Sunday, July 24, 2011

Happy 400th birthday, King James Version (KJV)

I was browsing through the magazine section of the National Library yesterday and found this article dedicated to commemorate the quadricentennial of the King James Bible (Harper's Magazine, June 2011 Edition, pp. 33-40).

The author lamented that the King James Bible is no longer the popular version used by major Christian denominations as their primary scripture reference. How true? I have been a born-again Christian for more than 15 years and I have been faithfully using the New International Version (NIV) ever since it was introduced to me on day one from my church.

I came to notice that in recent years my pastors have been using what Harper's Magazine called the other "accessible" translations. A curious search on the Internet reviewed that the other translations used commonly in churches now are the New King James Version, New American Bible (NAB), New International Version (NIV) and New Living Translation (NLT) for adults and the New International Reader's Version (NIrV) for children.

Some argue that there is no one translation that is the best. Well, I know I will still be sticking to my NIV bible for a while longer.

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