Lilyofthevalley:
Jerry, you are being sarcastic, aren’t you?
Not sure how to reply.
If you are referring to my observations on the content of the new “translation,” the things I mention are there. Here’s a brief news clip on it:
+++++
‘Good As New’ Bible Roils Britain
By Robert Nowell
Religion News Service
London, June 28–(RNS) A controversial new translation of the Bible that has St. Paul recommending a “regular partner” for sex has received a warm commendation from the archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, for its “extraordinary power.”
The version, “Good as New: A Radical Retelling of the Scriptures,” was written by retired Baptist minister John Henson. Its modern idiomatic English features the names of people and places in contemporary slang.
St. Peter thus becomes “Rocky,” Barnabas becomes “Cheery”–apparently the literal meaning of the name in Aramaic–Thessalonika becomes “Tessatown,” and Bethany is called “Dategrove.” Paul, however, stays Paul and Corinth stays Corinth.
The new translation is much more direct than most Bible readers have been used to. In the King James version, Paul tells the squabbling Christians of Corinth: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband.”
In Henson’s version, it goes this way: “Some of you think the best way to cope with sex is for men and women to keep right away from one another. I think that is more likely to lead to sexual offenses. My advice is for everyone to have a regular partner.”
In addition, Henson leaves the door open to various possibilities when he has Paul saying, “Husbands and wives should strive to meet each other’s sexual needs. They should submit to one another for that purpose.”
In his foreword, Williams asks: “What would Christianity look like, what would Christian language sound like, if we really tried to screen out the stale, the technical, the unconsciously exclusive words and policies and to hear as if for the first time what the Christian scriptures were saying?”
Henson’s translation does not include all the books of the New Testament–Revelation is missing, for example, as are some of the Epistles. He also adds the Gospel of Thomas, which has never been accepted as part of the Christian canon.
+++++
And adding the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, well … :banghead:
And my respect for Phillips’s work is as noted.
Blessings,
Gerry
