Why we’re moving to the CSB
This past weekend we announced that Collective Church is moving to adopt the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) as our default translation of the Scriptures. We wanted to provide a space to answer some questions you might have about what prompted the move and where we go from here.
WHAT PROMPTED THE CHANGE?
I want to begin by saying this move is not based in any outright failure of our previous default translation: the English Standard Version (ESV). I (Ryan) have been reading, studying, memorizing and loving the ESV since I was 10 years old! Rather, the desire of the pastors of Collective Church was to discern if another translation would prove to be 1) more easily-read by our people, 2) more aligned with small, but important translation preferences of the pastors, 3) while remaining as accurate to the original manuscripts as possible.
Now, before moving forward, take 57 seconds to get a crash course into the wild world of Bible translation with this “Choosing a Bible Translation” video from BibleProject.
All translations exist on a spectrum between word-for-word (formal) and thought-for-thought (dynamic). This continuum (as well as whether the translation was made from the original languages or another English translation) can be seen in the “Bible Translation Continuum” chart below.
As you can see on this chart, our previous default translation, the ESV leaned more toward the precision of word-for-word equivalence (left side of chart) and it was based in a previous Bible translation, the 1971 RSV. (below the line) On the other side of the chart is the the Message (MSG), what it’s author, Eugene Peterson, wouldn’t even call a translation, but a paraphrase. Though he was working from the original languages, his guiding intent was capturing a thought-for-thought equivalence that spoke to modern readers.
As an example, compare the ESV and MSG’s translation of Proverbs 3:5:
ESV Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
MSG Trust in God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Again worth saying, none of these are inherently wrong – but different philosophies of translation. Which leads to the middle of the continuum and why we chose the CSB.
why the christian standard bible?
As you saw in the chart, the CSB is a translation based in the original languages and works to settle right in the middle of the continuum, finding the sweet spot of accuracy to the original texts and readability for the modern person. And the proof of their success is in the math!
Dr. Andi Wu of Global Bible Initiative did a quantitative evaluation of nine popular English translations using computerized linguistic analysis to score the translations along literalness (word-for-word equivalence), readability (conformity to current usage), balance (between literalness and readability). You can follow the link above to read over the research yourself, but to quote him –
"Of all the English translations being evaluated, the Christian Standard Bible is the best at balancing literalness and readability.”
So, the first reason why we are moving to the CSB is because it serves as the best balance point along the continuum of translation. We believe a more readable text (without sacrificing accuracy) will help all of us, but especially those who struggle to read and study Scripture themselves.
The second reason we’re moving to the CSB is it’s usage of gender-accurate renderings when the original languages were likely to refer to both men and women. Some examples comparing the CSB with the ESV:
Psalm 1:1
ESV “Blessed is the man…”
CSB “How happy is the one who…”
Matthew 23:8
ESV “For you have one teacher, and you are all brothers.”
CSB “Because you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters.”
1 Corinthians 1:26
ESV “For consider your calling, brothers…”
CSB “Brothers and sisters, consider your calling”
A third reason we’ve chosen the CSB was it’s New Testament translation is based in the most up-to-date Greek New Testament (Nestle-Aland 28), which hadn’t been released when the ESV was created. This doesn’t mean that anything has been added or taken away, but mainly that footnotes are updated around current manuscript findings.
Finally, though the ESV has some incredible additional resources (types of bibles, commentaries, journals), we’re excited about the range of physical editions and resources being put out by the CSB. We get excited about having whole families (and all our church’s ministries) using the same translation.
what does this mean for me?
First, don’t feel any pressure to switch, or to abandon a translation you love! This just means that moving forward:
Our Weekly Bible Passage will be posted in the CSB.
Our Sunday sermons will be preached from the CSB.
The Bibles in the back of our gatherings will be CSB.
Our resource recommendations will contain CSB resources.
You are welcome to read, bring, study whatever translation(s) you prefer – but as we seek to have a centered translation for our Church – we’re moving to CSB as our default.
If you’d like to dive into the CSB for yourself, you can find it on the (free) YouVersion Bible app, or look into purchasing a particular version from the publisher. Whether leather, paperback, study bibles, devotionals are your preference, they’ve got plenty to pick from!
If I (Ryan) can recommend you check out one in particular, both the He Reads Truth and She Reads Truth Bibles look like an incredible middle road between a study bible and devotional arranged by teams of men and women accordingly. Whatever you choose, those are definitely worth looking at.