Expert: Bruce Gourley - 11/15/2006

Question
I started out a Southern Baptist but later started going to an Independent Baptist Church. The problem is I'm not sure I agree with everything the Indepentdent Baptist teach regarding the Bible versions. The KJV is very hard to understand at times, especially the Old Testament. I do agree that we should be seperated from what the world does ( although we should be in the world being a witness for CHRIST ),is the Independent Baptist wrong on the bible version issue.Are there Bible versions we should avoid, whats your favorite?

Should women be pastors or leaders of a church? Thank you.  

Answer
Robert,

There are many good translations of the Bible, but none of them (including the KJV) are 100% accurate, as the original manuscripts do not exist and there are difficulties in translating some passages from Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic to English. The Revised Standard Version is good in terms of a straight translation, as best as could be achieved at the time, from the original languages to the English (but the wording is often awkward, because it does not seek the meaning of the original languages, only a word-by-word translation). The New International Version achieves the best balance between straight strict translation and meaning. And Today's New International Version does the best job of going back to the original languages' gender nouns/verbs (but is controversial with some conservatives, ironically, who consider it liberal for changing some of the traditional English renderings of gender wording in the Bible; renderings that never were accurate in the first place in English translations, actually).

As to women being pastors, if one takes 1 Timothy 3:1-7 literally and strictly, not only are women prohibited from pastoring, but also unmarried men. And if you take the entire passage literally and strictly, I truly do not know of any Christian who meets all the qualifications for being a pastor.

I hope this helps.

Bruce Gourley
www.brucegourley.com
www.baptistlife.com