I downloaded and watched a series of videos on the question, Which Bible Translation Should I Use? I found this Biblical Studies Symposium presented by Liberty University very helpful. Three scholars presented their case of why their translation philosophy was best. Dr. Wayne Grudem represented the “essentially literal” philosophy of translation of the English Standard Version (ESV). Dr. Doug Moo contended for the dynamic equivalence philosophy of the 2011 New International Version (NIV2011) on the other side, and Dr. Ray Clendenen represented the optimal equivalence philosophy of the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) somewhere in the middle between the ESV and NIV2011.
Dave Croteau invited these three men to contend for their philosophies of translation and their respective translations.
I felt that each representative did a good job in airing their views. There are 5 videos to watch, and they vary from about 36 minutes to around 48 minutes in length. They are:
- Video 1: Dr. Ray Clendenen and the Holman Christian Standard Bible
- Video 2: Dr. Wayne Grudem and the English Standard Version
- Video 3: Dr. Doug Moo and the New International Version
- Video 4: Responses and Q&A
- Video 5: Dr. Wayne Grudem's Morning Session: "The Trustworthiness of Scripture"
Something quite unrelated to the philosophy of translation is the fact that in the Q&A session, a few students found it very difficult to put together a coherent statement and/or question to ask.
Some time ago I wrote a blog post called Which Bible translation should I use? I compared the ESV/NIV2011/NASB/HCSB. It could be helpful. I also wrote a blog post on why The Message is not a trustworthy Bible to use.
