Understanding the NIV-NASB Thingy

Recently, I was informed that I offended some people with NIV-NASB comments made during the June 1, "Praise in the Park." While navigating through some grammatical issues in 1 John, I made the following statement:

How many of you have finally drunk the kool-aid and have a New American Standard Bible?

Silent pause while people--whom I can't even remember the amount--raised their hands.

Man, I've got work to do. I prefer the New American Standard to the NIV.

I truly meant no offense, but realized a few items may have kept my intentions clouded:

1. It was "tongue-in-cheek." The "kool-aid" comment was made in a joking way to suggest a "blind allegiance" from our church listeners, which thankfully does not exist. We do not have a church of lemmings, so I doubt anyone would buy an NASB Bible simply because a pastor told them to.

2. My jokes die. I really do love to joke. Much of the NIV-NASB debate comes from my youth pastor days when I would mercilessly tease the students about using NIV Bibles. It was all meant in fun, and with teens I felt much more freedom to tease and joke than I do typically with the whole church. This means my "humor" (used quite loosely, probably best said "attempted humor") is usually lost on people. Quite honestly, when evaluating my "fleshly" elements of a sermon, they are typically attempts at humor. I need to do better when communicating that I am joking. Also, this is not the first time I have made NIV-NASB comments (which were also intended to be light hearted), and so it is understandable that there may be confusion.

3. I do prefer the NASB over NIV, but have never given much explanation why. Perhaps this blog can help you understand I prefer the NASB to the NIV but do not consider anyone sinful for using an NIV.
1. If you read the NIV, I'm first of all glad you read your Bible. Seriously, I do not think you are fraternizing with the devil by reading an NIV. The Bible I preach from is actually a "parallel Bible," showing the NASB in the left column and NIV on the right. This is because I often consider the NIV a good translation to reference while studying. Certainly you can learn and grow while reading an NIV.
2. But I do think you should have more than just an NIV Bible available for study. I think you should have more than an NASB, for that matter. Since none of us are Greek and Hebrew scholars, we are dependent upon translators. When looking carefully at the Word, I recommend you sit down with multiple translations as you study.
3. Preaching will primarily be from the NASB. While I preach from the NASB and have encouraged Matt and Jason to do likewise, I do not require visiting preachers to use the NASB. (When Daniel preaches in two weeks, it will more than likely be from the NIV.) I am not trying to create an "NASB-only" church. However, when a new disciple is looking for a Bible, it seems less confusing if they get one that matches the Bible used during sermons. Also, as our church looks toward getting some "pew Bibles" (or Bibles we can give to visitors who don't have one) it seems to make sense that this would be the same translation they are going to hear from the pulpit. Therefore, we have tried to move toward consistency with translations, for the sake of clarity and ease. If you find it confusing or distracting when the Scripture reading doesn't match the words in the Bible in your hand, then we recommend you consider getting an NASB Bible. By our church being consistent, you won't have to wonder which Bible should I bring this week?

But the next question becomes, "So why is it you prefer the NASB?" Here are some features that make the NASB attractive:

1. It is a word-for-word translation. Imagine being a translator when someone says, "It's raining cats and dogs!" Your options would be:
A. Literally translate. Just use the words in your language that say the exact same thing. Though the idiom may be lost on the listener, you still spell it out, word for word, trusting that the listener will know they need to do some interpretation work.
B. Use a replacement figure of speech. Perhaps the culture says, "the rain is chubby" to express a hard rain. You may decide to use the figure of speech they are familiar with to convey the same thought.
C. Simply define the statement. "Raining cats and dogs," may be completely lost on the audience, and so it may be easier to just say, "it was raining really hard."
You can see that the assignment can be a little difficult. You have to know two cultures, not only knowing the meaning of the original words said, but also how to translate them in such a way to get the same meaning across to the audience. This obviously becomes more difficult when you consider the diversity between a first century middle eastern farmer and a twentieth century westerner. Add to that the miraculous nature of the events in the Bible (God could have made literal "dog-cat precipitation" one of the curses against Egypt) and it can be difficult to know for certain how to translate words. The NASB (along with others like ESV and NKJV, KJV, HCSB) seek to translate word for word. The NIV seeks to translate "thought for thought." There is nothing wrong with this (sometimes it does clear things up for us) but it does mean they are often making interpretation decisions and not just translation decisions.

2. NAS seeks to preserve word order. Greek and Hebrew are not tied to specific word order rules like typical English. Therefore, the writers could be much more intentional about the words they put next to each other. Though rare, sometimes the order of words can place a strong influence on how a verse is understood. NAS seeks to keep the word order as close to the original as possible (without sounding like Yoda wrote the Bible.)

3. I love the italics. This was the issue during Praise in the Park. Sometimes verbs, nouns or other parts of speech are assumed from surrounding verses in the Greek. But when we read it in the English and a noun is missing (for instance), the verse seems confusing and choppy. Usually, translators will decide to insert parts of speech not in the original that will help the verse flow better in our language. However, with the NAS, they will italicize the word so that you know the editors decided to add it, it's not in the original. This is helpful because anytime they add a word they are making an interpretation decision, not a translation decision. Occasionally, this may effect the way you understand a verse, while studying.

4. But they do capitalize pronouns. Just to show my inconsistency with things, I do like the fact that NAS editors make the interpretive (and not just translating) decision to capitalize divine pronouns. This is an interpretive decision because Greek manuscripts do not use capitalization like we do. Actually, the Greek texts were written in all caps with no spaces or punctuation. (ie. ACTUALLYTHEGREEKTEXTWEREWRITTENINALLCAPSWITHNOSPACESORPUCTUATION ). Thankfully, the editors did not need to remain consistent in that area. Like nails on a chalkboard, it drives me nuts to see "he" referring to Christ. (I almost always take my pen and scratch "He" over the pronoun on the NIV side of my Bible.)

5. It's become a "friend." Not to be ignored, a very subjective reason for me is that I have grown to love and become comfortable with the NASB. While there are other reliable word for word translations, NASB has been my primary study/preaching translation for over a decade. Like a properly "broken in" baseball cap, the NASB just feels right now.

These are only a few of my thoughts, but perhaps it lays out a bit of an explanation. While I believe the NIV is a good Bible, I believe the NAS is a better choice. I do not say that with a desire to be pretentious or throw scholarship in anyone's face. I just find it easier to study and preach from a word for word translation.

If the NIV is your primary translation you use and you want to keep it that way, go for it! Again, I am thrilled you are reading the Word of God and don't want to get in your way there. But just like I would encourage anyone (regardless of translation), use other tools available (Strong's Concordance, Grammer Aids, Translations on the internet, etc.) to really study what words are being used and how they are being used. Because of their philosophy of translation, you will naturally find more times where the NIV strays some from the literal translation, but using these tools (which are quite easy to use) can help you navigate through those situations without much difficulty.

And to one who may feel this entire article is splitting hairs, asking, "Can't I just read my Bible as is and get enough out of it? Do I really need to worry about original words and tenses and such?", I would simply offer the following illustration. Yes, the Bible is crystal clear on issues of salvation. You can simply read the text and see it right there in the English. In many ways, this is like crystal blue water surrounding an exotic island. You can look down into the water (without any aides) and see all kinds of glorious things, deep down into the water. But if you've ever stood on a beach (or a boat) and looked down and seen bright fish or beautiful coral, you know you don't want to stand there for long. Pretty soon, you want to find scuba gear or a snorkel and dive right into that water. It doesn't mean the view from above was not beautiful, it just means you desire to see and experience that much more.

If you read the Bible right now, and you're afraid that disciplined study would ruin or diminish the beautiful simplicity of God's Word, may is gently suggest that is like the man who stands on the shore and refuses to dive into the water because he is afraid it will ruin his appreciation. It will not ruin it, it will only increase it! We would love to come along side you and help you be able to enjoy the glorious riches of God's Word. If you would like help in learning how to use tools yourself, please contact the office, we'd love to show you.

And lastly, to anyone who was offended by my statements about the NIV, please accept my apology. In my haste, I did not state that the NIV is a good translation, I did not state why I prefer the NAS, and I did not commend those who study with the NIV for studying. My hearts desire for all at Greenville Grace is truly to taste and see that the Lord is good...whatever translation they use.