The following "Question" was asked by an attendee at the 2003 Shepherds' Conference (a ministry of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California), and was "Answered" by John MacArthur Jr. It was transcribed from the CD, #SC1007, titled "General Session #5 John MacArthur - Q&A."  A copy of the CD, cassette tape, or MP3 can be obtained by going to:  www.shepherdsconference.org  ©2003. All Rights Reserved. Grace Community Church.

Questioner

Could you give us your thoughts on the use of paraphrased versions of the Bible in many writings today and in church services almost to the exclusion of, you know, the literal translation?

John MacArthur's Answer

James, that’s a very, very important question. I’m cranking up on this one. Now, I’m going to say something, and I’m just going to say it because I want you to know how serious [it is]. I believe anything other than a literal translation of the Bible is a serious breach—serious breach—of God’s intention for how we handle His word. I think it’s a violation. Now, there are some that are worse than others. But, I believe that we need to remember that a translation is a translation.

Anytime you open a Bible and it says, “A translation for our times,” “a translation for modern times,” “a translation for people to understand,” you have a problem. “Modern times” has no right to determine what God said. Translation is translation. Interpretation is interpretation. Paraphrase is paraphrase. But when you blend those, you have very serious issues. We would say, perhaps, that the NIV is maybe the least troublesome of dynamic equivalency translations, but it’s the old slippery slope issue again.

And it just goes from there—and watch where the NIV has gone! From the NIV now to the TNIV and who knows where else it’s going to go, because once you have taken the step to say, “We have the right to change the original text so that people can understand it better,” you have just stepped away from what is the Word of God. That is why I always land on the NAS, the New King James or the New ESV, which is also formal equivalency and an excellent translation as such.

This thing is running amuck—it’s running amuck. There are people in churches, as you were saying, all over the place, who have never heard the Word of God read—never heard it read. People are reading the message to them or the Living Bible or whatever else variations of that.

I would commend for you, if you really want to dig into this, there’s one book that is absolutely the best thing ever written on this. I mean it is a slam dunk book. I don’t know what else could be said. It is a book called The Word of God in English and it is written by Leland Ryken and it is published by Crossway. I will tell you, you will read that book and you will never again wonder about translation. And you will also never again use a dynamic equivalency because you will be in fear of divine judgment. I mean, that book is absolutely the best thing—it’s not just the best available. I don’t how you could write a better one! Leland Ryken has done his work and he has given all of us a tremendous tool to deal with the issues of translation.

I believe we are bound by God to let God say what He said. And so, that’s why we land on what’s called “formal equivalency,” word by word translation, the only variables being the family of manuscripts that are used. OK? But read that book. Get that book. Don’t just get the book; read the book!

Added to Bible Bulletin Board's "MacArthur's Questions and Answers" by:

Tony Capoccia
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