How to Choose a Bible Version by Robert L Thomas

How to Choose a Bible Version
by Robert L. Thomas
Mentor, Christian Focus Publication, Fearn, Tain, Ross-shire 2004

This one of those books that does exactly what it says on the cover. I have found almost every book in the CFP's excellent Mentor series of books to be very worthwhile reading and this is no exception.

There are now something like 25 widely available translations of the Scriptures in English. If for nothing else surely the 20th century will be remembered by Christian scholars as the century when there was an explosion of English versions available to the Bible reading public. When we consider that in 1900 there were basically only two Bibles for English readers: the King James Version and the Revised Version (and of these two, the first was vastly more widely used), the 20th century revolution in Bible translation is astonishing. Indeed it is hardly an exaggeration to say that until after the Second World War, the very words "the Bible" meant the King James Version to speakers of the English language.

The situation now is completely different. Now there are bibles using different underlying texts, with different translation philosophies, with different theological preferences, designed for every conceivable kind of Christian.

In this situation, the question that many Christians will face is: which Bible should I make mine? Which Bible should I use in my daily devotions? Which Bible should I memorise? Which Bible should I really make mine by hiding in my heart? For pastors, the question may come in the form: which Bible should I use in my congregation?

To help answer these questions, Robert L. Thomas has written How to Choose a Bible Version.
Professor Thomas's book resists the temptation in a book of this kind to lay down any final recommendations and I think it is all the better for that. By not finally arguing for the ESV or the NIV or the NKJV as the recommendation, the book recognises that the right version for one person or group may not be the right version for another. Instead the book provides a number of intelligent principles a person might consider when choosing their Bible.

The five principles discussed in the book are:

• Historical background
• Textual bases
• Translation techniques
• Theological biases
• Types of English used

In "historical background" Thomas basically divides all English translations into two groups: those in a tradition going back to William Tyndale's translation (e.g. KJV, RSV, ESV) , and those that are outside this tradition (e.g. NIV, Good News Bible). Thomas seems to favour translations in the Tyndale tradition.

"Textual bases" discusses the difference between translations based on the traditional Byzantine texts such as the Textus Receptus (e.g. NKJV) and those based on critical, eclectic texts of the Alexandrian type (most modern translations including NASB, NIV and ESV). Thomas is firmly convinced that bibles based on the few oldest manuscripts (the Alexandrian) rather than the majority of (later) manuscripts (the Byzantine) are to be preferred.

"Translation techniques" discusses the issue of formal equivalence against dynamic equivalence in translation. Thomas allies himself much more with formal equivalence or what we might call "literal" translations.

Under "Theological biases" Thomas discusses where conservative and liberal scholars may differ in how they would translate certain verses. Rather than considering all theological bias to be a problem - which it seems to me is an unsustainable position because it is not possible for us to be unbiased - Thomas simply points out that it will probably be a better choice of bible for a person if the bias in the translation matches his own convictions. So a conservative evangelical may not be best served by the Revised English Bible or New Revised Standard Version or Good News Bible, which have a liberal bias in certain key areas and passages.

Finally under "Types of English" Professor Thomas discusses how different translations render the Bible into more literary or more simple English. For example something like the Roman Catholic New Jerusalem Bible is written in a much more literary English prose than a simple (we might even say simplified) English translation like the Contemporary English Version or New Living Translation.

At the end of the book a brief and objective report is given on most English translations available today.

I think this book would be most useful to pastors and ministers, theological students and perhaps other serious Bible students, rather than for "the average Christian." The strengths of the book for these groups - the fact it stays objective and detached and gives the evidence without finally coming down in favour of one translation over another, probably lessens its usefulness for someone reading the book to tell them which translation to use.

The book would also have benefited from more detailed "reports" on the various translations with examples perhaps of its strengths and weaknesses.