The Way: Living Bible (church, evolve, verses, translation)

[OzzyRules]

Does anyone else remember having this Bible called "The Way"? I remember it being kind of popular. It had a very 1970's kind of look with pictures of teenagers from that period on the cover.

What do you think of this translation? Does it have anything to do with the New Living Translation?

[nateswift]

Wiki:The New Living Translation (NLT) is a translation of the Bible into modern English. Originally starting out as an effort to revise The Living Bible, the project evolved into a new English translation from Hebrew and Greek texts. Some stylistic influences of The Living Bible remained in the first edition (1996), but these are less evident in the second and third editions (2004, 2007). As of March 2014, the Christian Booksellers Association ranks the NLT as the second most popular English version of the Bible based on unit sales.[4]
So it would seem that it was inspired by the same idea as "The Way." but evolved as an original translation using modern English rather than a paraphrase of a current translation. Both sought to make the sense of the Bible more accessible to modern readers, and if the Bible had made sense in the way they would have preferred, might have been succesful.

[Ploughboy]

I remember the Living Bible and it was a horrible translation which is why only like 3 people bought it. Because of how badly the Living Bible was translated, I was hesitant for years to even pick up the NLT. I wondered why the Pastor of a church I used to attend would read from it during Bible study. He was a smart Pastor which confused me to think he would use such a horrible translation. Though a little over a year ago I cracked down and bought an NLT to see what it was all about. I found myself rather impressed overall. Sure some verses are questionable....questionable....but not necessarily wrong. Genesis chapter 1 is mistranslated which is a bummer because most of it is very creatively translated without losing any of the real meaning and yet enhancing the meaning that is there. I came to the conclusion that the NLT is not a Bible that should be given as a gift to someone as their first Bible. I do not see the NLT as better than the NKJV or MEV. I think the NLT is a good Bible for Pastors and Bible students who have the literary maturity to understand how to read Bibles like this, how to use them for research. The Bible would also be good for Bible study groups. I like the NLT but will not make that my main translation or my go to Bible. I seldom quote from it online. Though it is a good study companion when it comes to clarifying the meaning of a verse. Butt even then you want to cross reference that with something else. The English and grammar is easy reading, too. I really wish they had translated Genesis chapter 1 correctly.