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<\/a>The Bible you carry is a political act. By \u201cBible\u201d 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 \u201cbest\u201d translation but instead a basket full of exceptional translations.<\/p>\nThe 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 \u201cde-raced\u201d my descriptions to avoid that conversation]:<\/p>\n
The NIV 2011 is the Bible of conservative evangelicals.
\nThe NLT is the Bible of conservative evangelicals.
\nThe TNIV is the Bible of egalitarian evangelicals.
\nThe ESV is the Bible of complementarian conservative evangelicals.
\nThe NASB is the Bible of conservative evangelical serious Bible students.
\nThe NRSV is the Bible of Protestant mainliners.
\nThe RSV is the Bible of aged Protestant mainliners.
\nThe CEB is the Bible of Protestant mainliners.
\nThe KJV \u2026 fill in the blank yourself.
\nThe Message is the Bible of those who are tired of the politics (and like something fresh).<\/p>\n
[As some have pointed out, I have not included the Bibles of other major branches of the church \u2014 Roman Catholics tend to have their own translations as do the Orthodox and others. Thanks for these.]<\/p>\n
Now the big one: each of these translations is a very good translation. The rhetoric that \u201cour Bible\u201d is better than your Bible \u2014 masked as \u201cword for word\u201d or \u201caccurate\u201d \u2014 is political rhetoric and not translation theory.<\/p>\n