The NIV Life Application Study Bible is a great way to study the bible in terms of the current modern world. This is a great book that can help you study the Word of God and help you answer what God's word means for today's world.

Having this by your side means that it will be much easier to understand your Bible since it contains plenty of features that can assist you. This type of study bible will have application notes, character studies, detailed book guides and even maps and charts.

It's not limited to that there are still so many more features that you can take advantage of. This life application study Bible is a great way to apply everything that you've learned from your studies and apply it in real life.

To be more specific on the features that it includes, you can expect about 300 new application notes as well as 16 new personality profiles of various characters that are in the Bible. There are also about 200 thumbnail maps and charts that can help you clear up any of the meaning and importance of the subjects in the Bible.

Using your application study bible will be a great boost in helping you understand your special book. You can learn so many more new things plus gain more insights. It's one of the best books that you can have by your side as you gain deeper knowledge about the Holy Book.

The NIV Life Application Study Bible is a great book to have by your side if you want to understand this Holy Book much easier. However, there are some people that question the reliability of the New International Version.

The NIV is a new translation of the Bible that was done by over a hundred scholars. All of the translation work was done through countless hours of research basing the translation on some of the best Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts.

Once the majority of the translation was finished, it was sent to a committee to examine it. This special committee served as a gatekeeper for upholding the faithfulness of the version to the original language. It also made sure that the style was consistent.

It was important to make sure that each of the text was precise and that it would still be clear for the reader. They wanted the NIV version to be as accurate as possible and at the same time become easier to read for the general public that uses the Bible.

However, some of the detractors for the NIV do acknowledge that it is a great Bible to use when it comes to studying phrase by phrase or verse per verse, buy not exactly the best option if you want to study the word for word meaning of the text.

Some also say that there are approximately 695 verses that were changed coming from the original manuscript. Nevertheless, having an NIV life application study bible is still a great way to understand the Word of God. You just have to be thorough in searching for a deeper understanding if you want it.

You can get NIV life application bible study at 15% off at Christian Book Store.

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There seems to be a lot of confusion among Christians about the need to follow the Ten Commandment law of God. Many have been unable to differentiate between the ceremonial law, also called the Ordinances, that were done away with at the cross, and the Ten Commandments, which are eternal. This misunderstanding has led some to conclude that all Ten of the Commandments have been abolished and that we are now "Under Grace not the Law".

What actually did change at the cross? Were all of the commandments and ordinances abolished? Can we now commit any actions we desire and have them not called sin? The Bible, after all, defines sin as transgressing of the law. As ludicrous as this sounds, many are today preaching that we no longer have to keep the Ten Commandments. This implies that murdering, stealing, committing adultery etc are all okay. They may say in response to such an argument that we should only keep the laws of the land - a view that would explain why over 50% of Christian marriages are today ending in divorce and sex before marriage and adultery are almost as common among Christians, as they are in the secular world.

We need to be able to distinguish between the ceremonial law that was given to the Jews to follow until the coming of the Messiah, and the Ten Commandment law, which God wrote in stone, as an eternal covenant between Himself and man.

All of the ordinances (ceremonial law) were written in Moses' handwriting and were placed in a pocket at the side of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ten Commandments were written in stone and placed inside the Ark. The Ceremonial law included many special feasts and Holy days, which were all a representation of the work that Christ would do.

The Ceremonial Law, with its sacrificial system, pointed the people to the coming of the Messiah. Every time an animal was sacrificed and it's blood was shed in the old Jewish temple, it was a reminder to the onlookers that someday a Saviour would come and die for their sins. Hence, John the Baptist pointed to our Lord Jesus Christ and declared, "Behold the Lamb of God".

When Jesus died on Calvary's cross, the veil of the great temple curtain was torn from top to bottom, signifying that the entire ceremonial and sacrificial system was forever finished. No longer did the priests have any need to offer up sacrifices. The One great and perfect Sacrifice was offered that day, when the true Passover Lamb bowed His head and died. When He cried out, "It is finished", the old Ceremonial Law, that pointed the people to His sacrificial death, was nailed to the cross.

This had also been foretold in Bible prophecy by the prophet Daniel, over six hundred years before the birth of Christ. He wrote Dan 9:27 "And He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (seven literal years, according to prophetic terms): and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease...".

In relation to the Ten Commandment law, Jesus Himself said Mat 5:18 "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled".

All Bible references are from the King James Version.

Debra Lohrere is the author of several books on property investment and related subjects. Please visit her homepage http://www.debra.lohrere.com/home.shtml

A site with more information on this subject is http://www.ceremoniallaw.com

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When I go to Bible Study on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, I bring a New American Standard Bible (NASB). When I summarize the Bible study on my web site later, I use a King James Version (KJV). In today's Bible study our passage began with a verse that is different in those two versions. In Romans 1:16, the KJV says that Paul is not ashamed of the "Gospel of Christ." The NASB just has "Gospel." Does this matter?

There are "KJV-only" people that say it does matter. What's left out in the NASB are the words "of Christ." Surely that's important! KJV-only folk also love to point out Colossians 1:14, where the KJV mentions redemption "through his blood," while the NASB, NIV and other modern translations just have "redemption." Many of these KJV-only folks even accuse those who produce the modern translations of a conspiracy--or at least they accuse the devil of a conspiracy through them--trying to get "the blood" and "Christ" removed from the Scriptures.

But let's look at this. Those who have put together modern translations aren't making up their versions. There really are manuscripts that don't have "through his blood" in Colossians 1:14. Second, if this is a conspiracy, it's a very bad one. Ephesians 1:7 uses almost exactly the same wording as Colossians 1:14, and in Ephesians 1:7 both the KJV and modern translations have "through his blood." If there were a conspiracy, the modern versions would leave out "the blood" in both verses, not just one. And no matter how many verses don't have "Christ" in them, you certainly are not going to miss the fact that Jesus is the Christ in the NASB and NIV.

Even more importantly than these things, let's consider whether God himself has done anything to preserve the exact wording of Scripture? We can argue about what should and shouldn't be in certain passages, but let's go to somewhere where God's opinion is more obvious.

Look at Hebrews 1:6. There we read in the KJV: "And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he said, And let all the angels of God worship him."

He does? Where does he say that? My NASB reference Bible doesn't even give a reference for that verse. Some reference Bibles will. It is quoted from Deuteronomy 32:43. However, if you look in Deuteronomy 32:43, you'll find nothing remotely like "And let all the angels of God worship him." Why is that?

The writer of Hebrews was using the Septuagint (LXX), a Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures translated around 200 B.C. Christian writers immediately after the time of the apostles not only used the LXX, but they believed it was inspired word for word. Justin Martyr, for example, claims that Ptolemy, king of Egypt, brought 70 Hebrew scholars to Alexandria and locked them in separate rooms, preventing their communication with one another. Despite this, all 70 scholars produced exactly the same translation, word for word, of the entire Old Testament. No one today believes this really happened, but it was a common belief of the early church, and the LXX was the only translation they employed in Greek-speaking countries (Hortatory Address to the Greeks 13).

The writer of Hebrews also used the LXX, and there are places where the apostle Paul used it. For example, have you ever looked up the reference for that famous verse about death's sting and the grave's victory in 1 Cor. 15:55? In the KJV of Hosea 13:14, which is the reference for 1 Cor. 15:55, we read, "O death, I will be your plagues; O grave, I will be your destruction." How close is that to "O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is your victory"?

The NASB is better but still not the same. In it Hosea 13:14 reads, "O Death, where are your thorns? O Sheol, where is your sting?" My English translation of the LXX is much closer: "Where is thy penalty, O death? O Hades, where is your sting?" Even there, the wording is not exact. Paul was almost certainly quoting from memory, and the LXX suffers from the same problem all our New Testament Greek texts suffer from. Many have come down to us, so it's hard to reconstruct the exact texts.

We can long and hope for exact wording in the Scriptures, but we're hoping in vain. The story is still circulated that when the Dead Sea Scrolls were found, the scroll of Isaiah matched the one in our Bible, which comes from what is called the Masoretic text. While it is true that such a report was issued in 1947, the story was retracted in 1948 once scholars took a closer look at the scroll. It turns out that Isaiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls matches neither the LXX nor the Masoretic text. It represents a third text type.

No problem, the differences are not major. However, the Dead Sea scroll of Jeremiah poses us a bigger problem. It matches the LXX, not the Masoretic. (Do you notice that this story hasn't circulated like the other false, retracted story?) And the differences there are not minor. There are seven completely new chapters in the LXX version of Jeremiah that are not in our Masoretic version. Seven chapters of the Masoretic version are also not in the LXX version, so that they're both the same length. Notice how no one has ever told you that?.

All of this is important. Our Gospel is not that God preserved the Scriptures word for word. The Gospel is Christ. If you want to be saved, you need to give up your life and follow Christ. He can save you. You don't need a word-for-word preservation of the Scriptures. He will give you the Spirit of God, guide you through your life, and you will be a child of God. The Scriptures say, "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God" (Rom. 8:14). The Scriptures are useful for rebuking, reproving, correcting, and instruction in righteousness (2 Tim. 3:16), but you don't need word-for-word preservation to do any of those things. In fact, the battle to defend word-for-word preservation can be as much a distraction as any other false doctrine. The Scriptures are for "instruction in righteousness" so we may be "equipped for every good work"; they are not for the doctrinal battles for which we so often use them.

So what about the verse that says that not one jot or tittle will pass away from the Law (Matt. 5:18)? Jesus is not talking about preserving the smallest letters and marks of punctuation in the Scripture down to our day. If he was, then God failed to do it, Jesus was wrong, and we might as well scrap everything. The smallest letters and marks of punctuation are not preserved down to our day. The early churches and the apostles read a Bible that had seven whole chapters different than ours in Jeremiah! We're Christians; let's be honest!

Matthew 5:18, however, is not wrong. The word "fulfilled" that Matthew uses there is the Greek word genoito. It means "to happen," and it is clearly a reference to fulfilled prophecy. Nothing at all, not the smallest thing, will pass away from the Law until it all comes to pass. This is true. What is not true is that God is worried about exact words and letters in the Scriptures.

To cite just one example, there came a point when John the Baptist began, apparently, to doubt that Jesus was really the Messiah. So he sent messengers to Jesus to ask if he was really "the One." Both Matthew and Luke record the incident. The wording in the two Gospels is remarkably similar considering that decades elapsed before Matthew or Luke wrote about the incident. Further, Matthew was there and Luke was not. However, the two accounts, no matter how similar, differ. For those who believe that God is concerned about exact wording, this is a problem. Matthew says that Jesus told the messengers to tell John what they "hear and see," in that order and in the present tense. Luke says that he told them to report what they "have understood and heard," in that order and in the second aorist tense. Obviously, this makes no difference whatsoever in the story, but it nonetheless establishes that God is not concerned about inspiring Matthew or Luke to get "every jot and tittle" right in the story.

Not only did God leave the Greek text at question, but he left even greater questions about the Hebrew text. The next time you go to purchase a Bible, feel free to choose that Bible based on the style of translation that you prefer, and don't spend time worrying about which Greek text you should be using. God doesn't.

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Paul Pavao is the owner of The Rest of the Old, Old Story, an innovative web site on fascinating, little-known aspects of Christianity and Christian history ("Snakes in heaven?") meant to provoke readers to a deeper and more practical faith in God. Paul has been an avid student of church history for almost twenty years, and has traveled the U.S., Asia and Africa teaching Christians and churches how to experience the power that comes from unity and commitment to Jesus Christ. He has talked about the early church on radio and in seminars and publishes the Early Church Newsletter each month. He is available for teachings and seminars through his web site at http://www.oldoldstory.org

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New scientific high-technology recording devices are used to bring the Word of God to people who might not otherwise have any way of hearing God's Word. The result of this scientific technology on the Word of God is the audio Bible. There are various formats in which you will find the audio Bible available, including a Bible on audio CD and audio Bible mp3 formats, as well as Internet distribution by podcast. This technology also brings another benefit: it is highly portable, requiring only a small digital sound system connected to a computer. This means that recording of the Bible can occur anywhere in the world. The result of this ease of mobility is that there can be recording centers where the audio Bible is recorded in hundreds of different indigenous languages. People worldwide, who might not have any other means for reading and understanding the Bible, can now be exposed to the power of God's Word in an audio version, which they can hear.

Digital recording provides clear, crisp audio, and is a preferred method for capturing sound. The basics of how it works is that a speaker reads the Bible into a microphone, which produces an analog signal. Then this signal is sent from the microphone to an analog to digital converter. This component's job is to convert the analog signal into a binary code. This code is then sent through a bundle of transmitters, usually wires connected to the computer in the form of cables, and eventually ends in storage on the computer, often on a hard drive or a CD burner.

The beauty of digital recording is that any mistakes can be taken out by simply removing the exact part of the code stored on the computer, which makes for much more precise editing and cleaner sound as a result. During the editing process, music and sound effects can also be added, and are, in order to produce a final audio Bible version that is dramatized, and more compelling to listen to. You can have speakers from anywhere in the world recording their part of the final version, then sending it via the Internet to the mixing center, where all of the parts are combined together and edited to result in the final version of the audio Bible. Speakers who come from oral cultures can relate to drama very well, and this is an important aspect of the recordings that make the audio Bible so influential.

Lasers are used in the recording and playback of CDs. The laser burns tiny holes onto the CD's surface. This allows a CD or DVD player to distinguish between parts of the disc that allow reflected weak laser light to permeate through holes and parts of the CD surface that do not, resulting in a reading of the digital data and playback through a speaker so that you can hear it. These are some methods used for audio Bible production, to share God's Word worldwide.

Susan Slobac has worked professionally with audio recording technologies focused on audio Bible translations. In particular, she has been involved with a number of groups in recording audio Bible podcasts and believes strongly in making the audio Bible online a tool for ministry work. Due to the ease use Susan recommends the audio Bible mp3 and the Bible on audio CD for a variety of uses including audio Bible study sharing Bible stories with children.

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For years, people have seen a sign with a reference to this verse while watching a football game on TV. Florida Gators 2007 Heisman Trophy winning quarterback, Tim Tebow, had this printed on his eye black during the 2009 BCS championship. While it is one of the most widely quoted verses from the Christian Bible, and has been called the most famous Bible verse, one part of the verse confuses some people.

I raised my In-N-Out Burger paper cup and there it was, printed on the bottom rim. I read somewhere that Forever 21 prints it on the bottom of their shopping bags, and that Tornado Fuel Saver prints it on the box. John 3:16 is indeed the most famous Bible verse.

John 3:16 has also been called the "Gospel in a nutshell" because it is considered a summary of some of the most central doctrines of traditional Christianity. It has been translated into more than 1100 languages. The Gideon Bible has it printed in 27 languages which they say are understood by more than three quarters of the earth's population.

However, part of the verse, near the end, is not understood by some. The first part of the verse is easily understood. "God so loved the world." The word, "world" is of course figurative for "people." God didn't give His Son for the flowers and the trees or the cows and the bees. He gave His Son because He loves people.

Love was God's motivation for giving His only begotten Son. This was the highest price ever paid. This payment would completely satisfy all the legal claims of justice that were necessary to redeem mankind. God's love was so big that He was willing to give the greatest gift for you and me.

In the middle of the verse you read about the greatest invitation ever issued: "whosoever." Whosoever means anyone and everyone is invited. Anyone who decides to believe in God's only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, shall have everlasting life.

The greatest love, the greatest giving, the greatest gift, the greatest invitation, and the greatest possession: everlasting life.

But what about the part that talks about not perishing? Some say it is confusing; others say it is a contradiction. Some wonder why the Bible says that if you believe in God's only begotten Son you will not perish, and yet many, many people who have believed in Jesus Christ have died. Others say that the Bible is just contradicting itself.

There is no contradiction and the confusion is easily eliminated by simply taking a few moments to investigate the word "perish." The Bible does not say that if you believe in Jesus Christ you will not die. It says that you will not perish. There is a big difference.

The Greek word translated "perish" in John 3:16, means "to be put to a complete end; to be totally destroyed and gone forever." It means to be totally abolished. On the other hand, the Bible uses a completely different word for "death."

There are a number of Bible verses that talk very plainly about those who believe in Jesus being resurrected from the dead at the return of Christ. Those who die before Christ returns are indeed dead, but they have not, and will not perish. That's why the verse says that they shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

When Christ returns, that great promise in John 3:16 will be fulfilled for all those who believe in Christ. Those who are alive when he returns, as well as those who have died, will all receive the greatest possession: everlasting life. Perhaps that is one of the reasons the Bible refers to believers who have died as being asleep. They will not perish.

And even though God has extended this invitation to everyone, it is still each person's choice to believe in God's only begotten Son. It is absolutely amazing and remarkable that the greatest possession can be obtained through the greatest simplicity: by believing in the greatest person, God's Son, Jesus Christ.

Michael A. Verdicchio offers a FREE LIFETIME MEMBERSHIP to, "Enriching Your Life Now!" as well as a FREE NEWSLETTER at http://www.ConfidenceAndJoy.com He also offers a FREE series of articles on success at http://www.ReducingStressAtWork.com
Michael is a husband, father, minister, author, and broadcaster. He has also been the voice on numerous projects and productions including Mike's Pep Talks!

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Without a doubt, there is one book that has been read more than any other worldwide. It has been translated into more languages, had more copies printed, and been distributed to millions of more people than any other text. Bible trivia is all based on the writings contained within that single book.

Many people don't recognize that there is more than one version of the Bible, and that the difference between those parts is an important part of a Bible quiz. The Christian Bible is made up of two primary parts, the Old and the New Testament. The Old Testament also exists in a version written in Hebrew which is the Hebrew Bible. Judaism divides that book (called the Tanakh in Hebrew) into the Torah, the Nevi'im, and Ketuvim. The order of the Tanakh is different than the order of the Christian old testament.

Bible trivia shows that there are many different versions of the Bible which have been translated from different source material over the centuries. The King James Version is the most commonly used English version of the book today. Also, many different churches accept certain books as scripture in the old testament that others do not. For example, there are nine books, such as 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees which the Catholic Church accepts as canon, and the protestants do not.

Trivia will show that the New Testament is the portion of the Bible which is concerned with the teachings of Jesus Christ, rather than the events which preceded his birth. The New Testament can be divided into several different sections, the Synoptic Gospels, the Pauline Epistles, the Pastoral Epistles, and the General Epistles. There is less debate between christian traditions as to which new testament books to accept as canon as compared to the old testament.

A bible quiz will reveal some impressive statistics about the ongoing translation efforts to ensure that the book can eventually be translated into as many languages as possible. These efforts have been undertaken by a number of groups to try and make sure that people of all cultures, languages, and backgrounds can have access to the teachings in the Bible. These efforts were instrumental, for example, in the bringing of Christianity to many parts of Africa. To date, the Bible has been translated into more than 2400 languages. There are more than 600 ongoing translation efforts to help increasing that total.

Masters of Trivia is a website dedicated to trivia games and quizzes that cover several different areas of interest. The various trivia questions available on the site can be easily accessed and played by going to http://www.mastersoftrivia.com.

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Corrupting Bible texts is not a new thing. This has been going on from the very beginning of church history. The Apostles were having problems with it in their days. You can see some of these addressed in the New Testament. Some of these corrupted texts have made their way into our modern Bible versions. Many of our modern versions are using past corrupted texts to "update" the texts.

Jesus said, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Word will not pass away." To this end, we still have God's Word in its pure form. We have the Bible in its original Hebrew and Greek texts. We also have Bible texts that have been changed from the original text to say what people wanted it to say.

Here are 12 tests you can use to see if a Bible text has been corrupted:

1. Does it pass the two or three witnesses principle? See 2 Corinthians 13:1.

2. When a New Testament text is a quote from the Old Testament, does the New Testament one agree with the Old Testament reference? This is a good check for the translation of the New Testament text.

3. Does the text agree with its context in its natural setting? It may appear as an afterthought or it may appear not to have any relevance to its context.

4. Does it bring glory to God? See 1 Corinthians 10:31.

5. Does the text agree with the general message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ or does it deny an established article of faith?

6. Does the text call you to faith and action that would bring you closer to God or does it cause you to doubt your faith in God? See Matthew 22:37-40.

7. Will it bring you into a loving relationship with God?

8. Can it be used as a perversion of the truth?

9. Does it water down the gospel message found in the Bible? There may be a note that says a passage does not belong or that it was not in the original text. If you find this in reference to a text, you should question it very carefully. Most likely the text has been corrupted.

10. Does it hinder the Christian's witness if followed wholeheartedly?

11. Does the original language agree with its contextual setting? Do not take the translator's word for it. This is a favorite tactic for people who corrupt the text.

12. When did it first appear in the manuscripts? Be careful with this. There are many corrupt texts that are passed off as the original.

It is a serious business to tamper with the original text of the Bible. To tamper with the original text is to make God say something He did not say. This is called "handling the Word of God deceitfully." See Deuteronomy 4:2 and Revelation 22:18, 19 for a warning to those who mess with the Word of God.

There is a world of difference between a translation and a paraphrase of the original text. A paraphrase tells you what the person thought the original text was conveying to us. The translation is a word for word exchange of the original. Literal translations are much more reliable than paraphrases.

Howard E. Wright's book "Deceitful Masters" gives you over 300 "keys" to understand the Scriptures. You may see the content of his book at http://www.DeceitfulMasters.com. As you will see there is a gold mine of information in it to help you in your spiritual life. The section called, "The Church That Jesus Built" starting on page 41 would be helpful. It explains 12 relationships that exist between the Lord Jesus Christ and His Church.

You may also want to consider G. A. Riplinger's book "New Age Bible Versions: An Exhaustive Documentation Exposing The Message, Men And Manuscripts Moving Mankind To The Antichrist's One World Religion" at http://AVPublications.com. Her book goes into great detail as to how the new versions have been corrupted. This is an eye-opening book on this subject. You will not believe your eyes!

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To be honest, volleyball has never been one of my favorite sports. The ball always hurt my hand when it can time to volley it. However, balloon volleyball is a different story. I could play it for hours, especially when I combine it with God's Word. Why not try this fun game with your kids the next time you want them to memorize one of God's amazing Scriptures?

Here's what you do:

Divide your class into 2 teams. Choose a memory verse that you want your kids to learn. This game will work best with a verse that is around 10 words including the reference. Now create a "volleyball court". You can do this in a large indoor area and simply place down a dividing line of tape on the floor. If you have a net you could put up, that's good, but it's not necessary.

One side starts the serve with a balloon. (Have a few ready, just in case of a pop). The side that starts says the first word of the memory verse as they are serving. If the other team can hit it back, they say the second word to the verse. This continues until one team fails to hit the ball back. It will be important for the teacher to keep track of what word the verse stopped on. The team that did not falter will start the serve and begin with the last word that was said. Once the verse is completely recited, the team who hit the balloon over on the last word of the verse, gets one point. The team who reaches 10 points first wins.

To make the game easier, the teacher can help the kids when they forget what word comes next. To make the game harder, if a child forgets the next word, they have to sit one of their players out until the next serve occurs. Have fun!

If you liked this Sunday School/Homeschooling idea, then sign up to receive Scripture Lady's Free Email Kid Tips packed full with creative ideas and receive 6 FREE BIBLE REVIEW GAMES to help get the kids you minister to excited about the Bible!

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The original books of the Bible were written in Hebrew (the Old Testament) and Greek (the New Testament). Parts of the books of Daniel and the Gospel of Matthew might have been originally written in Aramaic.

Many translations have been made over the years. In the early days of Christianity the Hebrew Old Testament was usually read in a Greek translation (the so-called Septuagint). As the church spread, the need for translations grew, taking the sacred text into widely accepted languages as well as local tongues. The Bible was soon translated into Latin (the language of the Roman Empire), Syriac (an Eastern Aramaic language), Coptic (Egyptian), and Arabic. By 500 AD, some estimate, scripture could already be found in more than 500 languages.

Unfortunately, translations were not always accurate and errors were made. For this reason - and also because they did not want "ordinary" people to be able to read the Bible - the (Roman) Catholic Church banned any further translations and used only a particular Latin text known as the Vulgate, which had been translated from the Greek around 600 AD. In the 1380s the first English translations were made by John Wycliffe. By 1455 the printing press was invented (Gutenberg), and mass-production capabilities made additional English versions and other language translations more readily available.

Hundreds of translations into English (estimated around 450) have been made over the years. Some of the best known are: the King James (KJV, 1611), the New International Version (NIV, 1978), the New King James (NKJV, 1982), the New American Standard Bible (NASB, 1971) and the English Standard Version (ESV, 2001). This large number of translations is usually grouped into three main categories:

Literal translations: These translate the original texts word for word into the best English equivalent words. These translations are sometimes also referred to as interlinear translations, placing the English rendering along side the original Hebrew and Greek. Although they are undoubtedly the most accurate translations, they can be difficult to read because the flow of language follows the original Hebrew and Greek, quite different from modern English. The NASB as well as the ESV are good examples of literal translations.

Dynamic equivalent translations: These translations attempt to be as literal as possible, but restructure sentences and grammar from the original language to English. They attempt to capture thought and intent of what writers wanted to say. As a result, these are more readable in English, but have a higher degree of subjective interpretation than the literal translations. These translations include the KJV, NKJV, and NIV.

Contemporary language translations: These translation paraphrase the thought and intent of the original text into contemporary English. The result is easy to read, but the text is largely a subjective interpretation of the translator. These versions, such as the well known The Message and The New Living Translation, should be approached with great care. Use them perhaps for supplementary readings, but be aware that these texts can (and often do) differ significantly from the original Bible texts.

Every translation requires interpretation. Why? Because languages do not translate one on one. That is, not every word has a unique word to match it in the other language. Also some tongues are richer in expression than English (such as Greek) or smaller in vocabulary (such as Hebrew). A translator must interpret the original meaning and find an equivalent wording, but this makes the result subject to the biases of the translator. Bottom line: interpretations differ and errors can occur. When translations differ significantly, research into the original language can help clarify the message.

To complicate things a bit, a small number of NT verses are not supported by all ancient manuscripts; this forces translators to decide which verses to incorporate. Most translators are cautious to err on the safe side and note for the reader any verse not supported by the majority of manuscripts.

As an illustration, let's look at the Lord's Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13 in the New International Version and the King James Version:

The Lord's prayer in the King James:

"After this manner therefore pray ye: 'Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.'"

Now read the Lord's prayer in the NIV:

"This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.' Apart from "old" English versus more modern English style, notice the two differences in the last verse:

"The evil one" versus "evil." The KJV asks for deliverance from "evil" while the NIV asks to deliver us from "the evil one." There is a significant difference between the two. The original Greek text actually uses an adjective with an article, making "the evil one" the only correct translation. When we pray we ask to be delivered from the evil one, not from any danger, disaster, or from the general evil of the world.

An extra sentence. Compared to the NIV, the KJV has an extra sentence at the end: "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever, Amen." This is a good illustration of a later addition to the oldest preserved Greek manuscripts. As the NIV mentions in a footnote: "some late manuscripts: for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." Other verses in the NT have similar additions. None of these are of vital theological consequence, but it is important to be aware of these variations. Therefore the differences between the various English translations are not the result of differences in the extant (still in existence) ancient manuscripts, but merely the result of choices (and sometimes errors) made by the translators during the translation to English.

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Rob VandeWeghe is a sceptic turned Christian by studying the foundations for Christianity. Rob’s book ‘Prepared to Answer’ and more evidences for Christianity are available at http://www.windmillministries.org Read more about the reliability of the Bible at http://www.windmillministries.org/CH8.htm

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