I wonder how many churches have adopted the TNIV as their pew Bible. To find out what pew Bibles churches are using, I'm going to put up a new poll in the margin of this blog. Please vote in this poll and invite others who may not know about the TNIV Truth blog to vote in the poll as well.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
TNIV as pew Bible
Dave Wheatley has blogged that his church in Cheltenham, Great Britain, recently decided to adopt the TNIV as its pew Bible. It's a good choice. Many Christians are already familiar with the NIV. If the TNIV is a pew Bible it is easy to follow along with an NIV. Similarly, if a church has used the NIV as its pew Bible, the TNIV will sound almost identical.
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14 comments:
We adopted TNIV as the standard Bible (we don't have pews so we can't exactly have a pew Bible) at my church two years ago, in fact as soon as it was published in full. You may not be surprised to hear that I had a part in this decision.
I'm watching the results change. Looks like the NIV and TNIV are doing well, but I'm surprised to see so many checking "other". I wonder what they're using.
Our pew Bibles are NRSV. Since I'm in a United Methodist church, that's pretty much a natural.
Oh, I'll bet the NKJV is what most of them are. I think that's pretty common in a lot of churches.
Wayne, you didn't make an option for "no pew Bibles."
We don't have them.
Wayne, you didn't make an option for "no pew Bibles."
You're right, Rick. But does your minister preach most of the time from a certain Bible version? That's what I'm trying to ask, if there is some "official" version used in a place of worship.
I also left out the NKJV and NWT.
Sigh! I'm just not perfect at making polls, even though I am part Polish.
Ah, Wayne, that explains your polish!
Ah, Wayne, that explains your polish!
:-)
I'm shining!
You also left out all Catholic bibles -- even though it is by far the largest denomination in the US -- and in the world. However, maybe it is forgivable, since the TNIV translators seem uninterested in producing a Catholic version.
You also left out all Catholic bibles -- even though it is by far the largest denomination in the US -- and in the world. However, maybe it is forgivable, since the TNIV translators seem uninterested in producing a Catholic version.
No, it's not forgivable, regardless of what the TNIV translators do. I should have included the NJB and NAB, at a minimum. I checked earlier to see if I could re-do the poll and retain the responses so far, but I can't. I also did not include a Jewish translation, but I didn't know if one if used in temples. I should have asked.
Oh, phooey! These are enough problems that I'm going to re-do the poll. I hope most who have voted in this one will come back and vote in the next one.
Jewish synagogues read from the Bible in Hebrew -- there are usually a variety of diglots available (often in quite different translations, e.g. NJPS, Artscroll) available.
US Catholic churches almost always use the NAB; I've heard that UK Catholic churches often use the NJB.
My pastor reads from the NIV. I haven't had opportunity to broach the subject and explain the differences yet with him, although our minister of education knows and approves of my using the TNIV in my teaching.
Our bibles are NRSV, but occasionally we also read from the Good News Translation so you may also want to include that in too.
Kevin commented:
Our bibles are NRSV, but occasionally we also read from the Good News Translation so you may also want to include that in too.
Yes, Kevin, you're right. And I had the TEV/GNT in my list at first. But I had to correct and re-correct the list so many times that the last time, somehow, the GNT slipped through the cracks. And that is most unfortunate since the church where our child grew up used and continues to use the GNT as pulpit Bible. Our children were exposed to rather clear Bible wordings all through their growing up years, until they left home for Bible colleges where they had to use some Bible versions which were more highly respected by the academic community but were not so clear. At least one of our four children is using her GNT for the bedtime Bible reading with their children.
I can't re-do the poll list anymore. The count would have to start from zero again, and I just don't have it in me to make that happen.
While I don't personally attend this local church, Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, MI officially switched to the TNIV last year. Rob Bell had been preaching from it since it released, and the church switched over a little while after.
My church still uses the NIV, but every week I bring my TNIV and am always amazed at how much clearer it is, and I wish my pastor would switch the church over!
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