Bible Translation Policy Modification
Dear Parents and Guardians,
We want to take a moment to thank you for your continued partnership with Cross Lanes Christian School as we seek to provide an excellent, Christ-centered education for your children. We value your support and your desire to see your child grow both academically and spiritually.
We are writing to provide some information and explanation for a modification we are making with our Bible translation policy starting next school year. While we have for years allowed the middle school and high school students to utilize other translations in line with their families’ choice, we have not done the same for elementary. In order to better serve many of our families and the churches they represent, we will be offering two options for Bible reading and memorization in our elementary classes: The King James Version (KJV) and the English Standard Version (ESV). While a classroom teacher (especially in lower elementary) may choose to utilize one of those translations for group memorization, we want you to know that your family will have the option of choosing either translation for your child to read and memorize.
We would like to take some time to explain the reasoning behind this decision and affirm our commitment to God’s Word, to parental authority, to our school’s heritage, to academic excellence, and to biblical unity.
A Commitment to God’s Word and to the Goodness of Translations
Here is a section from our school’s statement of faith on the Bible: “We believe the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments, is verbally inspired by God and inerrant in the original writing and is God’s final word to humanity for faith and practice.” In making this decision for Bible translations, we are grounding it in the clear teaching of God’s Word.
While God originally gave us His Word in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, it is clear from Scripture and church history that God’s people are called to translate God’s Word into the people’s common language so that they could read, hear, and understand God’s Word for themselves. This is why the Greek of the New Testament is Koine Greek or “Common” Greek—it was the normal, everyday language used when the New Testament was written. Paul argues in 1 Corinthians 14:9 that communication must be understood if it is to beneficial. That is why Christians have worked, at times giving their lives, so that God’s people could read God’s Word in their own language.
Additionally, it is clear from Scripture and church history that different translations, though inevitably differing slightly from one another, are still the true, authoritative, inspired and inerrant Word of God. Jesus and the apostles regularly used the Septuagint (LXX), a Greek translation of the Old Testament. This translation includes slight variations from the Hebrew Old Testament, yet Jesus and the apostles regularly cited it as Scripture. One clear example of this is found in Luke 4:16-21, where Jesus reads the LXX translation of Isa 61:1, and then proclaims to the hearers: “This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.” See what Jesus read from the LXX compared to the original Hebrew (both as translated in the KJV):
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” ~ Luke 4:18
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; ~ Isa 61:1
Here, Jesus confirms that a translation could have some variation in wording or phrasing and yet still be God’s Word. This belief in the goodness of translations has been a hallmark of biblical Christianity. Here are a few representatives:
The King James Translators: “We do not deny, nay, we affirm and avow, that the very meanest [poorest] translation of the Bible in English set forth by men of our profession … containeth the word of God, nay, is the word of God…. No cause therefore why the word translated should be denied to be the word, or forbidden to be current, notwithstanding that some imperfections and blemishes may be noted in the setting forth of it…. Whatever was perfect under the sun, where Apostles or apostolick men, that is, men endued with an extraordinary measure of God’s Spirit, and privileged with the privilege of infallibility, had not their hand?” (The Translators to the Reader, p. xix).
Benjamin Keach (one of earliest Baptists, author of The Baptist Catechism): Now though some translations may exceed others in Propriety, and significant rendering of the Originals; yet they generally, (even the most imperfect that we know of), express and hold forth so much the Mind, Will, and Counsel of God, as is sufficient … to acquaint a Man with the Mysteries of Salvation, to work in him a true Faith, and bring him to live godly, righteously, and soberly in this World, and to Salvation in the next (Tropologia: A Key to Open Scripture Metaphors to which are prefixed Arguments to prove the Divine Authority of the Holy Bible, p. xxi).
John Wesley: “I design first to set down the text itself, for the most part, in the common English translation, which is, in general (so far as I can judge) abundantly the best that I have seen. Yet I do not say it is incapable of being brought, in several places, nearer to the original. Neither will I affirm that the Greek copies from which this translation was made, are always the most correct. And therefore I shall take the liberty, as occasion may require, to make here and there a small alteration.” (Notes on the Whole Bible—the New Testament, pp. 3-4).
J.C. Ryle: “I lay no claim to the inspiration of every word in the various versions and translations of God’s Word. So far as those translations and versions are faithfully and correctly done, so far they are of equal authority with the original Hebrew and Greek. We have reason to thank God that many of the translations are, in the main faithful and accurate.” (Old Paths, p. 20).
C.H. Spurgeon: “Concerning the fact of difference between the Revised and the Authorized Versions, I would say that no Baptist should ever fear any honest attempt to produce…an accurate interpretation of the Old and New Testaments. For many years Baptists have insisted upon it that we ought to have the Word of God translated in the best possible manner, whether it would confirm certain religious opinions and practices, or work against them. All we want is the exact mind of the Spirit, as far as we can get it…By the best and most honest scholarship that can be found we desire that the common version may be purged of every blunder of transcribers, or addition of human ignorance, or human knowledge that so the word of God may come to us as it came from his own hand.” (Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, vol. XXVII, pp. 342-343).
R.A. Torrey (evangelist, superintendent of Moody Bible Institute: 1889-1908): “No one, as far as I know, holds that the Authorized Version, or any English translation of the Bible, is absolutely infallible and inerrant. The doctrine held by me and many others who have given years to careful and thorough study of the Bible is, that the Scriptures ‘as originally given’ were absolutely infallible and inerrant, and that our English translation is a ‘substantially’ accurate rendering of the scriptures as originally given.” (Is the Bible the Inerrant Word of God? p. 76).
Amy Carmichael (missionary to India, devotional writer): “In case any are puzzled by the different translations from which I draw strength and help and delight, it is like this: In studying any object with the microscope we use different lenses and turn the mirror in various ways; such change brings out some new wonder and beauty. So it is for those who are not Greek or Hebrew scholars, and who use the work of scholars to open the meaning of the inexhaustible Word—the Bible is richer than any single version can fully show (quoted in Edges of His Ways, p. vii).
In making this choice, CLCS is following the example of Jesus, the apostles, and faithful Christians from the past. Our goal is to ensure that students have access to faithful translations of Scripture that enable them to study, understand, and apply God’s truth to their lives.
A Commitment to Supporting Parents and Local Churches
We understand that some families and churches represented in our school have strong convictions about translations. We have no intention of undermining those convictions. Our goal is to allow you to maintain those convictions while providing flexibility for other families and churches represented in our school that might hold different convictions. This is a move that allows parents and guardians to have greater input into their child’s biblical training, something for which we should all be thankful.
A Commitment to the Heritage of CLCS
CLCS, as a ministry of Cross Lanes Bible Church (CLBC), reflects the philosophy and heritage of that church. Neither CLBC nor CLCS has ever been theologically or philosophically committed to limiting our ministries to a single translation. The various pastors and administrators of our church and school have utilized many different translations through the years, including the KJV, NASB, NKJV, and ESV.
A Commitment to Academic Excellence
While recognizing the value of many faithful translations, we think it best to limit the choices to these two translations in our elementary for the sake of uniformity and academic consistency. This approach is not about diminishing other translations but about creating a standard for our teachers to keep grading and teaching from being overly complicated.
A Commitment to Biblical Unity and Love
While we understand that discussions about Bible translations can be passionate, we want to remind our school community of the biblical call to unity and love. As Paul exhorts in Romans 14:19, “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”
We do not want to engage in doubtful disputations or to despise or judge our brothers and sisters in Christ over the matter of translations. Since Jesus confirmed the goodness of different translations, differences between faithful translations should never become a source of contention or division among believers.
Our focus must remain on the message of Scripture rather than differences in wording between faithful translations. As a school, we are committed to teaching sound doctrine, biblical truth, and Christlike love. We encourage all families to approach this issue with grace, respect, and a spirit of unity for the sake of the gospel and the training of our students.
Conclusion
Our decision to allow both of these translations in the elementary reflects our desire to honor biblical faithfulness, academic excellence, and parental leadership in the education of their children. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out. We appreciate your trust and partnership as we continue to train the next generation to love and follow Christ.