Your Bible Version Matters

Summary

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Breakpoint Podcast Summary: “Your Bible Version Matters”

Host: John Stonestreet (Colson Center)
Date: July 9, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Breakpoint, John Stonestreet delves into the growing crisis of biblical literacy and the significant impact that Bible translation choices have on faith, culture, and our understanding of reality. Drawing from recent news stories, scholarly observations, and his own insights, Stonestreet explores how different versions of the Bible—and the philosophies behind them—shape both individual belief and broader Western culture.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Crisis of Biblical Literacy

[00:01 – 01:27]

• Stonestreet introduces two recent stories highlighting widespread ignorance about the Bible, not only of its content but also of how it's properly understood.

• Washington Post Editorial: Princeton professor Gregory Conte, an atheist, notes college students' inability to identify biblical references in literature, art, and political rhetoric, illustrating a larger collapse in Western cultural literacy.

  “Their ignorance of religious ideas means they struggle to understand a wide array of Western art, literature and philosophy.” (Gregory Conte, quoted by Stonestreet, 00:42)

• The implication: Understanding American history and culture is inextricably tied to biblical literacy, especially familiarity with the King James Version.

2. Bible Versions and Ideological Translations

[01:28 – 02:57]

• Stonestreet discusses the New York Times’ profile of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, which distributes the “Inclusive Bible,” described as an “unusual feminist translation.”

  • Translation Approach: Recasts “man”/“Adam” as “earth creature”; replaces “kingdom” with “kin-dom” to avoid classist connotations.
  • Theological Approach: The translation rejects absolute truth in favor of constructing new meanings.

• Stonestreet’s critique:

  • Such interpretations, influenced by progressive/postmodern perspectives, risk crafting a Bible that reflects personal ideology rather than God’s revealed word.
  • Those unfamiliar with the broader scriptural tradition can’t distinguish between an ideologically loaded translation and the canonical text.

  “The Inclusive Bible is just another example of making the Bible say something it does not.” (Stonestreet, 02:36)

3. Biblical References and American Culture

[02:58 – 03:35]

• Stonestreet points to the “Washington Revelations” virtual tour at the Museum of the Bible, showcasing the deep integration of biblical references in U.S. monuments and buildings.

• Books like Vishal Mangalwadi’s The Book That Made Your World and Daniel Dreisbach’s Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers reaffirm this influence.

• Key Insight: Cultural literacy in the West is fundamentally rooted in biblical literacy; the decline of the latter threatens the former.

  “Put simply, cultural literacy, at least when it comes to the west, requires biblical literacy.” (Stonestreet, 03:20)

4. The Authority of the Text vs. Reader Imposition

[03:36 – 04:21]

• When readers or translators put themselves “above” the text and make Scripture say whatever they want, the foundational authority of the Bible erodes.

• Stonestreet emphasizes humility and submission to the Scripture’s authority—reading the Bible as it is given, not just as a springboard for modern moral or therapeutic fads.

• The restoration of biblical authority could be a “turning point” for both church and culture.

  “We must put ourselves under the text of Scripture and its authority, not above it as the ultimate authors.” (Stonestreet, 03:49)

5. How to Approach the Bible Faithfully

[04:22 – 05:14]

• Drawing on his book A Practical Guide to Culture (co-authored with Brett Kunkel), Stonestreet argues for reading the Bible as an actually true account of reality—shaping our understanding of God, humanity, creation, and culture.

• Avoiding the error of reading through lenses like legalism, critical theory, or cultural power, we are called to let the Bible define its own terms instead of importing ours.

  “The Bible is God’s revealed word to us, not words that we can make say whatever we want.” (Stonestreet, 04:49)

  “The great challenge...is to let [the Bible] teach us its own essential categories, and then for us to think with those categories, not just about them.” (Abraham Joshua Heschel, quoted by Stonestreet, 05:00)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Their ignorance of religious ideas means they struggle to understand a wide array of Western art, literature and philosophy.”
  — Gregory Conte, quoted by Stonestreet (00:42)

• “The Inclusive Bible is just another example of making the Bible say something it does not.”
  — John Stonestreet (02:36)

• “Put simply, cultural literacy, at least when it comes to the west, requires biblical literacy.”
  — John Stonestreet (03:20)

• “We must put ourselves under the text of Scripture and its authority, not above it as the ultimate authors.”
  — John Stonestreet (03:49)

• “The Bible is God’s revealed word to us, not words that we can make say whatever we want.”
  — John Stonestreet (04:49)

• “The great challenge...is to let [the Bible] teach us its own essential categories, and then for us to think with those categories, not just about them.”
  — Abraham Joshua Heschel, quoted by Stonestreet (05:00)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:01 – Introduction to the crisis of biblical literacy
• 00:42 – Quote from Princeton professor on students’ ignorance of biblical allusions
• 01:28 – Discussion of the “Inclusive Bible” and postmodern approaches
• 02:36 – Stonestreet critiques reimagined translations
• 03:20 – Explaining the tie between cultural and biblical literacy
• 03:49 – Call to submit to the Bible’s authority
• 04:49 – Importance of reading the Bible as God's true revelation
• 05:00 – Abraham Joshua Heschel’s guidance on biblical thinking

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Conclusion

John Stonestreet’s commentary calls listeners to a renewed seriousness about the authority, accuracy, and importance of the Bible—both for personal faith and the fabric of culture. He urges discernment regarding translations, warns against imposing one’s own ideas upon Scripture, and reminds the audience that understanding and living in truth requires letting the Bible set the terms for our engagement with reality.

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For further resources or to share the commentary, visit breakpoint.org.

Transcript

[A]

Welcome to Breakpoint, a daily look at an ever changing culture through the lens of unchanging truth. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stonestreet. Two recent news stories point to the crisis of biblical literacy, not only of knowing the biblical text, but also in properly understanding it. An editorial published at the Washington Post by Princeton professor Gregory Conte, a self professed non believer, explained just how common it is for college students to not know any of the basics of about Christianity. Quote they seldom recognize the allusions to the Bible that appear in Shakespeare's work or in Lincoln's second inaugural address, or in Obama's first, for that matter. And their ignorance of religious ideas means they struggle to understand a wide array of Western art, literature and philosophy. End quote. In short, what he means is the lack of biblical knowledge makes them unable to understand American history or culture. Another New York Times story profiled the pastor in the Church of Texas, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. According to the article, Pastor Jim Rigby of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, will welcome new members by, and I quote again handing them a new copy of the Inclusive Bible, an unusual feminist translation that St. Andrews has used since the 1990s. In Genesis, instead of saying that God created a man, Adam, the translation first refers to an earth creature. It often uses the term kingdom of God in place of kingdom kingdom, which it deems to be classist. Now the Inclusive Bible is promoted as the first egalitarian translation. In addition to replacing the male pronouns for God and for humankind, it purports to reimagine the Scriptures and our relationship to them. The innovative version promotes progressive Christianity and includes a strong postmodern emphasis rejecting absolute truth and favor of a newly created narrative. Of course, those who only read the Inclusive Bible will not really know the truth of Scripture any more than those who never read any version to begin with. Nor can they understand a culture that is inspired by and built from the Bible, mostly the King James Version. And yet that's actually the point of the postmodern way of approaching reality. There's no truth to be known or revealed, only truth to be constructed. Among the exhibits and experiences at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. is a virtual flying tour called Washington Revelations. The visitors are taken virtually throughout the nation's capital to look for the biblical and Christian references that are inscribed on so many monuments and buildings. The sheer amount of these references is quite impressive, but even more so when you consider how many more there are across the city than are included in the ride. Not to mention across the entire country, which is never addressed in the ride. Vishal Mangawati's book the Book that Made youe World and Daniel Dreisback's Reading the Bible with the Founding Fathers both trace the influence of the Bible on Western culture, including American culture. Put simply, cultural literacy, at least when it comes to the west, requires biblical literacy. Inversely, the more that our biblical literacy diminishes, so does our cultural literacy. Even more so, those who do not read the Bible are far more susceptible to whatever claims that people will make about it. Not only will they be unable to distinguish between an inventive, ideologically loaded translation and the actual text of God's inspired, infallible, inerrant word, they will become subject to those who speak on their own authority, rather than relying on the authority that's inherent to the text. The inclusive Bible is just another example of making the Bible say something it does not. We must put ourselves under the text of Scripture and its authority, not above it as the ultimate authors. The older meaning of the word crisis means turning point. So if the recent emergence of theism in America turns into somehow a greater openness to Christianity specifically, proper guidance on how to read the Bible will be desperately needed. So with God's help, this could mean a turning or a returning to the Bible as our ultimate authority. In our book A Practical Guide to Culture, Brett Kunkel and I attempted to describe how to approach the Bible this way, as if it is actually true, not only in the sense that what it contains is true, but that the Bible presents to us the true account of all of reality. It frames for us the truth about God, about the cosmos, about God's image bearers, about Jesus Christ, about work in the world. Thus we can, and we should read the Bible as it was given to us, as it was written, to avoid imposing mere moralistic and therapeutic applications, whether they're sourced in critical theory or cultural power or legalism or something else. The Bible is God's revealed word to us, not words that we can make say whatever we want. Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel put it well when he said that the great challenge to those of us who wish to take the Bible seriously is to let it teach us its own essential categories, and then for us to think with those categories, not just about them. For the Colson Center, I'm John Stonestreet with Breakpoint. Today's Breakpoint was co authored by Andrew Carico. If you're a fan of Breakpoint, leave us a review wherever you download podcasts and for more resources or to share this commentary with others, go to breakpoint.org

[B]

Has AI made humans replaceable? Do the promises of AI outweigh the perils? What does it mean to be human in an AI age? These are just some of the questions we'll be exploring at the 2026 Great Lakes Symposium in Bay Harbor, Michigan, on August 6th. We'll be joined by John Stonestreet, Abdoumuri, Gretchen Huizenga, and our virtual guest, John Lennox. These leading thinkers on faith and AI will help us understand how to navigate this new technological landscape while considering our role as image beare of God. This event is free, but space is limited. Secure your spot [e-mail] that's greatlakesymposium.org.