A Few Reasons Why We Use the ESV Translation

There are several really good Bible translations on the market right now. Each one has its merits and each has its weaknesses. I have committed to avoid “Bible translation wars” whenever possible here at Canyon. My desire is for people to choose an accurate Bible translation they love and then READ IT! We want to encourage people to get into the Word on a regular basis.

With that being said, Canyon Bible Church of the Verde Valley has always used an ESV Bible for Sunday morning teaching. It is an “essentially literal” translation of the Bible. It is fairly “transparent” in that it avoids either over-translating or under-translating the text. It captures the essence of the divine revelation expressed in the original text. We have found that it is the right balance of literal -vs- readable.

Personally, I am very happy with the ESV. If you are a regular at Canyon, we would encourage you to pick one up. They are widely available online and we usually have a few free ESV Bibles on the back table that you are welcome to take.

At our Bible studies, people often bring other good translations that they prefer. Some people prefer the NASB, KJV, NKJV, NIV, RSV or NLT translations. We enjoy the different perspectives that each one of these different translations offer to our discussion while understanding that the original languages are the ultimate authority.

Kevin DeYoung wrote an excellent piece on the ESV translation that I would highly recommend to you. You can find it here: http://static.crossway.org/excerpt/why-our-church-switched-to-the-esv/why-our-church-switched-to-the-esv.pdf

About the Author: Mark Stafford

Pastor Mark Stafford served on staff at Canyon Bible Church of Prescott Valley for almost 6 years. He and his wife, Lara, felt called to church planting and Canyon of Prescott Valley sent them to plant a new Canyon Bible Church in the Verde Valley. Mark is a graduate of the Biblical Studies department at Arizona Christian University with highest honors and has served for more than a dozen years in full-time pastoral ministry. Mark loves music and is an active musician playing electric and string bass, acoustic and electric guitar, & keyboard. He has served with several professional Christian touring groups and has been nominated for a Dove award. Pastor Mark is currently bi-vocational while he plants Canyon Verde. He owns a small printing and design company called Ablaze Media. When he is not preaching, leading small groups, playing music or designing graphics, you might find him in his F250 cruising around the back roads of the local national forests, cycling with his sons on the streets around the Verde Valley, or running in a 10K. Pastor Mark and Lara have 4 children and have been married for over 15 years.