While looking around the bible section at Lifeway this evening, I came across the bible pictured above. It is a Mandarin translation and my local Lifeway also had Korean and a couple of other foreign languages available.
This brings up a question. To the ones that ascribe to "King James Only" doctrines, are these bibles heretical? I was raised on the KJV, but also believe that God has allowed other translations to further His Word. Saying that, though, I do not believe every translation is true to the original manuscripts. I cannot read Greek and Hebrew, so it is by research in different translations that I have gathered that some of the ones that are not really translations add to and take away from the original texts.
"The Message" is probably the most widely known "paraphrase" of the bible. This version is very questionable and should be avoided, for sure. I would say to stay clear from any paraphrase, since you will just be getting the paraphrasers rendition of what they think the Bible says.
Back to my original question. Is this Mandarin translation heresy since it is not a King James? No, and neither is the NASB, the NIV or the ESV. I will not say that people that use the King James exclusively are wrong either, but when it is taken to an extreme, like anything else, it is a dangerous thing. It is trying to impose a man made doctrine of "read this version only, all others will send you to hell". I never thought that through my KJV days, I just didn't know there was any other translations available.
I believe different translations bring out different facets of God's Word to us. The KJV may use one word, the ESV another and the NASB yet another. Read them all in conjunction as you allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Word in you. I think it is wonderful to have different wordings to achieve a higher understanding of Gods love letter to us.
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