Take Your Stand

The English Standard Version (ESV) is a solid translation that honors the KJV, has a commitment to the words of Scripture, and comes from a theological robust team of scholars. A little easier to read than some other formal equivalents, the ESV is an excellent choice for both preaching and private devotions. At the conclusion of the episode, I share about the music group, “The Corner Room.”

Bible Overview on ESV: https://www.learnreligions.com/english-standard-version-bible-700661

ESV committees and boards: https://www.esv.org/translation/oversight-committee/

Mark Ward on Benefits of ESV: https://byfaithweunderstand.com/2010/06/14/why-i-chose-the-esv-over-the-nasb/

The Corner Room website: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=the+corner+room+music&atb=v341-1&ia=web

Psalm 139:7-16: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SPHM8Sdh34

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The NRSV and NRSVU are both updates of the Revised Standard Version. All of them are formal equivalents, and the NRSV comes from an ecumenical committee. This background is displayed in some of the translation choices. These considerations may cause hesitation to embrace this version as a primary translation.

Norman L. Geisler and William E Nix. From God to Us: How We Got Our Bible, Revised and Expanded Edition, Kindle Edition. (Chicago, Moody Publishers 2012). p. 359

Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible For All Its Worth: 4th Edition, Kindle Edition. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2014). P. 56.

Biblegateway on NRSVU: https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/New-Revised-Standard-Version-Updated-Edition-NRSVue-Bible/

Translators: https://www.zondervan.com/p/nrsv-2/#committee

The New American Standard Bible (NASB) is a great example of a formal equivalence translation. After explaining what a formal equivalent version is, I share about the various editions of the NASB and the related Legacy Standard Bible. The NASB is a solid translation that is an excellent option for deep study, but may be a little more challenging for some devotional reading.

NASB Translators: https://www.wholesomewords.org/nasbtran.html

NASB forward: http://www.bible-researcher.com/nasb-preface1963.html

Legacy standard Bible: https://www.lockman.org/legacy-standard-bible-lsb/

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Revised Standard Version (RSV) honors the tradition of the King James while simultaneously making use of newer manuscript discoveries. This translation can be a good resource as a reference, but because of the archaic language in prayer, may not be the best for primary study. Also in this episode, I defend some accusations leveled against modern translations and review the book, “Knowing God,” by J. I. Packer.

“Knowing God,” by J. I. Packer:

https://www.christianbook.com/knowing-god-j-i-packer/9780830848614/pd/848614

Bible Gateway:  https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Revised-Standard-Version-RSV-Bible/

Preface to second edition RSV New Testament: http://staticu.bgcdn.com/versions/RSV/RSV-Preface.pdf

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

After a few introductory words about this part of the series, I get into the Modern English Version (MEV). This is a newer translation of the TR and does an excellent job with bringing Scripture into our language today.

Bible Gateway on MEV: https://www.biblegateway.com/versions/Modern-English-Version-MEV-Bible/

The MEV Translators: https://modernenglishversion.com/translators/

Mark Ward on NKJV and MEV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnIL_flphVw

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved

The opening section of the episode focuses on what text-types are and how they relate to modern translations. After distinguishing the majority text and the eclectic text, I move on to give a brief overview of the New King James Version of the Bible.

NKJV translation committee: https://www.zeolla.org/christian/versions/misc/translators.htm

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

This week is a little bit of a recap and transition into the next phase of this series. I begin answering the question, “Why do we even need modern translations?” I close the podcast out with a critique of Ted Decker’s book, “Water Walker.”

Bruce, F. F. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Kindle Edition ( Bath and Nashville: Kingsley Books, 2018) p. 69-70

Ward, Mark. Authorized: the Use and Misuse of the King James Bible, Kindle Edition. (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2018). Kindle location 491

Mark Ward. “False Friends.” http://exegeticaltools.com/2018/04/03/beware-false-friends-dont-know-kjv-authorized-mark-ward-lexham-press/

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Dead Sea Scrolls are an amazing discovery and testify to God’s preservation of His Word. We have manuscripts from before the time of Christ, strengthening our confidence that we do indeed have God’s Word today. In the closing section of the podcast, I discuss Chris Anderson’s new book, “Theology that Sticks.”

“Theology that Sticks: the Life-Changing Power of Exceptional Hymns,” by Chris Anderson:

https://www.churchworksmedia.com/product/theology-that-sticks/

The Dead Sea Scrolls: https://www.imj.org.il/en/wings/shrine-book/dead-sea-scrolls#:~:text=The%20Great%20Isaiah%20Scroll%20(1QIsa,one%20that%20is%20almost%20complete.

The Great Isaiah Scroll: http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Building upon the previous episode, I discuss two more great Codices as well as a few of the most significant papyrus manuscripts. While not all of these have a marked impact upon translation, they bear testimony to how God has faithfully preserved His Word. I close the episode out with discussing the film, “Enemies Within: The Church.”

F. F. Bruce. The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable? Kindle Edition. ( Bath and Nashville: Kingsley Books, 2018). Pp. 13, 69-70

Codex Alexandrinus: https://www.bible-researcher.com/codex-a.html

P52: https://bibledifferences.net/2013/03/22/p52/

Chester Beatty: https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/chester-beatty-papyri

Chester Beatty Biblical Papyri: https://www.biblicaltraining.org/library/chester-beatty-papyri

P52: https://bibledifferences.net/2013/03/22/p52/ [this link was down at the time of the podcast]

Botmer II: http://cdn.theologicalstudies.net/18/18.3/18.3.4.pdf

Botmer II: https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Bodmer-Papyri-John

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The KJV translators used the Greek texts available at the time, but many older manuscripts have been discovered since 1611. In this episode, I focus on two especially significant ones: Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. Closing out this episode, I discuss Mark Ward’s book, “Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible.”

“Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible,” by Mark Ward:

https://www.christianbook.com/authorized-misuse-the-king-james-bible/mark-ward/9781683590552/pd/590552

Sinaiticus: https://codexsinaiticus.org/en/codex/history.aspx

Vaticanus: https://zondervanacademic.com/blog/the-story-of-codex-vaticanus

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB (New American Standard Bible) Copyright 1971, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved.