Sunday, February 5, 2012

Favorite Bible Translation

My favorite bible for my last couple of decades as a Christian was the Good News Bible, aka Today's English Version. I liked it because it's a good translation, not a paraphrase like The Message. I appreciated its modern, idiomatic English, which avoids the sometimes awkward phrasing of other translations.

I found that the readability of the GNB made it a good choice for reading aloud, and its clear, contemporary phrasing helped me read with a more open mind because it didn't trigger the pre-digested interpretations that I associated with the wording of more literal translations. I was often asked what version I was reading from, but few other people seemed to appreciate it like I did.

At the time, I wondered why it wasn't more popular. Now I think that may be because it makes the text so clear that people find it unsupportive of their preferred interpretations.

The Good News Bible is now on-line.