An article yesterday over at Christianity Today, contained an announcement that Zondervan would be unveiling a new translation in a few years – The NIV 2011 I am not sure yet what it is actually going to be called. There is a lot of interesting discussion on why the new translation and the controversy that surrounded the TNIV at the CT website and on sites like Jesus Creed. My interest in this post is not about all of those issues, but is about the spiritual discipline of Scripture memory, though I will say this:
- As a whole I like the TNIV, and think it’s a good translation. It provided a good balance of trying to convey another language into English.
- I think much of the “controversy” was not so much about the actual science/art of translation as about other issues, such as suggestions that using gender-neutral language will lead to ordaining homosexuals (yes, I’m serious – see this interview with Wayne Grudem) Such sensationalism did little to help the issue.
- I’m a little disappointed in CT; this article seems to have been written to create a little bit of controversy. Viral marketing by Zondervan?
The thought that occurred to me as I read the announcement about the new translation was “Now, what translation am I going to use for memory work and with my family?” I have long used the NIV and a little over a year ago, the congregation I serve purchased NIV Bibles for use in worship to replace the NLT ones that were there. I wondered afterwords if we should have gotten TNIV, but the NIV was much more widely used so we went with that. At home however, we had begun to use the TNIV. Personally I had also begun to use the TNIV for my own devotional reading and was beginning to use it for the discipline of Scripture memory.
I understand the desire by publishers to produce new translations to reflect changes in the English language but I wonder about the effect the multiplicity of translations has on the spiritual formation of the church as a whole. I am convinced that some of the central spiritual disciplines are reading Scripture and memorizing Scripture. The goal of the new translations (ESV, HCSB, TNIV) has been to encourage people to read their Bibles more and to provide people something they enjoy reading more and also will understand better. I am all for that, though I wonder how many folks really need another translation (or specialty Bible) more than they need to simply read the ones that they have.
Now, finally getting to the point. I first started using the NIV for memorization. I have recently switched to the TNIV. Now, will I switch to NIV2011? What translation will I use with my kids? And more than just for me and my family, I think about the church as a whole when we use so many different translations. There is something powerful about being with Christians from other congregations and parts of the country and being able to say the Lord’s Prayer together. Or to sing a song together where we all know the words. But, what happens when we begin to all use different translations. Will my kids grow up with another translation, such that we won’t be able to say the 23rd psalm together when I am old and perhaps sitting in a nursing home? Or, in my own congregation, we have been trying to memorize some Scripture together as a body. Even though we use the NIV as our standard translation, we have folks who use KJV, NLT and RSV. Which means for them, when we memorize Scripture and recite it together on Sunday morning it’s not the same thing they read when they come to the passage in their Bible.
I don’t know what it all means, but I wonder if publishers think about any of these things when they are creating new translations? Because I do.
