# Which Bible do you use? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 13, 2000, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232 "2000-01-13T15:42:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/1 "2000-01-13T15:42:00Z")
**Rastahomie** (in [http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000430.html](http://www.straightdope.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/000430.html) ) > [@](#): > > If you want to debate about the whole “King James Only” controversy, please open up your own thread in GD I’ve been meaning to ask this for a while. I hope I am not repeating anything, though I assume that various thoughts on this are spread throughout various other treads. Lots of versions of the Bible out there. Which do you use and why? If you believe in the literal truth of the Bible, why is the version you read better (or more accurate, etc.) than the others? Thanks. * * * Once in a while you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right… ---
**Author:** ![Navigator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@Navigator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navigator)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/2 "2000-01-13T15:51:00Z")
HAY… If the KJV was good enough for the Apostle Paul… (j/k) 🙂 I have beside my bed, many translations. NASB - no commentary… just the straight stuff, with translators notes. NIV - in my Palm III. No commentary, sparese notes… but awesome way to look up words and phrases… KNJV - Ryrie commentaries and interpretations at the bottom, and his take on several doctrines. CEV - for just enjoying I’d like to get an intertranslational Greek/Hebrew something-or-other to compare to the real text, along with a concordance. I do have KJV but it is on my computer, and I frankly don’t use it much. I don’t know if I answered any question of the OP, but at least ya got my reasing list. 🙂 Peace. * * * † Jon † Phillipians 4:13 ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/3 "2000-01-13T15:55:00Z")
The Silmarillion ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/4 "2000-01-13T16:04:00Z")
_Total Baseball_. All kidding aside, on the bookshelf at home by my pC, I have two NIV translations, an NKJV, an NRSV, a Living Bible, and _El Libro_, a Spanish Bible. * * * “It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather ---
**Author:** ![Archangel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@Archangel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archangel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/5 "2000-01-13T16:05:00Z")
I keep a number of versions and a number of different commentaries. I think often times you need different reference points to understand what scripture is talking about. I even often times find myself re-reading and attempting to understand the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic text to get a full understanding. 🙂 * * * Barak bow` shem Yahshua!! Maranatha!!! ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/6 "2000-01-13T16:10:00Z")
“Advanced Karate” by Sosai Masutatsu Oyama “The Kyokushin Way” by Sosai Masutatsu Oyama “Living the Martial Way” by Forrest E. Morgan Actually, the bible I have at home is the King James version. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/7 "2000-01-13T16:11:00Z")
For anyone interested, there is a free on-line intralinear Greek/Hebrew - English text with Strong’s Concordance by the[Blue Letter Bible Project](http://www.khouse.org/blueletter/). The Greek and Hebrew are rendered both in original characters and as English transliterations. * * * “It is lucky for rulers that men do not think.” — Adolf Hitler ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/8 "2000-01-13T16:12:00Z")
Oh, as to why the “King James” version, because it was given to me by a minister and I definitely couldn’t be bothered to go and buy any different copy. It suffices for my needs if I need to look anything up for some reason. I also fulfilled its purpose during my “Christian Challenge”. * * * “Glitch … Energy Shield.” - Bob the Guardian ---
**Author:** ![Christabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Christabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Christabel)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/9 "2000-01-13T16:42:00Z")
I have several that were all given as gifts. I have the KJV which I got from my church when I was baptized. The NIV, which is what I use most of the time. New Living Translation:New Testament. This is another favorite of mine. I don’t know that one is better than the other. I like the last one because it has in the front of it a page called verse finder. Just about anything you will deal with in your daily life and have quesitons on are listed there. Behind each topic it has several different verses in the Bible referring to the situation for you to look up. Which is very helpful, because I don’t know where anything is. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/10 "2000-01-13T16:46:00Z")
It will come as a surprise to no one that I read it in the original Hebrew. When I Want a translation, my favorites are **The Living Torah** by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (of blessed memory) and the Artscroll Torah and Tanakh. * * * Chaim Mattis Keller [cmkeller@compuserve.com](mailto:cmkeller@compuserve.com) “Sherlock Holmes once said that once you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the answer. I, however, do not like to eliminate the impossible. The impossible often has a kind of integrity to it that the merely improbable lacks.” – Douglas Adams’s Dirk Gently, Holistic Detective ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/11 "2000-01-13T16:55:00Z")
Hello again… Before this gets shuttled off to GQ (which is fine, my curiosity is still being satisfied) I am still wondering _why_ you use what you use. Not so much for the commentaries, but the actual translation itself. Unless, of course, the translations from the Greek, etc. remain the same. I would think this would be a very important distinction for those who accept the Bible as a literal truth. ## Thanks again. Once in a while you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right… ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/12 "2000-01-13T17:00:00Z")
King James and NIV. King James because I think it’s great literature and great language and because it’s the version I was raised on. NIV with notes to try to get a better handle on what the various passages may mean, and because it’s a more faithful (no pun intended) translation of the original texts. I do not believe the Bible is the literal word of God, BTW, and since you asked. * * * Jodi _Fiat Justitia_ ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/13 "2000-01-13T17:11:00Z")
For study purposes, I always use the New Jerusalem Bible, which is copiously annotated and eminently readable. For home worship, at her preference, my wife and I use the New King James Version. Our church uses the New Revised Standard Version, which combines the incomprehensibility of the King James text with the pedestrian-ness of a modern translation. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Spiritus\_Mundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Spiritus\_Mundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiritus_Mundi)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/14 "2000-01-13T17:11:00Z")
Hey, Glitch. Have you tried _Moving Zen_ or _Iron and Silk_? They are both biographical rather than expositions of a philosphy/art, but I found them both inspirational. Oh. That Bible. I have a couple of different concordances, an old family KJV, a NWB and an NIV. (I think, a couple of them are still packed away from the move. I use th econcordances and online resources most often.) * * * - The best lack all conviction The worst are full of passionate intensity. \* ---
**Author:** ![Satan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Satan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satan)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/15 "2000-01-13T17:14:00Z")
Whatever the Giddeons were fine enough to leave in the hotel room I snatched it from. I asked my youth minister brother: Would God like that I was taking His word, which should be free for the taking, or would He condemn the act of stealing no matter what it was? His answer, which I thought was a good one even though it was a cop-out: “Read it and you tell me.” * * * Yer pal, Satan _ **First Place** Most Popular Poster of the 20th Century Competition As overseen by Coldfire_ ---
**Author:** ![David\_B](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/51bf81/32.png) [@David\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_B)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/16 "2000-01-13T17:16:00Z")
[Moderator Hat: ON] As Rhythmdvl noted, this is looking right now like an MPSIMS thread (not GQ). Just wanted to let you all know that I’ll be moving it if it stays in this vein rather than moving to discuss more of the whys relating to literalism and the like. I mean, it’s fine if you don’t want to, it’s just more MPSIMSish than GDish. * * * David B, SDMB Great Debates Moderator [Moderator Hat: OFF] ---
**Author:** ![Glitch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/0ea827/32.png) [@Glitch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glitch)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2000, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/17 "2000-01-13T17:18:00Z")
Spiritus: I have read Moving Zen, but not Iron and Silk. I looked it up on [Amazon.com](http://Amazon.com) and looks pretty interesting. I’ll put in on my list of books to read just because you recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/18 "2000-01-14T02:58:00Z")
Satan wrote: > [@](#): > > Whatever the Giddeons were fine enough to leave in the hotel room I snatched it from. That would be the KJV. I’ve never seen a Gideons’ Bible that wasn’t. I prefer the “Good News Bible”, more formally known as the Today’s English Version or TEV. It uses a vocabulary designed for a fifth-grader could understand. (Well, okay, in a modern public school, that would be about a tenth-grade vocabulary. But I digress.) A music composition classmate of mine recommended it as a good “accurate translation” of the Bible into modern English – however, he was only comparing its accuracy to that of _The Book_, so that’s not saying much. * * * The truth, as always, is more complicated than that. ---
**Author:** ![Navigator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4af34b/32.png) [@Navigator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Navigator)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/19 "2000-01-14T04:11:00Z")
ever get around to answering him Brian? 😃 * * * † Jon † Phillipians 4:13 ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2000, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232/20 "2000-01-14T04:27:00Z")
I’m surprised David hasn’t kicked this to MPSIMS yet. My favorite translation is the NIV. The KJ is good, and sometimes the old English, and poetic style gives more “kick” to a verse. But, the NIV is much easier to memorize, and that’s why I like it better. Adam * * * “Life is hard…but God is good” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-bible-do-you-use/17232.md?page=2)