Across the Pastor’s Desk by Todd Walsh

 

I should probably preface my column by stating the limitation of what I am writing. The topic of this column is better suited to a series of columns. I don’t think it possible to adequately cover the topic in the space provided.

There are all sorts of directions to go with the many Bibles we are blessed with today. I am choosing one to share with you that I believe is good to consider.

I heard a biblical scholar talk about bibles the other day. Richard Elliott Friedman is a professor of Jewish studies at the University of Georgia. His first answer landed beyond my ability. He said he reads his own translation from the original language. I’m not in that league and I would imagine most of you reading this are on the same team with me.

But then he named his favorite and preferred Bible translation. The King James version. That surprised me. I thought he would land on a version that represents the latest scholarship and archeology. But he explained that the King James version has two things going for it.

First, it is perhaps the most literal translation of the Bible even to this day. Second, it was designed to be beautiful in its translation using a very formal presentation of English that ordinary people in 1611 (or 1885, when the latest revision appeared) did not speak. Nor do we speak that way today. It was meant to be other-worldly and invoke a sense of reverence.

I’ve noticed this business of the King James Version being literal. I read the new revised standard version in my Bible reading for work and devotion. But I run to the King James version when I wonder about the use of a word or the rendering of a sentence.

Christmas is coming and the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel is going to be read around the world. I will use the King James version of that reading. It is the perhaps the pinnacle of the art that is the King James version.

How’s this for an off-the-wall proof of my previous sentence? Charles Schulz created the Peanuts comic strips. He wrote the script for his first Peanuts television special that debuted in 1965. He included a reading of Luke’s Christmas story from the King James version. (The revised standard version was in print by 1965. Schulz chose not to use it.) The network opposed the scene. Schulz explained the reading stood as the punch line of the whole story. He ultimately threatened to pull the plug on the project if it was not included. Schulz won. And Linus gave us the reading we hear every December in “A Charlie Brown Christmas.”

So back to my question, that is the title of this column. What version of the Bible should you read? Choose the version that works for you. Devotional reading can be different than reading in a Bible study. The wonder of our present age is that we have many versions of the Bible available to us online. There are plenty of less-than-helpful Bible resources on the internet. Resources that a denomination sponsors or recommends can be helpful. But different perspectives can be good for us.

The Bible is meant to both inspire us and to challenge us. Its words can comfort and motivate. It can speak to us as individuals and at the same time draw us into community to grow and worship the God revealed in its pages.

Todd Walsh is chaplain at Thorne Crest Senior Living Community in Albert Lea.