Knowing God's Word #6

Chapter 6: Pitfalls

When studying Scripture, we need to guard against distorting the truth of God's Word. Neither should we substitute our opinion for truth.

We avoid such pitfalls through careful study of Scripture. Sure, that takes some effort. After all, even Peter said that some of Paul's writings were hard to understand (2 Peter 3:15-16)!

But we have excellent translations, commentaries, and other resources to help us in our studies.

And we're promised that our prayers for wisdom and discernment will not go unanswered.

Knowing God's Word #5

Chapter 5: Dare to Compare

Break out the colored pencils!

In this chapter, we colored-coded the phrases of 1 Peter 1:25 in four different versions. The visual comparisons made it easy to see how different versions translate the same verse.

Which translation is the best?

Generally speaking, scholarly study requires a "formal equivalent" translation, one that translates the original languages practically word-for-word into English. Two popular translations are the New King James Version and the New American Standard Bible.

A "dynamic equivalent" translation, like the New International Version, translates phrase-by-phrase. The NIV is immensely popular because it's easier to read and understand than the NKJV.

Paraphrases, such as The Living Bible, simplify the English language for readers. Even though paraphrases may be easy to understand, they shouldn't be relied upon for theological study.