Okay, so the NIV is "evil" or so I have read.. What about the NLT?

Question

Beats me, Jill gave me a link in my last question.. and they seemed fairly adamant against it.

Answer 1

Proverbs 27:17 is so right!! My hubby is still very new to Bible studies and such. So, we read it in the NIV, then pull out my old Living Bible, and then go back to the NIV. By then, it's starting to make much more sense to him. If he had to go by the KJV, there is no way he would ever even try to learn!

I know our seminaries, when they aren't using the Greek and the Hebrew, are using either the NKJV or the ESV. The lectionary uses the ESV, and prior to that the NIV. Many of us still use the NIV, and it's a wonderful translation. Although, from what I have read of the ESV, that will be my next one.

Answer 2

...People who don't understand the science of manuscript interpretation and get bent out of shape when their "important passages" that were COMPLETELY UNKNOWN for 13 CENTURIES are not included because of a total lack of VALID EVIDENCE.

NOTHING is that "wrong" with either of them, however, the kjv has several thousand spurious additions or deliberate mistranslations of the text. When you compare it to the several prior versions, it was not the best English Bible in 1611, and is VERY FAR from that now.

There are points in any of the modern translations where the rendering is a bit weak, but they are certainly sufficient for the average English reader, while kjv is NOT sufficient for the average reader to understand. When its proponents are studied, they consistently misinterpret passages from it. English has changed so much in ~400 years that much of it is not understood correctly..

There is NO SUCH THING as a "BEST" English Bible. The language is too broad and vocabulary and reading levels are too varied in the "English speaking world."

NLT, now in a second edition which differs significantly from the prior version called NLT (not the old "Living Bible Paraphrase") is at about a 6th grade reading level and NIV is slightly more complex, at a 7th or 8th grade level. Almost no verses from the two NLT editions read exactly the same... I usually paste scriptures in my answers from NLT or the about 3rd grade level NIrV when they are needed. I usually read the version open in my software's English column and if it fits the original well enough I'll use it, otherwise I'll look for a different translation or occasionally do a translation myself.

http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/cms_content?page=652502&sp=1003&event=1003MAIN has a chart of some popular translations and their reading grade level.

Jill: Why are you reading things OBVIOUSLY ADDED TO THE BIBLE RATHER THAN JUST THE BIBLE???

Answer 3

The issue Jill has is not a translation issue but a dating of the manuscript issue. The KJV happened to in this case, use a manuscript that was a later text. You have to be careful of claiming one Bible translation better than the rest. I'd rather have someone read the NIV and come to know Christ than to have them get lost in old English wording, and never read the Word. Let's get real here.

Answer 4

...who's been teaching you...? Ward Churchill ? To fully appreciate the Scriptures get a copy of the Greek lexicon and the B'rit Hadashah (the Hebrew text)... Translations like the NIV are a "fair" translation... Sadly "Jill" thinks the KJV is good translation... King Jimmy was a very poor translator of the Scriptures...and spoke an iconic English language that Yeshua never used, ever...

Answer 5

Similarly evil.

It is the same translation type (dynamic equivalence) so it's not translated "word for word" but "thought for thought". What the words mean are up to interpretation and so some interpretations will not jive with it.

Some might say it is less evil than NIV. I think there are fewer "weird translations" in it.

Answer 6

Try the Holy Bible KJV 1611

http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Bible/1611_authorized_king_james.htm

EDIT: I tell you this out of love in Christ. All other versions are watered down and take away scripture. For example look in your NIV and read Acts 8:37. Then go to the KJV and read it. You want the whole word of God, not just parts of it.

Answer 7

I've not heard that the NIV is evil. How so?