What's in a Version? [Paperback]

Henry Neufeld (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 2004

Henry E. Neufeld writes about Bible translations from his knowledge as a student of Biblical languages, and his experience teaching them to laypeople and discussing them on the internet. Many people have questions about translations because they do not understand how translations are produced. Much of the material available is either polarizing, or is provided to advocate a particular version. What's in a Version? strives to provide a basis for lay students to understand how translations are made so they can understand the arguments and become confident of the Bible version they choose to use for reading and study.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Henry Neufeld is president of Pacesetters Bible School and has BA and MA degrees in Biblical Languages. He writes from a deep desire to make the Bible more accessible to the laity. He is also the author of Identifying Your Gifts and Service, co-author of When 3 to 8 Gather, and editor of the Participatory Study Series pamphlets.

Product Details

• Paperback: 124 pages
• Publisher: Energion Publications (November 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893729206
• ISBN-13: 978-1893729209
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,828,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Henry E. Neufeld is the owner of Energion Publications. His major statement of faith and his vision for the church can be found in his book Not Ashamed of the Gospel: Confessions of a Liberal Charismatic, and involves a call to demonstrate our love for God by loving our neighbors as ourselves, and engaging in dialogue rather than conflict.

Henry is the son of Seventh-day Adventist missionaries, and was raised and educated in the Seventh-day Adventist church. Though he is no longer a Seventh-day Adventist, he still respects that heritage and tries to maintain contacts and relationships with people in his former denomination.

He received his BA in Biblical Languages from Walla Walla College and his MA in Religion, concentrating in Biblical and Cognate languges from Andrews University. He did one quarter additional work in linguistics at the University of Illinois at Chicago Circle, and also completed an Associate of Applied Science degree in Interpreting and Translating from the Community College of the Air Force while on active duty.

He left both the church and church service following his graduate education. He served in the U. S. Air Force for 10 years as a linguist. He returned to the church in a United Methodist congregation (Pine Forest United Methodist Church in Pensacola, FL) where, in 1995 he was one of the founders of Pacesetters Bible School, a non-profit organization dedicated to lay education and pastoral continuing education.

Henry hopes that his own books, and those published by Energion Publications will help build the kingdom of God.

He lives in Cantonment, FL with his wife of nearly 10 years. They have three children, John (who coaches), Janet (she and her husband are pastors in Ft. Worth, TX), and James who has gone on to be with the Lord. They have five grandchildren.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very helpful book on the Bible translation issue., August 24, 2009

By 

PastoralMusings "mslapastor" (Dixie) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: What's in a Version? (Paperback)

What's In A Version
Henry Neufeld
ISBN:1893729206
Until a few weeks ago I had never heard of Energion Publications, nor Henry Neufeld. They were nice enough to provide me with a review copy of What's In A Version, and thus an acquaintance has been established.
What's In A Version is a good synopsis of the translation process.
Neufeld carefully explains key terms in the translation process. Terms such as higher criticism, textual criticism, edition, manuscript, etc are defined for the reader.
The author explains about textual families and why some texts are favored above others. He also describes the weighing of texts to determine what the best translation would be.
I truly appreciated the fact that Neufeld took the time to describe and define the terms formal equivalence (literal) and functional equivalence (dynamic) for the reader. It was most helpful for him to further explain that a translation that is translated with functional equivalence in mind is not necessarily a paraphrase. That should help many of the people who read this book.
In addittion to the definitions within the text, Neufeld provides a glossary of terms.
Another thing that was nice to see was Neufeld's scaled comparison of various translations that showed the reader the readability as well as the degree to which a translation was a functional equivalence translation or a formal equivalence translation.
I highly recommend this book to those who wish to learn more about what happened when their Bible was translated.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Dubious Disciple Book Review, September 13, 2011

By 

Dubious Disciple "Lee Harmon" (White Bear Lake, Minnesota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What's in a Version? (Paperback)

Henry Neufeld operates Energion Publications at [...]. I've read a couple other books that he promotes, but never one he authored himself. If What's In A Version is representative of his work, then I'm hooked!

Different Bible interpretations each carry a different emphasis. The New International Version (NIV) and the New Living Translation (NLT) emphasize that their translators are evangelical. Other translations, such as the Revised English Bible (REB) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) emphasize the variety on their translation committees, including interfaith participation.

So, given that translations purposefully vary, how is a person supposed to make an informed decision without knowing the source languages (Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic)? Henry has a BA and MA in Biblical Languages, and writes for the purpose of making the Bible more accessible to the laity. I found this book to be a practical and friendly guide, describing how translations are made, so we readers are better able to understand the arguments for or against various versions. Numerous examples manage to turn what I thought would be a dry discussion into fascinating reading. A chart at the back of the book is helpful in providing an overview of the differences of various common translations. (After reading Henry's book, I know better than to call these differences "strengths" or "weaknesses," just decisions made for focus, translation preference, and religious emphasis!)

I did find a few formatting and editing errors, which was a minor distraction.