Baptists’ Bible Use

[Martin Marprelate]

I thought the ESV was popular in the USA.
Here in Britain, two of the churches I preach at occasionally have switched recently from the NIV to the ESV. Last week I preached from the ESV for the first time.

 

[Reynolds]

In the Why has the KJV been so popular? thread, before it was closed, there was a brief mention of which Bible translation Baptist people most favor, with one response that it is the New International Version. I am curious of a few things in this regard.

• Are there any formal surveys/polls on which Bible Baptists prefer?
• Any informal surveys/polls on which Bible Baptists prefer?
• What Bible version, in your experience, do you find the Baptists you know prefer?
• If polled, is there any difference between which Bible is preferred by pastors versus laypeople?
• What about “use” versus “preference”? For example, I know someone who just bought a new Bible to use because it is the Bible used by her pastor. It is not the Bible she prefers, but it will be the Bible she uses.

I realize that many Baptists use more than one Bible translation/version. In these questions, though, I am thinking of which Bible Baptists use/prefer as their primary Bible. Also, I am primarily thinking of English Bibles, though if someone knows about this topic in another language, that could be interesting as well.

In the Why has the KJV been so popular? thread, before it was closed, there was a brief mention of which Bible translation Baptist people most favor, with one response that it is the New International Version. I am curious of a few things in this regard.

• Are there any formal surveys/polls on which Bible Baptists prefer?
• Any informal surveys/polls on which Bible Baptists prefer?
• What Bible version, in your experience, do you find the Baptists you know prefer?
• If polled, is there any difference between which Bible is preferred by pastors versus laypeople?
• What about “use” versus “preference”? For example, I know someone who just bought a new Bible to use because it is the Bible used by her pastor. It is not the Bible she prefers, but it will be the Bible she uses.

I realize that many Baptists use more than one Bible translation/version. In these questions, though, I am thinking of which Bible Baptists use/prefer as their primary Bible. Also, I am primarily thinking of English Bibles, though if someone knows about this topic in another language, that could be interesting as well.

I use NKJV and NASB most of the time. Our church officially switched to HCSB just in time for CSB to obsolete it.

 

[church mouse guy]

I use the KJV, NASB, and NIV; I have the CSB on my phone. I have the Holman and the NKJV, and Iike the Holman. I consider the KVJ to have been written in modern English, and Tyndale said that he wanted the English ploughboy to know more Scripture than the Pope, which turned out to be easy to do.

For help I like Matthew Henry Complete and all the usual dictionaries. For a concordance, Cruden's by Alexander Cruden. Also, I am a YEC (Young Earth Creationist) and use their online articles.

 

[Jerome]

Christianity Today - NIV vs. KJV: Surveys and searches suggest the translation that most Americans are reading is actually not the bookstore bestseller

When Americans reach for their Bibles, more than half of them pick up a King James Version (KJV), according to a new study advised by respected historian Mark Noll.

The 55 percent who read the KJV easily outnumber the 19 percent who read the New International Version (NIV). And the percentages drop into the single digits for [other English translations]

 

[Reformed]

In the Why has the KJV been so popular? thread, before it was closed, there was a brief mention of which Bible translation Baptist people most favor, with one response that it is the New International Version. I am curious of a few things in this regard.

• Are there any formal surveys/polls on which Bible Baptists prefer?
• Any informal surveys/polls on which Bible Baptists prefer?
• What Bible version, in your experience, do you find the Baptists you know prefer?
• If polled, is there any difference between which Bible is preferred by pastors versus laypeople?
• What about “use” versus “preference”? For example, I know someone who just bought a new Bible to use because it is the Bible used by her pastor. It is not the Bible she prefers, but it will be the Bible she uses.

I realize that many Baptists use more than one Bible translation/version. In these questions, though, I am thinking of which Bible Baptists use/prefer as their primary Bible. Also, I am primarily thinking of English Bibles, though if someone knows about this topic in another language, that could be interesting as well.

R.L.

I am not aware of any research to support Bible version usage. Any thoughts I share are anecdotal and based on observation. That said, I have noticed many church members mimicking the pastor's version, if only because it provides a level of consistency. The ESV seems to have made strides in Calvinistic Baptist churches. The ESV is what my pastor uses. While I appreciate the ESV, I have used the NASB for nearly 40 years and do not intend on changing. I am able to follow along with the pastor quite well.

 

[Rippon]

Christianity Today - NIV vs. KJV: Surveys and searches suggest the translation that most Americans are reading is actually not the bookstore bestseller

Not-so-new-news. The inaccurate article is almost four years old.

 

[atpollard]

I am not aware of any research to support Bible version usage.

Here you go, a link to a 2017 report by the Barna Group for the American Bible Society (see page 46).

https://www.americanbible.org/uploads/content/state-of-the-Bible-2017-report.pdf

 

[McCree79]

I use NKJV and NASB most of the time. Our church officially switched to HCSB just in time for CSB to obsolete it.

That is funny and I can relate. My senior pastor did the same thing. Switched to preaching from the HCSB just few months before the CSB was released

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

 

[rlvaughn]

Here you go, a link to a 2017 report by the Barna Group for the American Bible Society (see page 46).

https://www.americanbible.org/uploads/content/state-of-the-Bible-2017-report.pdf

Thanks. From page 11:

The King James Version continues to be the version Bible users prefer most often, with 31% using this translation. However, the King James has seen a nine-percentage point decrease in usage since 2016 and 14% decrease since Barna first measured this in 2011. Use of the King James Version (KJV) is directly related to age. Nearly half of all Elders use
the KJV most often (49%), compared to 40% of Boomers, 34% of Gen-Xers and 14% of Millennials. There has also been a slight drop in the percent of Bible users who prefer the New King James version (12% in 2016 to 7%).

The New International Version (NIV) (13%) is the second most-read version, behind the KJV. Practicing Protestants are much more likely than average to use NIV (21%). Boomers also have an above average preference for this translation (21%).

Third in usage is the English Standard Version (ESV), with nine percent of Bible readers using this version most often. ESV use is up slightly from the previous year, but is on par with the 2015 findings.

The New King James Version and the Amplified Bible are both tied for the fourth most commonly read Bible version at 7% each. Practicing Catholics show a higher than average usage of the Amplified Bible (21%) as well as and the Christian Community Bible (14%).

 

[rlvaughn]

Brother Robert, you'll have to forgive me. You're trying to discuss Bible use and I'm just questioning the statistics.

No problem. It is worth noting that sales and use are not the same.

 

[Rhetorician]

In the Why has the KJV been so popular? thread, before it was closed, there was a brief mention of which Bible translation Baptist people most favor, with one response that it is the New International Version. I am curious of a few things in this regard.

• Are there any formal surveys/polls on which Bible Baptists prefer?
• Any informal surveys/polls on which Bible Baptists prefer?
• What Bible version, in your experience, do you find the Baptists you know prefer?
• If polled, is there any difference between which Bible is preferred by pastors versus laypeople?
• What about “use” versus “preference”? For example, I know someone who just bought a new Bible to use because it is the Bible used by her pastor. It is not the Bible she prefers, but it will be the Bible she uses.

I realize that many Baptists use more than one Bible translation/version. In these questions, though, I am thinking of which Bible Baptists use/prefer as their primary Bible. Also, I am primarily thinking of English Bibles, though if someone knows about this topic in another language, that could be interesting as well.

RV,

Most of the Baptists with whom I associate use the New American Standard Version. (Although, some do use the ESV, these are the URR crowd.) IMHO, the NASV is the closest thing to the critical text that one can have in the English and have integrity to the Greek text. This is an assumption of course, but if your Convention had gone through a Conservative Resurgence like mine has then you would make two very clear and distinct assertions:

First, you would want a version as nearly word for word literal as the NASV seems to be, and

Second, and flowing from that, one would want--even demand a pastor who preaches through books of the Bible, with sound exegesis, sound Reformational theology, and an applied homiletic on which the church members can build their lives.

My thoughts.

Yours?

sdg!

rd

 

[Yeshua1]

I thought the ESV was popular in the USA.
Here in Britain, two of the churches I preach at occasionally have switched recently from the NIV to the ESV. Last week I preached from the ESV for the first time.

The esv is known as being the "reformed/calvinist version", as many churches have switched from the Niv 1984 to Esv when 2011 Niv came out!

 

[Yeshua1]

That is funny and I can relate. My senior pastor did the same thing. Switched to preaching from the HCSB just few months before the CSB was released

Sent from my SM-G935P using Tapatalk

Now they have the chance to have churches get rid of their HCSB and buy the ole "New and improved" Csb!

 

[Rippon]

Here you go, a link to a 2017 report by the Barna Group for the American Bible Society (see page 46).

https://www.americanbible.org/uploads/content/state-of-the-Bible-2017-report.pdf

What in the world is the Christian Community Bible? It ranked ahead of the NLT in the report. Also, no mention was made of the CEB.

 

[Rippon]

First, you would want a version as nearly word for word literal as the NASV seems to be,

The above contains a few fallacies.

 

[Rhetorician]

The above contains a few fallacies.

My Dear Rippon,

Does it contain fallacies, I asserted "seems to me." And I am sure you will point out those fallacies to me in Christian kindness no doubt?

My thoughts.

Yours?

sdg!

rd

 

[rlvaughn]

RV,

My thoughts.

Yours?

Most of the Baptists with whom I associate use the New American Standard Version. (Although, some do use the ESV, these are the URR crowd.)

Who are the URR?

but if your Convention had gone through a Conservative Resurgence like mine has then you would make two very clear and distinct assertions:

First, you would want a version as nearly word for word literal as the NASV seems to be, and

Second, and flowing from that, one would want--even demand a pastor who preaches through books of the Bible, with sound exegesis, sound Reformational theology, and an applied homiletic on which the church members can build their lives.

I can't speak to what it would be like to be in a Convention that has gone through a Conservative Resurgence. My own experience has been with consistently conservative Baptists. (I am glad, though, that the Conservatives in the SBC have surged!) Since we were conservative all along with the KJV, I don't suppose it occurred to us to look for something "more conservative". Again, though we may have been at times more pleased and less pleased with certain pastors, we never had any that denied the inspiration of the Bible, or the faith and practice of Baptists. So I guess we come to this point today from different locations.

 

[rlvaughn]

What in the world is the Christian Community Bible? It ranked ahead of the NLT in the report. Also, no mention was made of the CEB.

Apparently a Catholic Bible:
Christian Community Bible, Catholic Pastoral Edition
Christian Community Bible - Wikipedia

 

[Rhetorician]

Who are the URR?
I can't speak to what it would be like to be in a Convention that has gone through a Conservative Resurgence. My own experience has been with consistently conservative Baptists. (I am glad, though, that the Conservatives in the SBC have surged!) Since we were conservative all along with the KJV, I don't suppose it occurred to us to look for something "more conservative". Again, though we may have been at times more pleased and less pleased with certain pastors, we never had any that denied the inspiration of the Bible, or the faith and practice of Baptists. So I guess we come to this point today from different locations.

RV,

I made a mistake, I meant "YRR." This is the Young Restless and Reformed crowd amongst us.

Sorry,

sdg!

rd

 

[Rob_BW]

RV,

I made a mistake, I meant "YRR." This is the Young Restless and Reformed crowd amongst us.

Sorry,

sdg!

rd

Ah, that makes sense.

I thought you were talking about the United Rhetoricians and Roberts denomination.