Good News For Youth (GNFY) published under the oversight of the Alkire Rd Church of Christ elders and posted by permission of the editor.
(note: hyperlinks to Bible Text in this article are for the King James Version)
NIV stands for "New International Version". It is a version of the Bible that is very popular today. However, the fact that it may be easier to read and understand is not necessarily a plus in its favor.
We ought to concern ourselves more with being true to God, knowing His word, and being accurate with His word than we are having something that may be easier to understand.
The preface in the NIV states that the translators "have striven for more than a word for word translation". They admit they strove to give the "meaning" of the text and not just the text itself. This makes the NIV nothing more than a commentary of what someone thinks God said.
In Matthew 19:9, the NIV replaces the word fornication with marital unfaithfulness. This is not accurate. There are a lot of ways to be unfaithful in a marriage, such as: not loving your spouse, not providing for, abusing, etc. Yet none of these are "fornication." The NIV allows far more reasons for a divorce and remarriage than Jesus allowed. In this way, the NIV promotes adultery.
Psalms 51:5 in the NIV teaches "total hereditary depravity" – that little babies are born in sin and doomed for hell. Yet, this is a man-made doctrine, not Bible teaching. Babies are born innocent of sin, not guilty of it (Ezekiel 18:20). Adults must become as little children if they expect to go to heaven (Matthew 18:1-5; 19:13-14).
Romans 8 in the NIV repeatedly uses the phrase "sinful nature." However, man does not have a sinful nature! God is the one who gave man his nature. Did God give him a sinful nature? No! God cannot do evil.
In Romans 1:17 the NIV teaches "faith only" which contradicts James 2:17-26.
The NIV casts doubt on Mark 16:9-20 by setting it off from the rest of the text and saying, "the two most reliable early manuscripts do not have Mark 16:9-20." This is not true.
-– Garland M. Robinson, December 2001 –-
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