One of the major protests the Protestant reformers had against the Catholic Church in the 1500-1600’s was the fact that the Bible used in the worship services was written in Latin. Now, a Latin Bible wouldn’t be a problem…if you read and spoke Latin. But most people in the Middle Ages did not, in fact, read Latin. The Catholic Church was largely, then, restricting most people from reading and understanding the Bible. The lack of the laity reading the Bible reinforced the strict separation between the priesthood and the congregation in Catholic theology.

Contrary to the Catholic Church, the Reformers did not agree that the Bible should only be translation into Latin. The Reformers argued that since all believers could understand the basic message of the Bible, the Bible should be translated into the vernacular, the language of the people. In other words, German Christians should have a Bible translated into German, Arab Christians into Arabic, and so on. Since the Protestant Reformation spread to the English-speaking world, eventually the Bible was translated into English by William Tyndale.

Down through the centuries, then, the Bible has continually be translated and then revised in the English language. One of the most popular translations was the King James Version but even the vaunted KJV was revised and updated into the New King James Version. Let’s not stop now.

The English language keeps changing. Therefore, as good Protestants, we should encourage new and updated English translations. We should want our kids, and our grandchildren, to be able to read and understand the Bible in their language, even if its English.

So you may want to consider updating your Bible translation.