Blogocentric Formulations

The Bible, Take 2

As I mentioned in "2021 Reading List"  at the end of December, I spent a good chunk of the past year reading The Bible in its entirety. This was the first time I've read it all; prior to 2021 I had read bits and pieces and chunks of it (some way more than others) in concert with many church sermons over many years, and even read entire books independently, but this was my first foray into all 66 books.

Most people are familiar with the "big" ones. The gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Acts and Romans. Genesis and Revelation. Exodus, and Job, and maybe even the one that Samuel L. Jackson quotes in Pulp Fiction (Ezekiel). I read them all. And all the Psalms and Proverbs. Amos and Obadiah. Habakkuk and Haggai. Titus, Philemon, and Jude. It was ... a lot. But I'm glad I did it.

Last year, I used the bible translation I was most familiar with, the New International Version (NIV). It's a standard, middle-of-the-road translation somewhere between formal equivalence (a word-for-word translation into English from the original texts) and dynamic equivalence (updating the translation to take into account comprehension and readability for the target audience). It's the bible I've been carrying to church for years.

This year, my church decided to read it all the way through (following the reading plan and supplemental videos from The Bible Project  ) and has incorporated a Saturday morning bible study into our routine. This year I decided to read the New Living Translation (NLT), which is a popular translation with more dynamic equivalence, bordering on paraphrase. I'm really liking it so far. It's easier to get into the stories of the Bible with more straightforward text, especially for someone who didn't grow up in the church and isn't as familiar with the content.

Me on Saturday mornings in 2022:

This is actually part of a larger project I'm undertaking with my Bible reading. I decided sometime last year that I'm actually going to spend the next five years reading five different translations of the Bible. I'm going to read from both ends of the spectrum, both formal and dynamic equivalence, in an effort to get a better understanding of and exposure to the text.

As the pastor at my church is fond of saying, even if you take the religion out of it, the Bible as a piece of literature is fascinating. It's one of the oldest, most diverse, most translated books in history. There are more than twenty popular English translations of the Bible, not to mention hundreds other translations in both English and other languages. While I don't take the religion out of it because Christianity is my chosen religion, I'm looking forward to studying different translations and comparing and contrasting. I didn't come to faith until my 30s, and even now I struggle with the specifics of what I took on faith and signed up for. Then again, it's supposed to be a lifelong pursuit of greater understanding and deeper faith, so I might as well see where this journey takes me!

For those of you reading who also read the Bible, what translation do you read? What do you like and dislike about that translation? After 2022 I still have at least three more translations that I'll have to select.