Scot McKnight – The Politics of Bible Translations

This is a very important article for those interested in matters of Bible translation. Here is the beginning of it.

* * *

The Bible you carry is a political act. By “Bible” I mean the Translation of the Bible you carry is a political act. Because the Bible you carry is a political act the rhetoric about other translations is more politics than it is reality. The reality is that the major Bible translations in use today are all good, and beyond good, translations. There is no longer a “best” translation but instead a basket full of exceptional translations.

The world in which we live, however, has turned the Bible you carry into politics. So here goes for my politics of translation at the general, stereotypical level, and it goes without having to say it that there are exceptions for each, [added: and I have “de-raced” my descriptions to avoid that conversation]:

The NIV 2011 is the Bible of conservative evangelicals.
The NLT is the Bible of conservative evangelicals.
The TNIV is the Bible of egalitarian evangelicals.

Advertisement

Which is the most FAITHFUL translation of the Bible to the original texts? – 1

I have received this question from my virtual friend RomGabe, a Lutheran of Romanian origin, living now in Scandinavia, as a comment to a post on my blog about Southern Baptists banning the NIV 2011 from their shops (redirected from ABP). Since the issue is too important and complex to deal with in a comment, I have decided to respond with a separate blog post. Here it is.

Faithfulness to the Word? Which one?

To be fair, Gabriel, and sorry to say that, I do not share your anxiety about finding ‘the most FAITHFUL translation’ of the Bible. Let me explain.

I believe that the ‘Word of God’, in the highest sense of the word, is Jesus Christ, the son of God. Figuring him out, as much as humanly possible is the most important matter for me.