My pastor asked me my opinion on a possible change in pew Bibles and an official recongnition of a standard translation for reading from the pulpit. We currently use the NIV (1984). Pastor received a MacArthur SB in the ESV from his wife for Christmas and has used it since while preaching. Some in the assembly are asking to update the NIV to either the NIV 2011 or the ESV.
My thoughts are as follows:
1. There really isn't enough of a difference between the NIV 1984 and 2011 to justify spending the money on new pew Bibles
2. The differences between the NIV and ESV are due to translation goals and philosophies, a mediating vs. more literal rendering so the question regarding the need for a dynamic vs. literal text should be answered before an actual translation is considered.
3. Personally I'm a fan of the NIV (1984) and question the global need for the ESV in the first place, given that we already have the NASB and NRSV but in this particular situation I think I would have difficulties arguing the NIV 2011 over the ESV as the official church translation. In areas where I have compared the NIV 2011 to the NLTse I actually perfer the NLT, not based on a knowledge of the greek but based on my subjective sense of literary satisfaction.
4. If a dynamic or mediating translation is on the plate, I would like to see the HCSB as a consideration. If a literal translation is being considered, I would like to see the NASB and the NKJV being considered along with the ESV.
You cannot get the '84 anymore so if you want to stick with the NIV, you will be replacing it with the '11 which will have different wording which will be confusing - not to mention there is some controversy over it.
As a church, we have decided to go to the ESV.
We have been using the NIV'84 as our hand-out Bible but we can't get it anymore and we're not confident in the '11 so we're doing the ESV.
We don't have pew Bibles because we want everyone to have their own Bible.
If someone doesn't have their own Bible, we give them one to take.
Don't buy new pew Bibles. You don't need them and its a waste of money if you've already got them.
That is what I told a church who asked me about this issue. They were in a similar place as you, had the NIV84, and were thinking of switching. The reality is that on any given Sunday your members/regulars will have about 10 different translations in their various hands. Add to this the increasing number of tablet, smart phones, etc and it becomes less and less necessary to have a new physical text in the back of the pew. Your Pastor will preach from his choice, plus others if he desires. There doesn't seem to be the need to buy new pew Bibles.
I completely agree with your first point btw. Though the NIV11 is helpful in some areas of its upgrade those aren't nearly enough to justify a new slew of pew Bibles.
Just some thoughts. We have NIV84 in the back of our chairs and aren't going to change those. If someone wants a newer translation I'll hand them a physical one (if I have it) and go about my day using my iPad with all the translations available on it.
As a side note: It will be interesting to see (in 2 generations) how many churches are even having a conversation about pew Bibles. :)
No need - We've already been ESV for a few years amongst the pastors.
Well, ESV and NASB.
We've used the NIV because that's what most of the congregation had.
Our senior pastor preached from the KJV until recent years because thats what he grew up with.
But now we're pretty much going to the ESV.
We like it.
Nuff said.
There is always the need to seek out factual information on a given subject. I think the authors I mentioned who deal with the 2011 NIV (and incidentally the ESV too) such as Decker,Wallace and Nass should be sought out. They dispel the misinformation that has come down the pike.
My
church keeps paperback ESV Bibles on the edges of the platform and offers them to those that do not have a Bible. I'm also not a fan of pew Bibles. Encourage regular members to bring a Bible.
I suggest your pastor look into the recent dialogue between Grudem, Moo, and Clendenen at Liberty University, representing the ESV, NIV11, and HCSB respectively.
why, from what I can determined, its appears to more closely follow lliterally the greek text behind it then the NIV does, and does a better job 'flowing" then the ESV does!