NT Recovery Version—Am I in Danger?

[Nemo Neem]

Hey all. After a long hiatus, I am back!

Anyway, I received a NT Recovery Version, and I love it, especially the footnotes, but I fear as though I am doing a bad thing, being a Methodist and all. I was going to use it as a study tool that's it. I mean, I know about LMS and the Local Church movement—I know it's a cult. But still, should I get rid of this Bible or keep it? I just somehow feel like I will do a bad thing by reading it.

 

[Godel]

The translation alone is alright, not great, but not all that bad. It does use some weird & difficult phrasing at times.

The real problem is the footnotes. Be careful what you read in the footnotes, as they are heavily biased by that particular church.

It's ok to use for casual reading, but I would use other versions for more serious study, or to at least compare the translation to.

 

[wesleyaimes]

Hi Nemo, you mention in your post about knowing that "LMS and the Local Church movement" are a cult, but actually they're not. Christian Research Institute recently conducted a six year primary research study and concluded that the local churches and the believers commonly associated with Watchman Nee and Witness Lee are not a cult. In fact, the editors of CRI said that they are an exemplary group that has a lot of positive things to offer the Body of Christ.

You can learn more about that by following this link: equip.org/articles/we-were-wrong/. There's also an entire CRI issue that's titled "We Were Wrong" and dedicated to apologizing for once labeling the believers in the local churches as a cult. I highly recommend that you check this out.

As far as whether or not you should read the Recovery Version that's up to you, and I'd recommend praying about it. The translation is very accurate, which leads to some phrases being not as easy to read, but overall it's quite accurate while still being very readable. Regarding the footnotes, some people like them and others don't, but you're not doing anything wrong by reading them. If anything doesn't make sense to you, I recommend praying about it, but there's no reason to not use the Recovery Version and the notes without testing it for yourself. Here's a good verse along those lines:

Acts 17:11 Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

 

[childofdust]

I used to have a Hebraic-Roots New Testament. I burned it. It wasn't the first. The first bible I burned was an NIV. I thought, "If I can burn an NIV, this thing is certainly flame-worthy." And up it went in fire, a sacrifice of pleasing smell to my Lord.

So long as you don't take what you read in that--or any other translation--as the Absolute Truth(TM), I'm sure you'll be fine.