BIBLE VERSIONS: Quick Reference By Bruce W. Robida Updated 12/22/2012

NOTE: The majority of the information on this page was presented by James R. White in two articles, BIBLE VERSIONS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Part 1 and Part 2. Click on the links for details about each version that is presented.

If you are convinced that there is something wrong with Bible versions other than your own and refuse to even consider them, I suggest you read the entire articles By James R. White.

Bible Versions: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY - Part 1 - Article - By James R. White

Bible Versions: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY - Part 2 - Article - By James R. White

Good Versions

• KJV – King James Version
• NKJV – New King James Version
• ASV – American Standard Version
• NASB – New American Standard Bible
• ESV – English Standard Version
• NRSV – New Revised Standard Version
• HCSB – Holman Christian Standard Bible
• NET – New English Translation
• NIV – New International Version
• NLT – New Living Translation
• CEV – Contemporary English Version

Bad Versions

• The New American Bible - Official Roman Catholic version
• Douay-Rheims -  Catholic Version  - Direct connection to the Latin Vulgate
• Any single-translator versions - propensity for imbalance and for being agenda-driven.
  
• *Today’s New International Version (TNIV) – Gender Inclusive – Controversial version - James White has this to say about the TNIV:

"I suggest that the only people who should answer that question [Is the TNIV a bad version?], at least publicly, are those who have listened to both sides and taken a definitive stand on the issue of formal vs. functional equivalence and the issue of gender neutrality and how far the concept should be taken. By saying this I do not mean that the average layperson should have no voice; rather, I am pointing again to the necessity of serious study and education on the part of all believers in this vital area."

It is my opinion that such a controversial translation as the TNIV should be avoided when there are many other good translations to choose from.

Ugly versions

• The Scholars Version – The Jesus Seminar - corrupts the canon of Scripture through the addition of the Gospel of Thomas
• OIV - Oxford’s Inclusive Version - brings a new level of political correctness to Bible translation through the use of such phrases as “Father/Mother God” and “divine Child”
• NWT - Watchtower’s New World Translation - designed to aid Jehovah’s Witnesses in denying the Trinity, the deity of Christ, and other central Christian doctrines
• The Inspired Version  - Produced by Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• **The Holy Bible of Inclusion - Presented by false teacher, D.E. Paulk - Distorting God's Word concerning salvation (universalism), hell (there is no hell), sexual orientation (homosexuality is acceptable), etc.
• **The Queen James Bible, the Gay Bible - The 1769 King James Bible has been reproduced with only a very few select verses altered.  Those verses are listed in this article and analyzed. 

  **These erronious Bible versions were unknown to James White when this article was published.

Click the links below for more information about:

The Roman Catholic Church
D. E. Paulk
Jehovah's Witness
The Jesus Seminar
Mormonism

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