Book Burning in NC Church

As most of you all know, we are doing a Trunk or Treat as an alternative to Halloween. ?However, this particular church is doing a different kind of alternative event. ?They are burning books! ?Yes, you heard right. Books! ?Specifically (are you ready for this?) Bibles that are “perversions of God’s Word.”

All I can say is, “Wow.” Pretty unbelievable considering all of the issues with the KJV and the reliability of modern translations. ?The problem with this kind of thinking is that it puts into question all of the translations, especially for recent converts who go to a bookstore to look for a Bible to use. ?Many people will call in and ask if we are a KJV only church. ?We are not. ?We use many different modern translations because we believe they communicate better to a modern audience. ?The reason why we use them is so that the Gospel can be communicated clearly to lost people. ?We don’t have to explain what Old Shakespearian English means in order for people to find Christ. ?There are several great, readable translations that we use here. ?Probably the most common versions used around here are: NIV (New International Version); ESV (English Standard Version; NIrV (New International Readers Version–great children’s translation); NASB (New American Standard); NKJV (New King James Version) and of course, there are several KJV (King James Version) floating around. ?The Message, by the way, is a paraphrase, not a translation. ?It is much like the Good News Bible that I grew up with as the only option for a modern english Bible.

We have some family friends who are Bible translators that have for years risen above this kind of stuff. ?They are better people than I am at times. Their heart is to translate the Word of God into a translation that speaks to the heart of the reader. ?Having taken eight semesters of Greek and four of Hebrew, it is an unbelievably difficult task to translate these ancient texts into modern language so that people can read it, hear the Gospel, and respond to Christ’s invitation of salvation.

Moral of the story…keep reading whatever translation you have and I believe that God will speak to you!

What translation do you use and why?

Book Burning.