Anybody without an agenda should be able to read even the supposedly antiquated KJV or DR and interpret the core Biblical theme accordingly, to their specific gender.
Not really.
It's actually quite important to know where the Greek text is being gender-neutral, and where it is not.
I would love a good, printed parallel Bible... ideally: KJV, NASB, ESV, NKJV.
There are lots. The
Hendrickson Parallel Bible has KJV/NKJV/NIV/NLT, for example.
However, any good parallel Bible will have at least one more "dynamic" translation, just so that you can compare.
Even "The Message" -- I often wonder what Eugene Peterson was smoking when he translated a particular section, but I'm always interested in his handling of the passage.
As to the NIV -- I take issue with the handling of some verses, but it's in some ways more faithful to the Greek than the KJV, NASB, ESV, or NKJV. It's certainly not "dumbed down"
Of course, comparing versions often raises more questions than it answers, so you might be better off with just one version and a good commentary.
To pick a random verse:
1 Corinthians 6:15:
οὐκ οἴδατε (Do you not know)
ὅτι (that)
τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν (your bodies)
μέλη (parts/limbs/organs/members)
Χριστοῦ (of Christ)
ἐστιν; (are?)
ἄρας οὖν ([shall] I take [away] then)
τὰ μέλη (the parts/limbs/organs/members)
τοῦ Χριστοῦ (of Christ)
ποιήσω (do or make -- future or subjunctive)
πόρνης (of a prostitute)
μέλη; (parts/limbs/organs/members?)
μὴ γένοιτο (emphatic negative using optative).
The ESV does a good solid job of translation with
Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never!
Given the archaic use of "member," however, the NLT is quite correct to translate
Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? The Revised English Bible perhaps does even better justice to the word with
limbs and organs. The NIV attempts to restore some of the colour missing from the English word "members" by translating
of Christ himself.
The NIV probably also gains clarity with
Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them with a prostitute?, and the use of
unite for "make them members of" is justified by the Greek, especially in the context of the following verse.
The NASB may do better justice to ἄρας by translating
take away.
However, the NASB is being hopelessly over-literal and clumsy with
May it never be! as the emphatic negative. On the other hand, the KJV is too "dynamic" with
God forbid. The ESV, NIV, and NLT probably make the right choice with
Never! The Message is actually very clever to translate
I should hope not, which is forceful, colloquial, and captures some of the literal sense of the optative.
None of the translations is perfect; most of them capture some aspect of the Greek that the others miss. None of them is particularly "dumbed down."
