What city are your Bible habits from?

            I sometimes ask people to be “Berean Christians.”  Acts 17 records the story of Paul and Silas, Christian missionaries who were run out of Thessalonica.  They went to a town called Berea or Beroea (NRSV).  In Berea, Paul and Silas got a better hearing.  The writer of Acts explained, “Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”   You’ll occasionally see Sunday School classes called “Bereans” in older congregations.  It’s a reference to this diligence in studying scripture.

            You will want a good translation of the Bible—or two or three.  The Bible was written in Hebrew (Old Testament) and in Greek (New Testament).  So, we rely on a Bible translation.  There are a lot of translations of the Bible.  I don’t know why there are so many English translations but there are.  Let me make reference to just a couple.

            NRSV (New Revised Standard Version)—This is the version in our pew Bibles and is usually my preferred translation.  It tries to strike a balance between readability and accuracy of translation.

            NASB (New American Standard Bible)—The NASB strives for a more literal translation.  When you read an NRSV side-by-side with an NASB you’ll find that the NASB has more awkward sentence structure and several more footnotes explaining terminology.  Where the NRSV was designed primarily for the public reading of scripture, the NASB was primarily designed for study.

            NIV (New International Version)—The NIV was published in the 1970’s by Evangelical publishers.  It was revised in 2011.  The NIV like the NRSV seeks to be both accessible and accurate. 

            There’s a very helpful and short resource entitled, The Bible in English Translation:  An Essential Guide written by Steven M. Sheeley and Robert N. Nash, Jr.  It describes several more translations and gives a very helpful description of how these translations came to be. 

            I pray that you will take time to read scripture, take time to know what you’re reading, and prayerfully consider what it means for you.  Bereans were more noble because they searched the scriptures daily.  May the same be said of us.