NIV losing ground as new translations gain popularity among Southern Baptists

The high volume of sales of an inexpensive Outreach New Testament and the introduction of the ESV Study Bible has kept the English Standard Version (ESV) among the best-selling Bibles for several years, according to the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA). Data from Christian Booksellers Association show ESV in fifth place for unit sales with the Holman Christian Standard Bible following in sixth place.

Several leading theologians say Southern Baptists contributed to those sales by using the ESV in increasing numbers since its release in 2001.

Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, said the surge of ESV sales likely reflects a dissatisfaction with the long-popular New International Version (NIV) and its most recent revision entitled Today's New International Version (TNIV).

"I think people are being attracted to the ESV, because when the TNIV came out, many people realized that even the NIV had made some very grave errors in translation and approach to translation," Patterson told the TEXAN. "I, myself, began to urge people publicly, as I had done privately already, to no longer use either the TNIV or the NIV, and I believe that many other evangelicals did the same thing. The ESV offered a ready alternative and, for that reason, has been very successful."

He added that the ESV is his second favorite translation, with the New American Standard Bible (NASB) and King James Version (KJV) being tied for first.

KJV and NKJV rank second and third behind NIV in the two publisher lists, with NASB consistently remaining in the top 10. While Southwestern Seminary encourages its students to rely on the Greek and Hebrew texts as much as possible, Patterson said the ESV is among the most commonly used English translations on campus.

In translation philosophy, the ESV descends from the KJV and the Revised Standard Version (RSV). Though weighed against the original Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek texts, the ESV translation committee took the 1971 RSV text as its starting point, updating that text for accuracy and readability.

The ESV is a word-for-word translation like the KJV, RSV and NASB. In contrast, versions like the NIV and New Living Translation adopt a thought-for-thought translation philosophy that focuses on the original author's meaning rather than individual words. LifeWay's Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) offers a middle way between word-for-word and thought-for-thought translations.

"When the ESV project was first inaugurated, I did have the privilege of working closely with Wayne Grudem, some other evangelicals, and the publisher to secure and see to the revision of the text at the point that it needed to take place," Paige Patterson said, referring to his role on the ESV advisory council which also included his wife Dorothy, professor of theology in women's studies at Southwestern. "In that sense of the word, I have endorsed it. I do think it is a good translation and that it has a thousand assets over the more popular NIV."

Numerous Southern Baptists contributed to the ESV Study Bible, including several from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. endorsed the study Bible, calling it a treasure?"a beautiful volume, filled with a wealth of resources."

The ECPA awarded the ESV Study Bible its 2009 Book of the Year, the first time a study Bible has received that distinction. Along with notes on the biblical text, the ESV Study Bible features charts, maps, illustrations and more than 50 articles on various topics. Plus, each hard copy comes with access to an online version of all its content.

Tom Schreiner, professor of New Testament interpretation at Southern, served as New Testament editor for the ESV Study Bible.

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