John Mark Reynolds on the TNIV Controversy

I haven't spent much time looking into the TNIV contraversy, but Biblical scholar John Mark Reynolds has. Reynolds writes:

No one has yet shown why we were served well for three hundred years by essentially one translation, but now suddenly we need new ones every few years.

I haven't previously commented on these arguments because I don't speak Greek and Hebrew (yet). I have, however, studied Latin and French in previous years, so I have a general sense for the structure of language and the methods of translation.

My study Bible is the revered New American Standard Bible. Readers of this blog will note that it is the only translation that I use in my Bible studies. That is because various people in the know that I respect have told me that it is the most accurate (i.e. literal) translation on the market. Until I learn to read Greek and Hebrew on the level of a professional Biblical translator, I will continue to rely on the NASB until I can, or the scholarly community disavows the quality of the NASB.

Now I will define 'best'. The best translation is the translation which takes the accepted Greek and Hebrew text and translates it into modern English literally, with study notes to describe idiomatic differences. I want to know, as much as possible, what the actual Scripture of God says not what Eugene Petersen or anyone else thinks that it should mean. I'll do my own interpreting, thank you very much. You stick to the translating, Mr. Biblical Language 'Scholar'.

The real source of this translation mania is a desire to conform the Word of God to the will of man, as opposed to the other way around. Don't like what the Bible says on a particular subject? Hunt and peck for a translation that conveys your meaning. Take verses out of context. Dowdify verses until God is saying what you want Him to say. Result? The Purpose Driven Life -- an immensely popular work of sloppy Biblical pseudoscholarship.

For those of you who can't wait to swing down to Lifeway to pick up the latest Bible off the printing presses, enjoy your shelf full of translations. I'll stick to whatever is the most literal, most scholarly translation available. If that translation doesn't say precisely what I want it to say, too bad. I'm supposed to follow the Word of God, not the other way around.