God's Word: Today's Bible Translation That Says What It Means (God's Word Series)

Rating:
Summary: What a great bible!
Review: Finnaly a bible that i can understand.I have other bibles,but this is my favorite by far.I have even told my friends about it,and they said they were going to get them one too.I would reccomend this bible to anyone who wants to know more about God. So run out to your local Christian bookstore and ask for this bible.You will enjoy it as much as i do!

Rating:
Summary: Not a reliable translation
Review: God's Word follows a dynamic equivalence (thought for thought) method of translating. But there are potential problems with this method. I will use a well-known passage (Ephesians 2:8,9) to demonstrate such problems. The verses will be quoted first from the more literal New King James Version, then from God's Word:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."

"God saved you through faith as an act of kindness. You had nothing to do with it. Being saved is a gift from God. It is not the result of anything you have done, so no one can boast."

It should be obvious that these two versions differ greatly. If nothing else, God's word is considerably longer, having 39 words versus the NKJV's 27. But the important question is: are these added words justified by the Greek text? A look at some of the more important changes will answer this question.

First, the conjunction "For" has been omitted in God's Word. But this word is important as it indicates that this verse is related to the preceding one. The problem here is, by omitting this and other conjunctions, God's Word makes it much easier for people to take verses out of context. Conjunctions let readers know that one verse must be interpreted in light of a preceding or following verse.

Second, the first sentence has been restructured. Rather than "you" being the subject of the verb "saved," God's Word has made it the predicate noun. In order to have a subject for the verb, "God" is added to the text. And it should be noted that neither this word nor any other added word is italicized to indicate they are added.

Third, "by grace" is rendered "as an act of kindness." And "kindness" is a possible rendering of the Greek word. So this is not inaccurate. However, there is a separate word for "kindness" in Greek which appears in the previous verse. God's Word also renders this word as "kindness." By rendering both the same way, God's Word hides the fact that two different words are being used. Moreover, it must be asked why "grace" needed to be changed? Is it really a word that people today would not understand?

Fourth, "and that not of yourselves" has been changed to "You had nothing to do with it." Now it is true that the latter is a more natural way of expressing the concept, but none of the words are accurate translations of anything in the Greek text. Moreover, a phrase has been changed to a full sentence.

But most importantly, the word "that" has been changed to "it." So a demonstrative pronoun has been replaced with a personal pronoun. But at least God's Word is still using a pronoun. This pronoun is important as it refers back to "something" in the verse, but there is much debate as to what that something is. However, the two versions differ as to whether they make a decision for their readers as to what the antecedent to the pronoun is. This can been seen in the next words.

The NKJV begins the next phrase with "it is" in italics. The italics indicate these words are added. But God's Word adds, "Being saved is" without indicating the words are added. The Greek text actually has simply "this." So neither version is really literal here. But the NKJV is closer in using a pronoun to render a pronoun rather than God's Word's use of a participle functioning as a noun.

The difference here is this: the NKJV leaves it vague as to exactly what "that" refers to, and hence what the "gift from God" is. Many believe "that" and "the gift" refer back to the verb "saved." But others believe they refer to the noun "faith" or the entire preceding sentence, which includes faith, along with grace and salvation.

This difference is important as this verse could help to answer a very important yet very debated question: Do people generate faith from their own "free wills", or is the very ability to have faith a gift from God? If the antecedent to "that" is "faith" then the latter would be true. Faith itself would be a gift from God. But if the word "that" refers back to being "saved," then this verse does not settle the question one way or another.

So what God's Word has done is settle this issue for its readers without letting them know that it has done so. In other words, the theological opinions of the translators have been inserted into the text.

Continuing with comments on this verse, the phrase "not of works" has been changed to the sentence "It is not the result of anything you have done." God's Word does express the idea, but the only word actually in the Greek text is "not."

And finally, in the last phrase, the negative "lest" and the pronoun "anyone" has been changed in God's Word into the conjunction "so" and a different pronoun. But at least the final verb is rendered in a possible manner.

In conclusion, God's Word has left many words untranslated and has replaced words by completely different words. But worst of all, the theological opinions of the translators are inserted into the translation. As such, God's Word is not a reliable translation of the actual words of God.

The above was adapted from my book "Differences Between Bible Versions." My book contains more on the God's Word, along with reviews of over 30 other versions of the Bible.

Rating:
Summary: A clear, accurate, and wonderful translation!
Review: I have purchased many Bibles in my life-time, but not one of them comes close to the readability of God's Word. This is a fresh meaning-for-meaning translation that has by-passed Christian jargon words such as, sanctification, justification, and reconciliation. For justification they have put "God's approval," which is exactly what it is! If you are justified by Christ, then you have God's approval because of what Christ did. This is an excellent translation and I hope you considerate it for your personal translation of the Bible.

Rating:
Summary: Best easy-to-read version--with a couple of serious flaws
Review: If any translation claims that it has made an accurate dynamic-equivalence translation, then it is God's Word (GW). The revisers of God's Word (GW) originally intended this version simply to be a revision of Beck's An American Translation (AAT). However, they so completely revised GW from the AAT, and its New Testament translation, the New Evangelical Translation (NET), that the revising committee decided to call GW a new translation, and rightly so! It is as revised from Beck's AAT as the NRSV is from the KJV. Although GW is very readable and--overall--accurate for an easy-to-read version, readers still should note it has some problems. At best, a translation is a very close approximation. At worst, it may change, delete, or skew a passage's meaning. God's Word does that in a few areas. GW translates "to be justified" as "to have God's approval." What does "justified" mean? It means that God has given us His approval and acquitted us of our wrongs because of what Jesus has done for us. "Justified" means much more than simply "God's approval." Also, GW uses "because of" where other translations use "by" or "through" when referring to faith. This impresses that God has granted forgiveness (and so saves a person) as a result of the person's faith. The causes of salvation are God's undeserved kindness and Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. God declares people righteous (acquits them) and saves them by faith not because of faith.

This version, also, has a few areas where the sentences are artificially short. Fortunately, they are never to the point of being patronizing.

In other areas, this reviewer particularly liked GW's clean format, and its preservation of poetic styles when in the original texts.

In the GW 1 John 3:17 reads:

Now, suppose a person has enough to live on and notices another believer in need. How can God's love be in that person if he doesn't bother to help the other believer? (GW)

GW receives an B+ in accuracy and an A+ in readability.

Rating:
Summary: A favorite version of mine
Review: The accuracy of the NIV with improved readability. I highly recommend this Bible for personal study. The smooth english allows the heart issues to be well understood.

Rating:
Summary: A true translation from the best manuscripts available
Review: The reviewer above needs to learn a little more about translation before he criticises it. GOD'S WORD is NOT a paraphrase, and I suggest he's very likely an old 1611 authorized King James hold-over. That's someone who's more interested in keeping the Christian faith an elitist group instead of allowing God's message to be understood by all.

Some people will just always find something wrong with modern Bible versions. We need to first understand that when we read these other reviews. I despise the NIV for example, it is one of the worst translations around and should be banned from every Church. But is there a perfect Bible out there? Sure, but it's all written in Hebrew, Greek & Aramaic on tablets and papyrus. Not exactly very useful to me, or you.

Gods Word is a wonderful Bible and has received commendation from such notaries as Billy Graham, Kel Richards, TW Wilson, Tim Todd, Dr. James Kennedy, Charles Bell, Ron Crawford, Ben Goldsmith, Peter M Wallace, and dozens more, all well seasoned Fathers of the Christian faith, all who preach relationship with God, not religion. They know this Bible is drawing God's people closer to Him, and so should we.

If you want a Bible for intensive Biblical study, you would be a fool to rely simply on one translation anyway. On my Palm Pilot I have 13 different versions. It is important to compare, and all faithful students of the scriptures will.

The bottom line is, that for everyday reading and growing in God, this Bible is the best out there, and although it has not become very widespread, I have a feeling that due to the amount of people being saved through this version, it will move to a position of leadership.

As a Discipler, I can not recommend this Bible more.

Shane

Rating:
Summary: Don't take their word for it.
Review: Those who believe that the (real) Bible is God's word should avoid this and similar "loose" translations (e.g. the Living Bible) like the plague. The sponsors of this translation are apparently afraid to let you read an exact translation; instead they give you their own interpretation "that tells you what it means." If you believe that the Bible is God's word, and you can't read Greek and Hebrew, then you should read a version produced by experts in Greek and Hebrew who have tried to translate the original texts as precisely as possible. This here is a theological interpretation, a paraphrase, claiming to be something it is not.

If God made the Bible confusing, then surely He had a reason. These people want to "simplify" it to make sure that you agree with them.