What a gift the NIV continues to be to worldwide Christianity! It amply fulfils its central aim of communicating God’s precious Word as accurately as possible in contemporary English. The translation often surprises me with its sensitivity to the tone and sense of the original, while always sounding like the English we speak and write today. Faithfulness to the Lord’s own voice demands both. This is why the NIV remains my preferred text for public reading and preaching.
In my estimation, the NIV provides the best translation to the original text while using a language style that is easier for contemporary folks to understand. I have started using the new NIV with the same confidence I have had all these years. I believe with all my heart that this translation will fill the lives of people today with great joy.
I’ve used the NIV for my personal devotion in God’s word since it came out years ago. It’s also the primary translation I use in preaching. There are so many heroes in the faith that often go unnoticed to the general public. Even though many people may not know your name, your work is impacting their lives on earth and eternity in heaven. I’m one of the many blessed by your work. Thank you for using your gifts to bring God’s word to life in today’s generation.
I am a lead pastor and writer who continues to use the NIV translation in both my areas of ministry. The church I led in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for fourteen years uses the NIV. And, the church I pastor in Monterey, California, also uses it. My best guess is that I have preached close to 2,000 sermons from the NIV and have been blessed each time I have done so.
I wanted to pause and thank the CBT for your hard work, your diligence, and your excellent scholarship. You have blessed more people than you know. Thank you for investing your life in making God’s word accessible and understandable for those who follow Jesus.
It seems to me that the NIV has clearly become the most influential English translation from the past century—and perhaps from all time. I know that, without question, the NIV was “the Bible” to me when I was a new believer back in 1975. Since then, it has only become more important to my spiritual growth.
When I train preachers, I exhort them to be simple, but not shallow. The NIV combines this tension well, by communicating the inexhaustible depth of Scripture in simple language. The KJV was commissioned for the very reason the NIV was—to provide a readable text of Scripture, highly accessible to the masses. For this I am eternally grateful.
I am endlessly grateful for the clarity and beauty of the NIV. Deep thanks to the members of the Committee on Bible Translation for all their work.
I particularly value the New International Version for three reasons. First, I value it for personal reading. Narratives, for example, come alive; law sections are digestible; poetry is well composed; epistles capture something of the wonder the first hearers must have felt. I know I can read with confidence, prayerfully asking God to let ‘the message of Christ dwell . . . richly.’ Secondly, I value it as I minister to others. I serve in a medium-sized church (350) with over 55 nationalities. Many do not speak English as a first language (or even second or third). Here is a translation I can use without having to explain obscurities and Greek prepositions. There are many good translations, but none better for ministry in my local context. Third, I value it as I teach others to preach. My passion is to see younger generations of men and women trained to ‘correctly handle the word of truth.’ We train across educational ability, class, race, language, and culture, and it is the NIV which best allows us to do that in way that is faithful, engaging, and relevant.
The NIV communicates the message of the original authors of Scripture better than any translation I’m aware of. This is THE translation for our generation.
I use the NIV in a variety of different ways every day. I use it in my personal devotional time, as I read God’s word every morning, and then I sit and hold hands with my wife Leslie and we pray together. I think what a change from my years as an atheist and her years as an agnostic. God has changed our lives through his Scripture, through his word, that’s what he’s done. But I use it in my ministry all the time as well. I do a lot of research in Scripture, I do a lot of preaching outside of Scripture, and I find that the NIV is not only scholarly in its approach, but it’s also accessible in its language. The phraseology is something that resonates with people in the pew; it resonates with me. It uses language that we all understand, it puts a biblical concept into terms that we can all relate to, and it is easy for memorization, easy for sharing with others. I use it all the time, and I recommend that others use it as well.
When I began my ministry I was between a rock and a hard place. I could base my preaching either on a very ‘popular’ translation of the Bible which often lost the nuance of the text in translation, or a very ‘proper’ translation which would often use language my people didn’t speak and was somewhat wooden, even pious, when read in pubic. I confess it took me a little time to pick up and use the NIV in spite of others recommending it. But when I did, I discovered it blended just the right accuracy and nuance of translation with a range of vocabulary that made it accessible to ordinary readers. And I’ve been grateful for it ever since. I’m also grateful that the translators recognise that although the word of God does not change, our words do. So, thank you, that you have not fossilised the original translation as a museum piece but updated it for today, not least in its use of appropriate inclusive language. Keep faithful and keep at it.
I continue to use the NIV for three reasons. For its accuracy, its simplicity, and its popularity.
Let me just say a word about each of these. First, it is accurate. When you look at the list of scholars who have worked on New International Version in the past and who continue to work on it today, it’s really a who’s who in biblical scholarship. I trust the NIV because it represents no single method of theology, no single strain of Christianity. It has a broad base, broad appeal, and isn’t trying to promote any particular agenda. That means a lot to me. Let the text teach itself. There are translations coming out today that are basically being built to protect and promote a particular view of theology. Well, they’ve got it backwards. That is letting your theology dictate the Bible, rather than letting the Bible dictate your theology. The NIV is an accurate translation.
The second reason is it’s simple. It’s easy to read. It’s understandable and people can use it. I never find it hard to use because it’s self-explanatory. In fact, a lot of times, you don’t have to interpret anything because the Scripture just speaks for itself. The NIV makes the meaning plain. I understand why some people like to use the King James Version because it gives them something to explain. But when you use the New International Version, you spend less time on interpretation and more time on application, because the text speaks for itself.
And then I continue to use it because of its popularity. It is, by far, the most popular Bible translation, so I know that when I quote from it, more people are going to resonate with that translation than with a less popular translation.
