Ever since I discovered the second edition of the New Living Translation of the Bible last summer, I’m falling in love with the Bible again. The NLT is so understandable and easy to read. Spiritual meaning and truths that get hidden in the old English of the King James Version jump off the page in practical, everyday relevant terms in this version.
For instance, I was studying I John last week, and I found a remedy for craving. Here it is:
“Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see…” I John 2:15, 16
John’s primary message in these verses is to direct the desires of his reader from seeking the things of a material world to seeking the riches and comforts of Spirit. One pursuit forsakes the other, he instructs. The pursuit of spiritual understanding and the pursuit of material gain is a direct trade-off. There is no in-between. It’s like black and white.
But he also casts light on how to resolve the troublesome issue for many of craving.
Have you ever been the victim of a craving? Perhaps a craving for chocolate, coffee, spending, attention, recognition, status, money, power, prestige…? If so, John is telling you how to conquer that out-of-control desire. It’s a call to love God more and the material thing you crave less. You can’t love both at the same time. One is a trade-off for the other. So, the question looms, “What is more important? Eating another candy bar for fleeting satisfaction, or welcoming Christ into your life for eternal and permanent peace? You can make the better choice.
Hi, Evan.
I usually agree with you, but on the version of the Bible, I diverge. I love the King James Version. I sat through a Episcopalian Christmas Eve service of readings from the new version you write about and I was so jarred. I had to wait for “The Messiah” to hear the KJV.
Of course, I am an old English major/medieval scholar.
The translation might make the Bible more accessible, but I say, why mess with perfection!
Elaine in Virginia
Evan, you can’t be serious! Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures by Mary Bier Eddy was written to reveal the spiritual richness of the scriptures. As you know, Mrs. Eddy used the King James version of the Bible and prayer to write Science and Health.
I’m all for using supplemental tools such as a thesaurus, dictionary, etc to help in our study.
But what you wrote quite frankly gives me pause. What’s next- Christian Science Lite? Science and Health for Dummies?
To above,
Oh, well don’t get me wrong. I still read the KJV version every day. But there are some excellent translations available now that make reading and studying the Bible so much easier and illuminating. MBE wrote Science and Health from many translations of the Bible, not just the KJV. She quoted most frequently from the KJV because it was the best translation available to her at the time. But research and understanding has greatly improved since her time, (which we would expect with the leaven of Science at work around the world) and new translations shed even greater light on the original writings. I feel its important to glean understanding and light wherever I can find it. The KJV does not have a monopoly on it.
I don’t feel that a more current translation in contemporary English that readers actually understand is “Bible lite.” It’s just plain sensible. People will read it and study it, and that is good.
Also, I respect that different translations speak to different readers. You obviously love the KJV. That’s great. I do too. But I also find much good in the others.
Thanks for this post Evan. I think its wonderful to have so many translations of the Bible at our fingertips. I often gain new inspiration by reading other translations, (I esp. love The Message). Its not so much the exact order of the words that matter as the spiritual message behind them. I feel its VERY important NOT to get caught up on which translation is being used. The inspired word IS the inspired word, nothing can change that. I think it is to bad that people get so upset over this subject. I think Jesus would tell us, “Come on now people, stop the bickering about which Bible translation to read, go out and heal the world, raise the dead I say!”
I so much agree with you and can so well understand what you mean. It’s a bit the same when you learn a new language and you read the Bible and Science and Health in this new language! My mother tongue is German. Then I learned French and finally English. And to read our books in different languages is so enriching. And this is the same with new translations. I think that it’s wonderful to have these. How often we gain new insights through them!
Thank you so much for all you share through this blog!
I so much agree with you and can so well understand what you mean. It’s a bit the same when you learn a new language and you read the Bible and Science and Health in this new language! My mother tongue is German. Then I learned French and finally English. And to read our books in different languages is so enriching. And this is the same with new translations. I think that it’s wonderful to have these. How often we gain new insights through them!
Thank you so much for all you share through this blog!
Valuable input from all of you dear Bible appreciators!
I have a friend, (not a student of Christian Science…yet) who has been going through some rough waters this last year and I have been encouraging him with good ideas. He is a very intelligent, well-educated person, but so upset he says he can’t read much of anything with any concentration. I gave him an easy-to-read book (about being glad…anyway) and he said this: “Finally, a book I can read!”
(I feel that he meant he finds the good ideas therein accessible and inspiring, easy to digest.) He’ll get to the deeper books, etc., soon, I’m sure.
I feel that Christ Jesus gave folks the loaves and fishes before delivering his Sermon. “The divinity of the Christ was made manifest in the humanity of Jesus.” ~Mary Baker Eddy
Evan:
Your information seems to be quite warming. Our needs for clarity should always be open for a easier understanding of the Bible and in no way changes our devotion to the weekly Bible Lesson and using the KJV.
Thanks!
Thank you for this article. I also enjoy all the other translations of the Bible, especially the Message, and, though some might find this obtuse, I would not mind a Science and Health for dummies. Some of us learn differently than others and how comforting it is to know that Angel ideas are always available to all of God’s children.
Getting lost in the “translation” here is the subject of this blog: “Do you love the right things?”
I hope I do. I love whatever God directs me to, no matter what version of Scripture, what sermon, or what song!
I also love whatever expands my understanding and love of God, good — whatever prompts me to include more of Her beautiful creation in my circle of care and compassion.
Finally, while I still love candy, I love Christ even more. And that is why I have been free of bulimia for a quarter of a century after battling that nasty false craving for nearly that long. No more food fights!
God’s love for me, through thick and thin, feels so light. Why, it even feels lite! 🙂
I love the King James Version of the Bible. And I so value the newer versions, such as The Amplified Bible and The Message. After reading Evan’s post today, I will have to check out the New Living Translation.
Appreciating modern wording doesn’t mean I have to give up my love for the KJV. I can use all versions to better understand the meaning of the Bible.
While Eddy consulted several Bible translations, she made it clear she preferred the KJV… w/ the Icelandic Bible being one of her favorite alternatives. But that doesn’t mean we can’t turn to which ever version most speaks to us. I find the KJV the clearest, but sometimes need interpretations or commentaries to shed more light on difficult wording. Contemporary translations sometimes help, but too often I find they tend to add additional content, thus taking away from the original intention of a passage. For that reason I hope our lessons remain w/ the KJV.
Coming to this a bit late. “The time for thinkers has come” Mrs Eddy writes in Science and Health. Evan wasn’t advocating using the NLT in the church services (heaven forbid). He was suggesting it as a study and enrichment tool. Lighten up folks! Our first tenet as students of Christian Science: “we take the inspired work of the Bible as our sufficient guide”. Mrs. Eddy gleaned a lot of inspiration from Bible commentaries of her day. So can we glean from any source that sheds light and lifts thought and gives us inspiration!
No one said Evan was advocating anything, other than what he said, which was the benefits of using other Bible translations for inspiration. Except for one post, everyone here agrees, in their own unique way. Telling these thinkers to “lighten up” accomplishes nothing good. Whether some get their “inspired word of the Bible” from one source or multiple sources is irrelevant, the point is to get inspired.