Look out this Sunday for our new Bibles. They may be hard to spot as they are the exact same colour and size as the last ones, but trust me, they are new!
We have decided it is time to update our church Bibles. We did this for two reasons. Firstly, our old Bibles were starting to look a bit tatty. Secondly, the nature of the English language has changed since the NIV (New International Version) 1978 translation, so we felt it was time to modernise.
But fear not! We are not throwing away our beautiful old Bibles, simply looking to give them to a new home.
Our new church Bibles will be the NIV 2011 translation, and we as a PCC decided this was best for St Mary’s for four reasons.
Firstly, the balance between accessibility and translation accuracy. The NIV is famous for working hard to strike a balance between these two important things. By choosing the NIV 2011 we have chosen a translation that is both faithful to the original language, and clear and easy to read for us today.
Secondly, reading age. It has been reported that the average reading age in the UK is 9 years old. Even though it is possible to choose Bible translations that are exactly aimed at this reading age (like The Message), we felt that we would sacrifice “meaning” for “accessibility” and were not willing to do this. However, neither were we willing to choose a Bible that had a significantly higher reading age like the ESV that is aimed at 15+. Thus, we landed on the NIV 2011 translation that is aimed at 12+ as it is readable without sacrificing meaning. This will require preachers and Bible study leaders to work hard explaining the words in the text so that we all may flourish when studying the scriptures together. But this is no bad thing as the very act of defining a word is an act that allows you to think more deeply about it and its meaning.
Thirdly, gender neutral language. One of the reasons it felt right to move away from the NIV 1978 is that the language is not inclusive. Instead of saying “brothers and sisters” it will just say “brothers”, even when it means both men and women. This may have been how language worked back in 1978, but here in 2024 language has changed and it is now normal to use gender inclusive language. Some may be concerned that this change will result in the meaning of the scriptures being altered. Please fear not. When the scriptures are directly talking to men or women (as in Titus 2:1-8) men and women are specifically addressed.
Fourthly, wide use. The NIV is one of the most popular translations in the UK and among St Mary’s members. The NIV 1978 is no longer in print. So, anyone who is buying a new NIV Bible, or looking at one of the popular Bible websites (like BibleGateway), will be using the NIV 2011. Thus, it made sense for our church Bibles to be the same as the Bibles people are using at home or online.