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there are different kinds of bible sold in bookstores..
niv,king james version, catholic bible with deuterocanonicals, holy bible with apocryfal gospels etc. i mean,what's the diff?they're all bibles.once i got stuck whether to but NIV or the catholic christian version.i bought the catholic christian one and still plans to get a NIV one.y is it that most people suggests that i shud get NIV?

Well....my opinions on the variety of Bibles is to be careful of what you choose. For me, I only choose the King James Version; and my opinion is that the KJV is the best version. The KJV is the closest translation to the dead sea scrolls. If you look closely to all versions, you'll find that every verson has a copyright mark on it; but the King James Version is the only one that is the copyrighted. Even though the KJV has a copyright symbol in the front, it is only for punctuation marks. All versions, except the KJV, was translated into man's own wisdom, or their own understanding; and sometimes translate the Word completely the opposite of what it really was written in the KJV.

Catholic bibles have scriptures added to them that are not found in other bibles, as do mormon ones and i believe jehovah's witnesses as well. These scriptures are the ones that did not have enough copies or corroberative evidence to be included in the Bible proper. The Torah and the prophets, the OT, is the same in all books because it has been accurately copied and handed down thru the centuries by jewish scribes. The New Testament is a gathering of the letters written by the people who walked with Jesus. These letters were also faithfully copied by scribes and destributed to the churches of that time. They were gathered into the bible based on the number of copies that were found (the more copies that agreed, the more reliable the source) and it has come down to us in the form of The Holy Bible, translated and retranslated into many many languages. I have not done extensive research into the translation foibles of teh NIV or other versions, but i have heard that they do exist. There are even a few phrases in teh NIV that i have come across that make me question their accuracy because they seem not to agree with the rest of scripture. I know that Gods word does not contradict itself, so there is an acurate translation somewhere which will put any doubts i have to rest. The essential meaning, the point of scripture, however, is clear... Salvation and eternal life come thru Jesus, the son of God, who died for our sins and rose again. 3nodding

There are many types of Bibles! I usually use an NIV one, because that is what my pastor preaches out of, and it is easier for me if my Bible says exactly the same thing his does. I have an uncle who is a pastor and I listen to CDs he makes on Sunday nights, and he switches back and forth between NIV and NAS, so I have an NAS too. I don't have a KJV Bible, but my brother does. KJV is a great translation that is closest to the original, but it is oftan very hard to read and understand, in my opinion. I do know that the Catholic Bible is different, but I have never really looked at one, since I'm not Catholic and havn't needed to...

There is also the Message Bible, which I don't like. It is in "contemporary English" and is written more as a book than a Bible. Each verse is not marked and is is VERY different from the NIV or other Bible translations. It is supposed to be easy to understand, I suppose, but I don't think so. I have a Gospel of John in the Message version for a study I'm doing with my youth group, and I have to re-read and re-read to understand the meaning. It is probably because I am used to the NIV or NAS versions, though.

Most of the verses I've memorized for AWANAS and such have been NAS or NIV as well. There was a point where it was KJV and as a kindergarten, first, and second grader, it was very difficult for me to understand that version. All the thou's and thee's and thy's and -th's...

I suppose it is really a personal preferance, which version you like best. Everyone has a different opinion for a different reason.

nah, it's all the same as far as meaning goes. but, i think the reason is is that the niv is easier to understand. for the most part. i have an niv and i like it.