Stick with one, for one main reason: it facilitates the memorization of Scripture. If you are always reading, always studying, and always consulting the same version, you will be constantly reinforcing what you have memorized. It is so frustrating to have a text memorized, or almost memorized, then to hear it read or quoted in a different translation. The result? The next time you try to quote it you mix and mash the two translations together and can’t reproduce the concepts and the connections of the text you’re trying to quote. This reality alone has me pining for the days when there was one dominant translation of the Bible, even if it was the archaic KJV.
This isn’t to say never use another translation. If you’re studying to preach or teach it can be helpful to consult something other than your staple version. But I find that it’s even helpful to stick with one copy of the one translation that I use. I know where things are on the page or that I’ve marked something I’m looking for.
It’s far easier for us to inscribe the words of Scripture on the tablets of our hearts when we stick with one translation. I’m for being able to quote as much of the Bible as possible, and I’m for anything that facilitates that, which means that I’m for using one translation as my mainstay.
—
Originally posted at BibleGateway
we memorize Scripture as a congregation. It is a part of our services. This would be impossible with different translations.
Jim
Would you be up for a post on reading fron a physical Bible or a digital Bible?
Are we heading to “turn in your IPad to…”? 😉
Judd
This is a refreshing post to read. It is quite opposite of what we find in so many modern popular-level works on Bible Interpretation (ie How to Read the Bible for All It’s Worth).
By sticking with one Bible (like our spiritual forefathers did) and reading and re-reading, we cement the Words and structures in our minds. By continuously re-reading and making marginal notes and underlining and meditating, we internalize the Scriptures. How many times do you meditate on a particular Scripture and find yourself able to recall not only the words, but the exact layout of the page – notes, hi-lights, etc, of the page on which the text is found.
I think this level of familiarity is lost on our present generation…
I’d be interested to see a post on how you mark your bible.
Yah I’m with Andy. Can you give us a guide into how you mark your BIble?