Living a hedonistic lifestyle in big liberal city for many years has caused me to stray from the path of God. The events that have unfolded in these last few months brought me here. I want to get my life in order and get back on track to what really matters.
I'm planning to get a bible and start going to church so I'm looking for some newbie advice on where to start? Which version can be trusted? Which type of Church hasn't been compromised? Any green flags or red flags to look out for?
Let me give you the only correct answer; all English translations of the Bible are not perfect. In fact, any translation of the Bible is not perfect because translating books from one language to another will inherently lose some meaning. Do you want the general idea? The main point? The meat and potatoes? Choose any translation for the most part. You can learn the fundamentals of what Jesus taught and what it means to be a Christian from any translation.
However, ANY super in depth dive where someone tries to determine some higher, specific point by hinging on differences between translations are going to be inaccurate no matter which translation you read; only the source texts in their original languages are suitable for this.