Did you know that the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church allow us to use many different translation when we read from the Word of God in Worship ("Of Translations of the Bible" Title II Canon 2 Sect. 1, pg. 61)? There are at least 16 published translations we could use. These include:
- The King James Version
- The English Revised Version (1881)
- The American Revised Version (1901)
- The Revised Standard Version (1952)
- The Jerusalem Bible (1966)
- The New English Bible (1970)
- The Good News Bible: Today's English Version (1976)
- The New American Bible (1970)
- The RSV Common Bible (1973)
- The New International Version (1978)
- The New Jerusalem Bible (1987)
- The Revised English Bible (1989)
- The New Revised Standard Version (1990)
- The Contemporary English Version (1995)
- The Contemporary English Version Global (2005)
- The Common English Bible (2011)
The Canons also allow for any translation authorized by the Bishop of your Diocese.
Freedom in choosing what translation to read from is important. Every translation will have different ways of looking at the text of Scripture, so they can each open our eyes to new understandings of the Word of God. Different translations might be better for different parishes at different times, or even on different Sundays for different readings.
Take a page out of the Episcopal Church's book and change things up every now and then. It could be that looking at a different translation of the Bible might open you up to something you never saw in a passage before. Reading different translations for the same passage might even help you get closer to what the original text of Scripture might mean.
Tune in this Wednesday for Christian Formation when we'll talk about the different Study Bibles out there and choosing the right one for you.