word-for-word version? Does it speak with the same solemnity and gravity? No, not really.



Quiz Time!

Alright, now, this is all well and good, but still, what does it really matter? So this popular new version is less intense, but it’s still the Bible, right? Maybe. We all agree that the Bible calls us not to conform to the world. Now, I’m going to read you two quotes at a time and I want you to decide which one is from The Message.

1. a) “With an eye made quiet by the power of harmony, and the deep power of joy, we see into the life of things.”

b)“[I have] more joy in one ordinary day than they get in all their shopping sprees.”

Which quote would you identify as coming from The Message, as coming from a supposed version of the Bible? The answer is “b”—yes, who knew the Bible talked about shopping sprees? The other one was from William Wordsworth.

2. a) “Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way…to finding yourself, your true self.”

b) “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”

Which of these “find yourself” quotes could possibly have been taken from The Message? The answer was “a,” from Matthew 16:25. The second one was Gandhi.

3. a) “Nature always wears the colors of the Spirit.”

b) "Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches."

Nature? Wind? What kind of “spirit” is this—is it even in the Word of God? The answer, evidently, is yes, “b” is found in Revelation 3:22. “A” was Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I’m sure you are getting the point. The Message sounds a lot like these other worldly men—so much so that it actually serves to water down the true message of Scripture. So what do we do?

Let’s go back to our options. We’ve got dynamic equivalence, which would be your Message, Living Bible, and TNIV. Then we have the translations that are, in a manner of speaking, split between the two, such as the NIV and the NAB. Finally, we have our formal equivalence Bibles, the most accurate and reliable reads we have without simply learning Greek and Hebrew. These would be your NASB and ESV.

While the NASB is highly accurate in nature, it doesn’t flow as well in its read. The ESV, on the other hand, is totally reliable as well as being completely readable.

The website affirms that “The ESV is committed to the principle of ‘word-for-word’ translation, as the translation philosophy that most accurately conveys the Bible’s own understanding that ‘all Scripture is breathed out by God’ (2 Timothy 3:16), or as Jesus said, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’ (Matthew 4:4).”

Choosing to read and use the ESV over other translations allows for a more accurate, profitable, and serious study of the Word that shall stand firm forever. Why settle for anything less?





Bibliography

"How is the ESV Different from Other Translations?" ESV.org: Official Website of the English Standard Version Bible. Web. 28 Feb. 2010. .

The Message. Colorado Springs: NavPress Group, 2002. Print.

Ryken, Leland. Choosing a Bible understanding Bible translation differences. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2005.  Print.

Having a Form of Godliness

How familiar has this scene become in America's comfortable, non-confrontational churches?

“People go to their place of worship and sit down comfortably, and think they must be Christians, when all the time all that their religion consists in is listening to an orator, having their ears tickled with music, and perhaps their eyes amused with graceful action and fashionable manners; the whole being no better than what they hear and see at the opera—not so good, perhaps, in point of aesthetic beauty, and not an atom more spiritual. Thousands are congratulating themselves, and even blessing God that they are devout worshippers, when at the same time they are living in an unregenerate Christless state, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. He who presides over a system which aims at nothing higher than formalism is far more a servant of the devil than a minister of God.”                                                                                          Charles Spurgeon, from Lectures to My Students

"O Lord, do not forsake me." Psalm 38:21

"Do not forsake me in my joys, lest they absorb my heart. Do not forsake me in my sorrows, lest I murmur against You. Do not forsake me in the day of my repentance, lest I lose the hope of pardon, and fall into despair; and do not forsake me in the day of my strongest faith, lest faith degenerate into presumption. Do not forsake me for without You I am weak, but with You I am strong. Do not forsake me, for my path is dangerous, and full of snares, and I cannot do without Your guidance." -C.H. Spurgeon

Time

Question: does anyone else find themselves looking back and wondering what on earth they spent the last few hours doing? Let me explain.

On an average day, I run about my life fretting as to how on earth I’m going to get everything done. It’s hard enough to complete all of the obligatory to-do’s on my list, but then there are those extra things that seem to be such great ideas or would make doing this other thing so much easier and I’m so enthusiastic and I know that completing these extra tasks will bring so much satisfaction and, and—

However, at the end of the day, I find that I have barely completed my obligations and have absolutely no time for the extras—why? Theoretically, the priorities didn’t take up all that much time, yet I still find time to be lacking.

I’m finding more and more that what draws me away and consumes my time most are all the little things that like to fool me. The short “breaks” here and there add up. Momentary distractions become hours of waste over time. Yet somehow it’s subtle and it slowly sucks me away from a sea of other worthwhile activities.

The greatest example, I believe, for most people, of neglected work is devotions. How incredibly easy is it to find that you have run out of minutes in the day to sit down and spend time solely with your Savior and God? It’s as simple as over-sleeping by ten minutes, sometimes. If I miss that one block of time that I’ve planned to set aside, any hope for it at all that day seems to be lost.

It would seem that an evaluation of the use of one’s time is the best way to measure their level of self-control and self-discipline.

"I Will Sing of the Lamb"

At our evening service at Cambridge Presbyterian Church, we sang a hymn that I'd never heard before but that I absolutely love.

I will sing of the Lamb,
Of the price that was paid for me,
Purchased by God,
Giving all that He could give!
Here now I stand
In the garments of righteousness;
Death has no hold, for in Jesus I live.

I will sing of His blood
That flows for my wretchedness,
Wounds that are bared
That I may be healed;
Power and compassion,
The marks of His ministry:
May they be mine as I harvest His field.

O, I will sing of the Lamb.
O, I will sing of the Lamb.
My heart fills with wonder,
My mouth fills with praise!
Hallelujah, hallelujah.

Once I was blind,
Yet believed I saw everything,
Proud in my ways,
Yet a fool in my part;
Lost and alone
In the company of multitudes,
Life in my body,
Yet death in my heart.

O, I will sing of the Lamb.
O, I will sing of the Lamb.
O, why should the King
Save a sinner like me?
Hallelujah, hallelujah.

What shall I give
To the man who gave everything,
Humbling himself
Before all he had made?
Dare I withhold
My own life from his sovereignty?
I shall  give all for the sake of His name!

O, I will sing of the Lamb.
O, I will sing of the Lamb.
I'll sing of His love
For the rest of my days!
Hallelujah, hallelujah.


Stuart Townend

Update

Hey, ya'll!

Well, I'm sitting in a youth hostel in Oxford, England, despite the fact that we should be on a plane home right now. We're scheduled to leave on Sunday, though, so please pray that we will experience no further delays. This will certainly be the most memorable and exciting Great Britain/France tour in CHS history--a 15 day trip turned to a 20 day trip with valcanoes and ash and broken coaches thrown in. But we'll certainly manage.

Prayers:
-No further delays
-The arrival of and arrangements for medicines for those who need it
-Paitience on the part of everyone
-Calmed worries for those who are nervous

Thanks:
-That we have a plane that's scheduled to fly out
-For such gracious teachers and chaparones who are putting up with us and making all sorts of arrangements
-For the host families who are willing to take us on so unexpectedly

Hello from Scotland!

We're up in Newmilns, Scotland right now, staying with host families from one of the local churches. Monica and I are staying with a lovely family--Paul, Pam, and seven-year-old Abi--and are just about to leave to have dinner with Kendrick, Sam, and Kyler and their host family. I must admit that I was incredibly nervous in the days leading up to our stay, since we had no idea what kind of family we'd be with or who of our friends would be be in the same house, but God has blessed me and we're all getting along famously, though it's a bit embarassing that I fell asleep after breakfast while I was journaling and then again on the car ride home from Culzean Castle and Park.

Speaking of journals, I'm going to have to type up a few exerpts from my journal when I get home. I know that it'll be late, but, hey, ya work with what ya got.

Oh, but Scotland is positively stunning--the farther north you go, the more beautiful the land becomes (not to mention the more cold it becomes). The drives are incredible. Rolling green hills, grazing sheep, and old castles and mansions. Better than both France and England. How can anyone deny the existence of a Holy and Great Creator?

As we're approaching our final days here, I want to ask you guys to pray for safe travels as a group, no wasted time as individuals, and a smooth transition back into school on Wednesday as teachers, students, and parents.