Quite often this writer is asked his opinion of the New International Version. This version’s popularity seems to increase each year to the point of rivaling the King James Version. But in this writer’s judgment, the NIV is one of the worst translations.

There are three important factors that should be considered when choosing a reliable version: (1) The Greek text from which it is translated; (2) The translators who translated it; and (3) The translation itself.

There are two great texts from which versions are translated. There is the text called, the Received Text (or the Majority Text) from which the King James and the New King James have been translated. It is made up of 500 manuscripts, 2,000 copies, 2,500 uncials and lectionaries totaling 5,000 or more. This is indeed a majority text.

Then there is the Westcott and Hort Greek text which was first presented to the world in 1870. It relies heavily on two manuscripts which are very ancient but are filled with mistakes, contradition, and omissions. Many of the modern versions including the NIV are translated from this Greek text. The publishers of the NKJV recognized the weaknesses and gross omissions in the Westcott and Hort Text and therefore used the Received Text.

The translators of the NIV came from some ten or more religious groups and, unfortunately, they did not leave their religious doctrines and prejudices at home when they went to the work of translation. There are many loosely translated passages, and when this is the case, it means the translators have left the words the Lord gave and have sought to clarify their meanings by interpreting them as they understand them.

Pentecostalism is supported by several passages. In I Corinthians 13:10, the word for "perfect" is incorrectly changed to "perfection." Thus, the NIV has miraculous gifts remaining not until the completing of revelation (James 1:25) but until a state of perfection arrives. This change also supports the premillennial kingdom concept. They do the same thing in Ephesians 4:13 where the NIV has miraculous gifts continuing until we all reach "unity in the faith." This means till we all believe the same thing. [KJV has "Unity of the faith" –which refers to the uniting of the system of faith, the Gospel]. No Gospel preacher can successfully show that miraculous gifts have ended from the NIV because the representatives of Oral Roberts, Rex Humbard, and the Nazarene church who served on the committees have rewritten it to fit their beliefs!

The NIV teaches premillennialism. In John 5:28, they changed the word "hour" to "time" even though the Greek word means "hour." Why? Because you just cannot pack premillennialism’s 1,000 years and two resurrections into one hour!

The NIV contains contradictions. In Matthew 5:17, it has Jesus saying, "Think not that I have come to abolish the law." Yet, in Ephesians 2:15, they have Paul to say that Jesus abolished in His flesh the law. That is flat contradiction. In, Hebrews 11:17, the NIV says that Abraham was about to sacrifice his one and only son. Here is another flat contradiction! In Romans 10:10 they have you saved at the point of faith in the first part of the verse and saved at the point of confession in the last part. The Greek is actually clear that in each instance (belief and confession) there is a looking forward to justification and salvation, not a reception of them.

Dr. D.A. Waite, in his book, New International Version, A Paraphrased Perversion Not An Accurate Translation, points out that in John 1:1-18 alone there are 39 examples and illustrations where the NIV has failed to translate properly from the Greek language to the English language. And that is not an isolated occurrence.