www.Bible4Today.org.uk

A Bible for the 21st Century

Before the days of the printing press the language of the Bible would automatically change with the times because it would either be told as stories passed on from one person to another, or the priest would read from the Latin and translate (or interpret) into modern English.  With printing, the Bible became available to everyone, but the language became fixed in time.  This project is an attempt to return to a living language to express the truths of the Bible.

The idea for this project came to me when talking to a teenager who found the Bible difficult to understand, even though he had been brought up with it.  I had to agree with him about the language being difficult but, being aware that imagery was also a problem, asked if he realised that, for example, the book of Jonah was not really about a man being swallowed by a fish.   He looked surprised and then asked what the story was really about.   I began to tell him the story in my own words as I remembered it.   I then went home and, looking at my Bible to make sure that I did not miss anything out, I wrote out the book of Jonah in modern words as I understood it.

You are invited to join with us in this project to present all the Bible in modern English - both language and idiom, and to create a really living and evolving Bible.  The Good News is too important to be masked by the archaic words we use to present it.  Such a project is too large for a single person or even a single church, but if each Christian on the Internet rewrote just a few verses, we would soon complete the work. Some of you out there will have already done this with some passages.  It is an excellent method of Bible study, particularly when working with young people, because you need to understand exactly what the passage means before you can put it into your own (modern) words.  These words will also go out of date, but the Internet can make it into a living work, changing with the language.  It is hoped that people will feel free, not only to submit complete sections, but also suggest small changes to existing text.

Before lots of people email to say that we should not be trying to change what the Bible says, I must make it very clear - we are not trying to change the meaning at all.  The purpose is to make the meaning clearer for the present generation.  If we happen to remove a familiar phrase that you hold dear, then too bad!  The Bible is for understanding not preserving!  Language is changing all the time, and if the Bible is to speak to the present generation, its language (not its meaning) must also change. 

If this project interests you, please read below for further details of how to contribute, and how the work will be used and distributed.   If you wish to use the material already written, please read the section on copyright.  It would also be helpful if you sent an email when you use any of the material, indicating any amendments you made to it, and commenting on how it was received.

Why the words we read are not always the right words

The Bible we read today is the result of at least two translations plus the influences of our Church traditions.   Much of it was passed on by word of mouth even before it was first written down, and translators often had bits they could not read, and words with the vowels left out, in the original manuscripts.   Then add the problem that different languages have different structures, that writers lived in a different culture and time, were trying to make a point to their target audience (they were not historians), and it is clear why simple translation is not possible. All translators have to interpret what they read.  All this is then diminished over time when some words change meaning and others go out of use, all compounded by some translators using already archaic language.  Even the most modern "official" translations often use words and styles we would never use in any other type of modern writing.

Words no longer used or whose meaning has changed

Words such as "Unclean" or "Begat" are not really used today and "Flesh" is used differently.   Depending on the context, for "Unclean" you might use the word "infectious (disease)" or " Not fit" or "Not worthy" or even a longer explanation.  "Gospel" is an excellent example of a word whose original meaning (good news) has been lost to most people; and how many know what "Amen" actually means?

Turn of Phrase

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear" would never be said today however it is translated.  This has to be a standard phrase used at some time during the writing or translating process and would make more sense if not literally translated or copied.  It isn't wrong, it just isn't helpful, even if Jesus did say whatever the Aramaic equivalent was!  Today, you might say "Please listen to me" or "listen to this".  My father (or Margaret Thatcher) might have said "Mark my words", and in exasperation, I might say "Listen - cloth ears!", neither meant to be taken literally!  Others (John Prescott?) might say "Read my lips" or "Which part of 'LISTEN' don't you understand." Someone might even say "Listen very carefully, I will say this only once".

"In very truth" could better be expressed as "Honestly" or "Believe me" or even "This is absolutely true" although there is a danger it sounds a bit too much like a politician trying to convince you that black is white, so it might be better just to leave it out.  (The rule I was taught at school was - if it still means the same without it, leave it out!)

Figure of Speech

We say things like "He spun round like a top" to mean "He turned round quickly" and I believe that some of the phrases in the current translations are likewise "figures of speech". Matthew (26:65) describes how the High Priest "tore his clothes" but I think that this was a phrase to denote that he was angry, and not to be taken literally.  Modern figures of speech with this meaning and a similar concept would be "Was tearing his hair out", "Hit the roof", "Blew his stack", "Lost his rag", "Went ballistic", and so on, all not intended to be taken literally.  (Yes, I have heard it suggested that people really did tear their clothes to express anger, but I suspect we have inferred the actions from these words.  I think a clue is that today we have lots of figures of speech to describe anger in a similar, improbable way.)

Obsolete Imagery

Some of the images used are images that are not familiar to us.  There is little point in using such images as illustrations and suitable alternatives must be substituted or an explanation given.  "Yoke" is such an object with which we are no longer familiar and is used over 25 times in my version of the Bible.  It is essential that this image is 'put over' in a modern way since the idea it conveys is important. I usually end up explaining it in full, but this is not ideal. Any suggestions?

Unfamiliar situations

The most difficult problem is when to change a story with an unfamiliar setting. If the setting is so different from our own experiences, we may not get the point of the story at all.  It may then be better to change the setting to a modern one in order to put over the point the story is trying to make.  We may know why Jesus rode on a Donkey but most people today do not.  Recently, our Junior Church told a modern (or even futuristic) version of Noah and his ark, based on the TV program "The Tribe".  The setting was completely different, but the message was the same, and everybody understood it!

For this reason, we may publish more than one version of some passages so that people can choose whether to read the story in a modern setting or keep the original setting and use appropriate explanations.

Unhelpful Imagery

Images of blood or talk of animal sacrifice are not very attractive to people today.  To use them is therefore to risk alienating many people.  At the very least, an explanation is needed.  To say "We are cleansed by the blood of Christ" gives a totally confusing meaning to most people, except perhaps some Christians.  The idea of sacrifice is not a problem, people making sacrifices for their ideals or families is well understood and creates a positive image, but the thought of sacrificing innocent animals will turn many people off.

Technical Terms

All special interest groups develop their own shorthand language and the Church is no exception.  This is all very convenient and saves long explanations when talking with other in the group, but you only have to listen as an outsider to any specialist group of people (computer people for example) to realise that, once they get started, they might as well be speaking in a foreign language!  - so, what do Christians sound like to non Christians?

Examples of such words or phrases are "The Trinity", "Pentecost" "Priesthood" and "Sacrament" which have little meaning outside Christian circles, and should be avoided.  The confusion is made worse when we cannot make up our mind whether we go to "Mass", "Sacrament", "The Eucharist", "Communion" or "Holy Communion", or even "The Celebration of the Holy Mysteries" as my friend sometimes says!

Copyright Considerations

The intention is to make the published version as widely accessible as possible whilst acknowledging the authors and preventing unacceptable commercialisation of the text.

To that end, anyone sending any material will by so doing have agreed that:-

The copyright remains with the original authors (where they can be identified) allowing them to commercially exploit the work if they wish, otherwise the copyright belongs to Headingley Methodist Circuit

The author's publishing rights are not exclusive, because they also agree that we (Headingley Methodist Circuit) may also publish the work as appropriate with any profits to benefit the Circuit or any charity the Circuit designates.

The work will be made available freely over the Internet (where possible), and/or can be distributed in other forms, and can be reproduced without royalties by any church or Christian group or individual for their own use.

Any copy of all or part or the work must contain an acknowledgement of all the authors of the section(s) reproduced and the name "Bible4Today" with the url of the website and the date it was downloaded.

We reserve the right to use and amend any material supplied as we see fit, including using part or even a single phrase from one author to refine another author's work.  Where only a few words are used from an author there normally will be no specific acknowledgement, although a large number of small amendments will be given a general acknowledgement.

If there are any Christian lawyers reading this who would like to suggest any changes to these copyright conditions, please feel free to get in touch. (now there's a couple of figures of speech not to be taken too literally!)

How to Contribute

Contributors are asked to send their work in electronic form using the simplest format possible, that is, plain text email or plain text files (.txt) as an attachment to an email or on disc.

Text should include some references to chapters and verses in the normal Bible but it is better not to list all the verse numbers.  Chapter numbers should be put in square brackets [].  The author's name and email address, and the book, chapter and verse range should be included at the beginning.  Please indicate if you want your email address to be included or excluded from the page.

If you have an idea about a particular passage or story, and you find that someone has already submitted the same passage, please do not let this stop you from writing your own version.  If yours is quite different we may publish both, or even several versions of the same story.  We may also replace older versions with newer better versions, or combine two versions to make one really good one.  We would also be happy to publish good scripts for sketches or playlets of Bible stories or even stories that got left out of the original Bible for lack of space!

Now for the technical bits. - Sorry!

Other formats may be accepted, such as Rich Text Format files (.rtf), MS Word or Word Perfect files (.doc) (the earlier the version the better), or HTML files (.htm or .html) without scripts.  Clever layouts should be avoided.  Files can be sent by email or on a floppy disc, CD, or 100M Zip disc (PC and some Mac format) although discs will not be returned unless a suitable stamped addressed package is included for return.

If you wish to include images these need to be less than 30k bytes (preferably much smaller) and should NOT be embedded in the text but sent as separate files with a text "{placeholder}" using curly braces {} if required for positioning.  They should be either JPEG (.jpg) with a small amount of compression for photo type images, or GIF (.gif) for electronic type images.  If in doubt, test and see which gives the best compression and quality.  Images should not be used to replace text.  (Hint: If editing images, do not keep saving back in JPEG form as the image degrades each time you save and reload it.)