Bible translation and personality – followup

Despite the flu and other challenges, Wayne has posted a follow-up to his intriguing post on Bible Translation and Personality Types. After seeing the results of his readers he decided that his original hypothesis was wrong but nonetheless goes on to make some very interesting observations on the role of personality in translation preference.

While finding a correspondence between personality type and Bible translation preference may seem about as logical as trying to find a correspondence between blood type and whether you prefer Mac or Windows, there are some valid possibilities.

Some personalities hate change

I noticed this in the TNIV vs. ESV debate. Almost everyone who switched to ESV had done so from a more formal translation like NASV or RSV. And TNIV was a comfortable switch for current NIV users. But asking them to “cross the line” was almost in every case too much of a switch.

Some personalities are more concerned with those around them

The main reason that I advocate CEV is that it is a good translation for my children and for congregations to use. In my personal study I’m happy to use the NIV and even enjoy RSV. In the long string of comments on Wayne’s original post, many people were saying what they wanted personally.

There might be some other factors where personality affects Bible translation choice but nothing else pops into my head. Thanks, Wayne, for a fun post. It’s interesting to know others’ personality types.