It is often concerning to me that in almost all of the discussions about translations, very few mention the role of the Church. If the Word of God is the basis of our faith and practice, shouldn't the Church (national or denominational) declare what translations it approves of (if not able to produce their own)? Why do we leave it to publishers who are not ordained or bound by any type of Church authority to decide what the Word of God is or how it should be translated? Most creeds/confessions start with a list of canonical books, which was determined by the Church (it would seem the text was not in dispute at that point), so why does the Church now not use its power and authority to commend a translation (or translations)? I am not suggesting that the Church declare a particular translation to be inspired (as some KJV-only types do), but they could/should certainly use their authority to guide the flock to the purest waters. As a Westminster subscriber, the Confession seems to indicate that when the Scriptures are "translated into the vulgar language of every nation unto which they come" it should be under the Church's authority, as the proof texts come from 1 Corinthians 14:27–28 (translation of unknown languages in the Church). I have switched over to and been using the old Geneva Bible for many years now. It is a TR version that predates the KJV by a few years, so I don't have to worry about missing parts. The "thees" and "thous" help me understand many passages I might otherwise misinterpret (it is surprising how many times the singular vs. plural distinction is important). The notes are old but often as insightful as they are succinct. The vast majority of times I look up the original text because the translation seems odd, I find the translation to be accurate. And the Geneva Bible was adopted by the Scottish Church soon after 1560 for use in churches so it has the approval of what was a faithful Church at the time. Also, it was not written because the publisher(s) hoped it would be popular and make a huge profit (although it was and did!), it written by ordained men to give the Church a faithful translation. Shouldn't that be the primary judge of a translation's worthiness? (My apologies if this response takes this thread away from the originator's intent).
