Translation is tricky business. Sometimes it's hard to exactly translate a point from one language to another. Sometimes meanings of words change over time, or the style of writing or speaking changes. When did you last say "Thank thee" at the dinner table? So yes, it can be helpful to "update" a Bible translation to make it easier to read and understand. But if you change the meaning, that's no longer translating. It's lying.

A new "translation" of the Bible, called "Good as New," is being praised by the head of the Church of England even though it flatly contradicts clear biblical teaching in some areas such as sexuality and morality. Freely written largely in modern slang (the apostle Peter, for example, is called "Rocky" in the translation!), the new Bible changes the apostle Paul's instruction in 1 Corinthians 7:2 from "[to avoid] sexual immorality, let each man have his own wife, and let each woman have her own husband," to "My advice is for everyone to have a regular partner."

In this new translation, sex is a given, but marriage is optional, and so is the partner's gender! According to the "One" organization that produced the new Bible, it is dedicated to challenging "oppression, injustice, exclusion and discrimination" as well as accepting one another and "valuing their diversity and experience" (World Net Daily, June 24, 2004). But instead, they are changing the fundamental teachings of the Bible.

What does God think about changing His Word? In 2 Peter 3:16, God warns that "untaught and unstable" people would "twist" the Scriptures "to their own destruction." Modern translations of the Scriptures can be fine—as long as they are faithful to the original, inspired meaning of God's Word. Be careful which "translation" you use. To better understand God's Word, write for our free booklet Is the Bible True? and request our free Bible Study Course for a faithful explanation of the Scriptures.