Introduction of the New King James Version
Zurich. After the New Apostolic Church introduced the 1984 version of the Luther translation of the Bible into its German-speaking congregations as of January 1, 2001, there will be a change in all English-speaking congregations as of January 1, 2002 with the introduction of the New King James Version of the Bible. Effective the same date, all literature published by the Verlag Friedrich Bischoff Ltd. will also quote the NKJV. Existing teaching tools and other official publications of the New Apostolic Church will be adjusted on an on-going basis.
Zurich. After the New Apostolic Church introduced the 1984 version of the Luther translation of the Bible into its German-speaking congregations as of January 1, 2001, there will be a change in all English-speaking congregations as of January 1, 2002 with the introduction of the New King James Version of the Bible. Effective the same date, all literature published by the Verlag Friedrich Bischoff Ltd.will also quote the NKJV. Existing teaching tools and other official publications of the New Apostolic Church will be adjusted on an on-going basis.
The introduction of new translations of the Bible has many advantages:
The language used fits to the current standard.
The Biblical passages reflect the original Greek and Hebrew text more closely.
The teachings of the church that are formulated from the Bible are more uniform when compared internationally.
As was applicable for the introduction of the 1984 Luther translation, with the introduction of the English language NKJV, the liturgical text of the Lord's Prayer (per Matthew 6:9-13) and the Benediction (per 2 Corinthians 13:14) will continue to be taken from the previous version.
Zurich, December 1th, 2001
