First off–absolute truth.  If you do not first believe that there is absolute truth, then this discussion needs to start somewhere else.  But that is not the purpose of this blog, so for discussion sake we will assume that you already believe that.

So can we have different interpretations of the same writing?  I am going to have to say no.

If the Bible was written in such a way, then there would never be a correct way to read Scripture.  People would then be able to read whatever they want into the Scriptures and there would never be  a wrong or right.

Everything in the Bible was written for a specific meaning and it is up to us to find out what that meaning is.  We may be wrong at times, but that is okay (to a degree), we are all on this journey together.

The part which really excites me is that I am doing this in chronological order.  This means that each reading will be in order of history, which makes it much easier for my western way of thinking.

The Bible was put together in a way that makes sense by idea.  In regards to the Old Testament, first there is the Pentateuch, then history, poetry, major prophets, and finally the minor prophets.  Chronology of these books is far different, and that is why I decided to follow this plan.

If you want to do this as well, go to Bible in a Year and sign up.  You have several options to choose from, and then they’ll start emailing you the scripture on a day-to-day basis.  Highly recommended for those of you that are not sure what to read during your personal devotion time.

With such an historical event, I would like to just touch base with the Bible says about how we should be (as Christians) in relation to the president.

Let’s start with 1 Peter 2:13-15.  It states:

 13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.

As Christians, we must submit to governing authority.  This means that that we must submit to whomever is in office, whether we like them or not.  Some people think Barack is the best thing ever, others are not so favorable.  Either way, God wants us to submit to his leadership.  By submitting in this way, we are also following the will of God.

I do want to mention, however, that we should be caution of worshiping the guy.  He is not a savior; Jesus is.  John 14:6 says,    6Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  I would not say that too many people have crossed the line here, but many have gotten pretty close.  Be careful.

CONCLUSION:
Should we follow President Obama?  Yes.  Should he be worshiped?  No.

What version of the Bible do you use?  Many different translations are available these days, but do you know the difference between what you are reading and what someone else is reading?  My hope is that a little explanation will help you to understand the different ways a version of the Bible is made.

Before we get into the different versions, you need to know one over-arching fact: every version of the Bible that is read in English is a translation.  With that being said, no version will be able to do as good a job as the original language in which each book was written (Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic.  Not Latin).  Since most people are not scholars in these dead languages, we are bound to reading something that has been translated.

There are really two different ways in which the Scriptures are translated.  Most versions have several pages dedicated to explain this at the front of the book.  These are typically the pages that are ignored and overlooked.  I encourage you to take the time and read this part of the Bible so that you better know what you are reading.

The first way in which a Bible is translated is literally, or word-for-word.  The goal of this method is to take, for instance, the Greek wording and write out the translation as close to the way it was originally written.  Sometimes the original sentences do not make sense in English.  And example can be explained by word order.  Word order does not function the same in Greek as it does English.  The translator tries to make the most sense out of it while maintaining the original structure as closely as possible.  A good example is found in Matthew 5:8.  The Greek has the word order as follows, “They the God they will see.”  After learning about the language, you can see that the best translation would be, “They will see God.”  So at times word-for-word can difficult to make sense of.  PROBLEM: Not everything will make sense.  We are bound to figure out what the Scriptures mean by our own accord.

The other way in which people translate is thought-for-thought.  The main goal in this method is to see what the original meaning was in Scripture and translate the thought to modern English.  Usually the same words are used as the original text, but other times words are added to make better sense of what is being said.  PROBLEM: Since the translation is thought-for-thought, we are only able to see what the translator thinks is the correct viewing of the Scripture.  In some cases, the translator could be in error.

Which way is better?  That is really up to you.  The best way is to learn one of the original languages and do the translating.  But since most people do not have the resources, time, or motivation to accomplish such a daunting task, you really need to decide which option will work best for you.

Enough of the explaining, lets see what the different versions have to offer.  I hope this helps you to understand what is going on behind the scenes of your Bible.  Let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to help out.

KJV – King James Version
“The Authorized Version”
Who authorized this version?  Not God, but King James… of England.  There were many English versions of the Bible around the turn of the century (back in the 1600’s), but none were done well enough to become the official version for the Church of England.  The work was done in 1611, and has been used ever since.  Many older copies of the Scriptures have been discovered since the KJV was written, so this is not looked as the most accurate of translations.

NKJV – New King James Version
Translation method: word-for-word
Though the wording is sometimes hard to understand, this is actually one of the best word-for-word translations.  The English is reminiscent of Old English, which adds character to this version.  It is much like the KJV, only it uses more and earlier manuscripts that have been found since the 17th century.

NASB – New American Standard
Translation method: word-for-word
The same technique is used in the NASB as the NKJV, only the English used is closer to what we speak today.  This is one of the better versions to use when studying Scripture because it avoids using words that have been lost in the Old English, while maintaining as close of word-for-word translation as possible.

ESV – English Standard Version
Translation method: Essentially literal
What does this method mean?  The translator of the ESV try to stay as literal as possible while having literacy excellence.  It is more along the lines of a word-for-word translation, though it would not be considered as literal as the NASB or NKJV.  Personally, this is my favorite translation to use because I find it to be both enjoyable to read and and an accurate representation of the original text.

NIV – New International Version
Translation method: thought-for-thought
Possibly the most widely used version of today is the NIV.  People enjoy it because of its’ ease of read, as well as the popularity.  When people come together to study Scripture, they typically enjoy having the same version to read together, so more and more people give-in to the masses.  Is that a bad thing?  Not necessarily.  The NIV is one of the better thought-for-thought versions available.

NLV – New Living Version
Translation method: thought-for-thought
Other than the Message, this is possibly the largest diversion of the original text.  If you are an NLV user, I would strongly suggest its use only as free-read and not as a study tool.  At times the translators change the original meaning to fit their theological slant, which is dangerous and potentially harmful.  Be careful with this version, and if you are studying use an NASB or NKJV along side with it.

The Message
Translation method: thought-for-thought
Reading through the Message almost feels like you are reading a story.  There is a lot added here to bring the meaning out.  Just this morning I read part of Job where it makes reference to drinking a cup of coffee, something that was not around until the 9th century AD.  The Message is a good version to free read, but like the NLV, not the best version to use while studying.

Before we get into the different versions, you need to know one over-arching fact: every version of the Bible that is read in English is a translation.  With that being said, no version will be able to do as good a job as the original language in which each book was written (Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic.  Not Latin).  Since most people are not scholars in these dead languages, we are bound to reading something that has been translated.

There are really two different ways in which the Scriptures are translated.  Most versions have several pages dedicated to explain this at the front of the book.  These are typically the pages that are ignored and overlooked.  I encourage you to take the time and read this part of the Bible so that you better know what you are reading.

The first way in which a Bible is translated is literally, or word-for-word.  The goal of this method is to take, for instance, the Greek wording and write out the translation as close to the way it was originally written.  Sometimes the original sentences do not make sense in English.  And example can be explained by word order.  Word order does not function the same in Greek as it does English.  The translator tries to make the most sense out of it while maintaining the original structure as closely as possible.  A good example is found in Matthew 5:8.  The Greek has the word order as follows, “They the God they will see.”  After learning about the language, you can see that the best translation would be, “They will see God.”  So at times word-for-word can difficult to make sense of.  PROBLEM: Not everything will make sense.  We are bound to figure out what the Scriptures mean by our own accord.

The other way in which people translate is thought-for-thought.  The main goal in this method is to see what the original meaning was in Scripture and translate the thought to modern English.  Usually the same words are used as the original text, but other times words are added to make better sense of what is being said.  PROBLEM: Since the translation is thought-for-thought, we are only able to see what the translator thinks is the correct viewing of the Scripture.  In some cases, the translator could be in error.

Which way is better?  That is really up to you.  The best way is to learn one of the original languages and do the translating.  But since most people do not have the resources, time, or motivation to accomplish such a daunting task, you really need to decide which option will work best for you.

Enough of the explaining, lets see what the different versions have to offer.  I hope this helps you to understand what is going on behind the scenes of your Bible.  Let me know if you have any questions and I will do my best to help out.

KJV – King James Version
“The Authorized Version”
Who authorized this version?  Not God, but King James… of England.  There were many English versions of the Bible around the turn of the century (back in the 1600′s), but none were done well enough to become the official version for the Church of England.  The work was done in 1611, and has been used ever since.  Many older copies of the Scriptures have been discovered since the KJV was written, so this is not looked as the most accurate of translations.

NKJV – New King James Version
Translation method: word-for-word
Though the wording is sometimes hard to understand, this is actually one of the best word-for-word translations.  The English is reminiscent of Old English, which adds character to this version.  It is much like the KJV, only it uses more and earlier manuscripts that have been found since the 17th century.

NASB – New American Standard
Translation method: word-for-word
The same technique is used in the NASB as the NKJV, only the English used is closer to what we speak today.  This is one of the better versions to use when studying Scripture because it avoids using words that have been lost in the Old English, while maintaining as close of word-for-word translation as possible.

ESV – English Standard Version
Translation method: Essentially literal
What does this method mean?  The translator of the ESV try to stay as literal as possible while having literacy excellence.  It is more along the lines of a word-for-word translation, though it would not be considered as literal as the NASB or NKJV.  Personally, this is my favorite translation to use because I find it to be both enjoyable to read and and an accurate representation of the original text.

NIV – New International Version
Translation method: thought-for-thought
Possibly the most widely used version of today is the NIV.  People enjoy it because of its’ ease of read, as well as the popularity.  When people come together to study Scripture, they typically enjoy having the same version to read together, so more and more people give-in to the masses.  Is that a bad thing?  Not necessarily.  The NIV is one of the better thought-for-thought versions available.

NLV – New Living Version
Translation method: thought-for-thought
Other than the Message, this is possibly the largest diversion of the original text.  If you are an NLV user, I would strongly suggest its use only as free-read and not as a study tool.  At times the translators change the original meaning to fit their theological slant, which is dangerous and potentially harmful.  Be careful with this version, and if you are studying use an NASB or NKJV along side with it.

The Message
Translation method: thought-for-thought
Reading through the Message almost feels like you are reading a story.  There is a lot added here to bring the meaning out.  Just this morning I read part of Job where it makes reference to drinking a cup of coffee, something that was not around until the 9th century AD.  The Message is a good version to free read, but like the NLV, not the best version to use while studying.

Every Monday at our staff meetings, we report how many
days we have read during the past week.  It is a way we can keep one
another accountable.  It also puts in emphasis on the importance of
going to God and Scripture for personal devotion, something we all value as a staff.

Many times when
working for a church, or especially during Bible College, the Bible
just becomes a resource for work or class.  There is great value in
that time and research, but reading apart from work and school is
critical to have a good relationship with Jesus.

That being said, my strategy has helped so far.  I just decided to read from beginning
to end so that I never sit down and wonder what I am going to read
next.  Today I should be finishing 2 Chronicles and moving on to Ezra,
which I am looking forward to.

By reading from the beginning, you can really see the relationship between God and people shift dynamically.  God always wants the best for his people, but those people do not always care.

Why write about this?  I am not
trying to say that I am better than everyone else because I read
daily.  I am writing because I want everyone to know how beneficial it
is to read.  There are times that I do not really get what is going
on.  And there are times that I am hardly focused.  But I have no
doubts that God will bless that time set apart to read Scripture.

Everyone should be in Scripture and prayer day to day.  The value is immeasurable.

Why have I never really read consistently?  While pondering this question I cannot but help think back to my Bible College days.  You would think that reading Scripture would just come naturally and be part of you everyday experience, especially for someone training for ministry.  Unfortunately that is rarely the case.

What tends to happen is the Bible becomes another textbook that is used to write papers and complete reading assignments.  So yes, I did read all throughout college.  But no, I did not have a regular time for personal devotion to the Word.

Since starting to read on a regular basis for my own devotions, I have had the joy of seeing a strong nation conquer, then collapse, and then be rebuilt.  The Old Testament has proven to be one exciting place to read.  If I were to go back to Cincinnati Christian University, Old Testament classes would be filling my schedule more than other topics.

My routine throughout the entire winter has been to wake up before my wife and brew a freshly ground pot of coffee in my french press (yes, I am a coffee snob), and then sit down and enjoy the Jewish history which predates Jesus.