Living Journey

Ok… I have found how The Voice are going to retell the story of God into a narrative:

A careful process is followed to assure that the spiritual, emotional, and artistic goals of the project are met. First, the retelling of the Bible has been designed to be readable and enjoyable by emphasizing the narrative nature of Scripture. Beyond being simply a set of accurately translated individual words, phrases, and sentences, we have asked our teams to render the biblical texts with sensitivity to the flow of the unfolding story. We asked them to see themselves not only as guardians of the sacred text, but also as story tellers, because we believe that the Bible has always been intended to be heard as the sacred story of the people of God.

Artistic goals… does that imply artistic license… it would have to wouldn’t it? And this bit about being guardians of the text… I thought that God was to keep His promise about His Word being unchanged. Isn’t God the guardian of His Word. If artistic license is brought into it, then this should be classed as a novel, or at best mans interpretation of what he/she considers to be Gods story to mankind.

It certainly won’t be God’s Word to man, but rather mans understanding of a story about God.

This is in no way the bible, it is a narrative… they are right in saying that!

Their premise as stated is that this narrative is the way that God intended His Word to be understood in the first place, when they say:

[...] we believe that the Bible has always been intended to be heard as the sacred story of the people of God.

I thought the main point and the focus of the bible was to point to Jesus and His work done on the cross - not the story about the people of God - but Jesus and His purpose for being on this earth.

Or maybe I am like others who seem Old Hat and behind the times because I believe that all scripture is God breathed and is inspired by God and can be used for reproof and correction, instruction etc. If it is brought down to mans narrative and made into a story, then no longer can scripture be used to correct or reproof because it is all under mans scrutiny as it is looking through the lens of mans traditions and stories and interpretations. As their web-site implies … this book is only a narrative a story, therefore not the bible at all.

Standard translations tend to flatten these individual styles so that each book reads more or less like the others, with a kind of impersonal textbook-style prose. Some translations and paraphrases have paid more attention to literary style, but again, the literary style of one writer, no matter how gifted, can unintentionally obscure the diversity of the original voices. To address these problems, we asked our teams to try to feel and convey the diverse literary styles of the original authors.

Hmmm… standard translations flatten the styles so each sounds like the other… well if the bible was inspired by God then wouldn’t He be the author and because it is of one accord then wouldn’t it be His Word that appears to sound the same throughout the whole book? Of course it has a similar style, it has the same author behind the writers! That is the point of the bible, it has one message! You can find the message of the promised Messiah in the Law, the Poets, the Prophets and the Historical records.

Of course it sounds like there is a common theme, God reiterates His point over and over again using different writers under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

But thinking on this I have never found the bible to be impersonal when I have read it … I for one, hear and recognise His voice as the Living Word. How can that be impersonal? Although, I found it impersonal before I became born again in Christ. Most people who have not become born again converts do not understand scripture from an enlightened point of view… the Holy Spirit is our teacher. John 14:26.

The original writers were not so interested in their own styles, it wasn’t about them, but were far more interested in conveying what the Holy Spirit prompted them to write.

Third, we have taken care that The Voice is faithful and that it avoids prejudice. Anyone who has worked with translation and paraphrase knows that there is no such thing as a completely unbiased or objective translation. So, while we do not pretend to be purely objective, we asked our teams to seek to be as faithful as possible to the biblical message as they understood it together. In addition, as we partnered biblical scholars and theologians with our writers, we intentionally built teams that did not share any single theological tradition. Their diversity has helped each of them not to be trapped within his or her own individual preconceptions, resulting in a faithful and fresh rendering of the Bible.

Even more, we realized that modern readers from different religious or cultural traditions would hear the same words differently.

For example, when Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox readers encounter the word ‘baptism’ a very different set of meanings and associations come to mind than those that would arise in the minds of Baptist or Pentecostal readers.

Yeah ok, let’s use that example of baptism… perhaps we should go to the bible and not man’s traditions to see what baptism really is. Their getting all hung up about man’s interpretation which is looking through the lens of mans traditions rather that looking through the lens of scripture. Biblical baptism is much different from the Catholic infant baptism. We must use scripture to interpret scripture, Sola Scriptura!

The situation is made even more complex when we realize that none of these associations may resemble the ones that would have come to mind when John invited Jewish peasants and Pharisees into the water of the Jordan River in the months before Jesus began His public ministry. It is far harder than most people realize to help today’s readers recapture the original impact of a single word like baptism.

Yep, that’s right! You have to go to the scriptures to find out what that means. John’s baptisms were just a foreshadow of Christ’s fulfillment - and the Jews at the time were given this ritual as a foreshadow they would have recognised the fulfillment if they had have known their own laws. The mikveh foreshadows Christ, His death, buriel and ressurection. Nothing needs to be added to this when you have read the book in context. In fact if you go to the Bible it is very rich in illustration, you need not look further into other traditions.

The goal of The Voice is to promote the public reading of longer sections of Scripture, followed by thoughtful engagement with the biblical narrative in its richness and fullness and dramatic flow. We believe the Bible itself, in all its diversity, energy, and dynamism, is the message and not merely the jumping-off point.

Yep I agree wholeheartedly with that. I think more scripture in context should be read (note scripture should be used …. not narratives or mans paraphrase) instead of a verse here or there, I absolutely agree 100% with that. But in saying that it is sometimes necessary to go to other scripture to amplify a point - in other words, letting scripture interpret scripture.

How will this new narrative work with this formula is anyones guess, especially when you have taken away or added to the Word of God by adding your own ideas about His word. I reckon you will find holes pretty soon when you amplify a narrative over a word for word translation. You will come away with begging questions that a narrative just won’t answer.

Really … The Voice is a narrative just as they have said. But wouldn’t you rather read and delve into a richer more illustrative version. There is much to be said about the older translations that have been the foundation of some of the greatest moves of God throughout centuries. Yes, it will require you to think and use your mind more, it will require all of you, your heart as well as your mind. But I am all for that.

God is no fonder of intellectual slackers than of any other slackers. If you are thinking of becoming a Christian, I warn you you are embarking on something which is going to take the whole of you, brains and all. Mere Christianity C. S. Lewis

• A related post from More Books and Things.