Thanks for your comment. But does not the phrase, “who ever converts the thoughts to english will have a predetermined interpreatation of their meaning based on their own beliefs” not also refer to you? Do you not also run the danger of guarding your own presuppositions against the meaning of Scripture by not accessing the clarity of a meaning-based version? I do not think you can escape the dilemma that understanding of Scripture only comes through interpretation, whether yours or another’s. It is the rare person who is more equipped to understand the meaning of Scripture than the translators who have the specific training, expertise and tools that aid in such a task. This does not mean that thought-for-thought translations are infallible, only that they provide clarity. My point is that clarity of communication serves the church much more than the awkward phrasing and obscure references often found in literal translations. Literal translations often serve to convince the reader that the meaning cannot be accessed without an expert pastor or teacher to explain the meaning which thus undermines the value of Scripture for the average person since they will come to doubt their ability to comprehend the Bible. The danger of misinterpretation is with us no matter the version, the difference is who is doing the interpreting. I suspect that more incorrect thinking arises from the misinterpretation of literal translations than through the correct understanding of wrongly translated meaning-based versions.

Blessings,
Mark

Based on this problem, I prefer to use something like the NAS or ESV and then pray alot for wisdom and understanding.

Thanks.