We’re Switching to the CSB!

 
 

A NEW Translation

Upon recommendation of the staff, the elders have approved a switch from the ESV (English Standard Version) to the CSB (Christian Standard Bible) as North Sub’s official translation of choice in January 2022.

Hear Pastor Tim explain the reason for the change here:

Advantages of the CSB

Here is a quick summary of a few reasons we decided to switch to the CSB:

  • The CSB provides a more readable text without sacrificing accuracy. We hope this will help all of us, but especially our young people and those who struggle to read.

  • The CSB conforms more closely to the Colorado Springs Guidelines regarding the proper usage of gender-neutral pronouns. As such, you’ll see a few more gender-neutral renderings when the original Hebrew or Greek word was likely to refer to both genders.

  • The CSB New Testament was created using the most up-to-date Greek New Testament (Nestle-Aland 28), which hadn’t been released when ESV was created.

  • There are better kids’ Bibles and curricula derived from the CSB, meaning that whole families (and all our church’s ministries) can use the same translation.

  • Our youth group (and as such, several families with junior high and high school students) switched to the CSB a couple years back and have reported a great experience with it.

  • Many pastors and scholars Pastor Tim respects have commended and/or adopted the CSB in recent years, including David Platt, Alistair Begg, Daniel Akin, Derwin Gray, David Dockery, Jared Wilson, Tony Evans, Kyle Idleman, Eric Mason, and J. D. Greear.

The video below is an outstanding summary of the key factors that make the CSB such a great translation:

What does this mean for me?

Don’t feel any pressure to switch, or to abandon a translation you love! This just means that starting 1/1/22:

  • Our Sunday sermons will be preached from the CSB

  • The Bibles in the chairbacks will be CSB

  • We’ll encourage people to participate in the Bible in a year reading plan using the CSB

  • Children’s ministry will start shifting toward CSB-affiliated resources in some cases

So if you want to purchase a CSB Bible or CSB Study Bible (or ask for one for Christmas!), this could be a great time. You may also want to download the CSB on the (free) YouVersion Bible app to consult it on the go.

If you have any questions about our switch to the CSB, please don’t hesitate to contact Pastor Tim!