In A.D. 383-405 the Latin Vulgate was created. This is a Latin version of the entire Bible. Since then, according to some sources, at least 34 different versions of the Bible have been published. Some of the significant Bibles are the Wycliffe, King James, New American Standard (NASB), New International Version (NIV) and the New King James Version (NKJV). Other sources suggest that in the last thirty years more than forty modern language versions of the Bible have been published. Innvista lists 97 versions at http://www.innvista.com/culture/religion/bible/versions/more.htm and another 53 at http://www.innvista.com/culture/religion/bible/versions/onindex.htm

There are over 300 English translations alone, according to http://olivetree.com ... over 500, according to http://hyperhistory.net (see http://www.hyperhistory.net/apwh/essays/cot/t0w05bibleversions.htm). This does not include the translations in languages other than English. To date, the Bible has been translated into over 2400 of the 6900 known languages. And I know personally that there are several different translations in Spanish, German and French. Overall, there are probably over 3000 translations, including all foreign languages. According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, there are over 33,000 denominations in 238 countries. Every year there is a net increase of around 270 to 300 denominations. Some of these are currently making their own unique translations, meaning this count will continually increase.

1.86 gazillion.

Here is a partial list: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/lits/library/guides/biblver.htm

Many many many, with more coming to a store near you. There are many different philosophies about which manuscripts to include in translation as well (those that are more ancient or those that have more copies and were presumably more widely circulated). Not to mention the fact that Greek is a very complex language, with single words conveying whole sentences of meaning in English. Consequently, we have many translations and versions of the Bible.

For an intro into the original texts and early translations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Versions_of_the_Bible For all translations in all languages: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_translations_by_language For a list of English translations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_Bible_translations For a discussion of English translations: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_translations_of_the_Bible As with all popular and interesting works written in an ancient language, there are many many translations, though most languages only have one or two. The Bible - thanks to missionaries and especially the International Bible Society, the Bible Society, and the Wycliffe Bible Translators, has been translated into almost every langauge on earth. English, however has many translations. But a prevalence of different translations doesn't mean that you have different "versions" of the Bible as most people would normally understand that to mean -- that st, the different translations of the Bible don't typically disagree with eachother on any significant point. Why do they have so many then? For the same reason there are dozens of different English translations of Dante, Homer, Vergil, Goethe, Plato, Machiavelli, Luther, Calvin, Moliere, Victor Hugo and Sun Tzu. No translation is perfect, everything loses something in translation, and every would-be translator thinks he can do a better job of it than those who have gone before. For example, the NIV is what's called a paraphastic translation: it doesn't just do a literal translation, but tries to translate expressions and idioms as what they really mean in English (e.g, the Hebrew equivalent of "you're pulling my leg" becomes "you're trying to fool me for fun"), meanwhile the NASB takes a literal, word for word approach, and the New Living Bible tries to use simple words and colloquial speach because they think kids will find it more readable and even think "it's cool". In terms of the New Testament and different "versions", there are 2 principle families of manuscripts, the Byzantine and the Alexandrian, which form the basis of the two principle texts used today, the Majority Text and the Minority Text respectively. The Majority Text is called that because there are more manuscripts in the Byzantine family than in the Alexandrian family. It is still the preferred and authoritative text of the RCC, the Anglican communion, and the Eastern Orthodox. Scholars and most Protestant denominations prefer the Minority Text because it's pretty clear that the Alexandrian family is closest to the original while the Byzantines liked to add flourishes for liturgical reading to make their Holy Liturgy more elegant and beautiful, and also occassionally attempted to make explicit what they thought was implicit in the text. (Example: the Lord's prayer originally ended simply, "And deliver us from the evil one." A later scribe however appended a doxology commonly added to prayers in the Greek Synagogues: "For Thine is the Kingdom". Still a later scribe and/or minister realized that "the kingdom" was a Jewish metaphor and changed it to "For thine is the Power and the Glory" in his copy, so that Greek Christians would get the right point. Still a later scribe without a clue as to the original gets ahold of both augmented manuscripts, and decides to combine them: "For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory" ... which sounds a heck of lot better anyway. But whether you keep any of these additions or throw them out, does absolutely nothing to affect the Lords Prayer, the Sermon on the Mount, or the message of Matthew's Gospel.

re ninja man>>Not to mention the fact that Greek is a very complex language, with single words conveying whole sentences of meaning in English<< Biblical Hebrew is a very literary language and every word is rich with nuances and associations. But New Testament Greek is Koine - the pigeon-Greek of 1st Century traders, sailors, merchants, and foreigners. It is vastly simpler than the Classical Greek of Plato and Aristotle. In fact, all but the writings of Luke, Paul, and whoever wrote Hebrews, the NT is written in very rough, common-man's 3rd-Grade-Level Koine, and is filled with a lot of Semitisms and other evidences of Jewish authorship. Though one may spend a life-time studying it Koine - and you never really stop learning it - it can be mastered in about 3 months of study .

Why you can believe the Bible and since the Bible is true, then you can believe in God,because the Bible speaks of Him existing. This is based on the history of the King James 1611AV Bible. Other versions (233 DIFFERENT versions on the market), ALL are proven to be from corrupt MSS (manuscripts). 1. It doesn't demand blind faith. For faith to be of any value, it must be based on facts, on reality. 2. Ancient history supports the Bible's accuracy. 3. The Gospels provide reliable accounts of Jesus. 4. Archaeology Science backs up Biblical accounts. 5. Textual scholarship confirms the Bible. 6. The Bible is true to it's original form because: a. we have such a hugh number of MSS copies, over 24,000. b. these copies agree with each other 99.5%. c. the dates of these MSS are very close to dates of their originals. 7. The Bible's textual integrity is more certain than that of Plato's writtings and Homer's Illad. 8. History written ahead of time is proof the Bible is not a product of man. 9. In contrast, the book of mormon: archaeology has repeatedly failed to substantiate the book's claims of cities, persons,names or places mentioned. 10.From a historical and legal perpective, if enough eyewitnesses are alive when the the facts are published, it's can be fairly well established the vaidity of a secular event. (see 1 Cor 15.6) 11. Anthropology Science (study of humanity and social cultures) confirms the Bible. ww5776@gmail