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Loading... Good As New: A Radical Retelling of the Scripturesby John Henson
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A translation of the New Testament that strives to avoid everything that is elitist, academic or "churchy". Very refreshing and lively. Henson wants to make ordinary people feel at home with the Bible. For instance, he replaces strange-sounding names with more familiar ones - 'Maggie' for Mary Magdalene, "Bart" for Bartholomew - and translates the meaning of names that were originally meant at nicknames - "Rocky" for Peter, "Twin" for Thomas. He avoids language that is sexist or class disciminatory. Every reader is likely to be irritated by some parts of this translation, but many will be delighted and/or inspired by other parts. Try it! ( ) no reviews | add a review
Despite the fact that our shelves are sagging beneath the weight of all the scriptures that have appeared in the last forty years or so, we still await a version that strikes us as a genuinely contemporary version. Life and language move so quickly that it is a matter of running to stay in the same spot, and translators of the scriptures are characterised by care and caution rather than by the need to keep pace. Move on new must, however, if we believe the scriptures have abiding value for every age and culture as a unique record of humankinds adventure with God. What usually passes for a paraphrase rather than a translation indicates the degree of venturesomeness in elucidating the meaning. An attempt at word for word translations produces not clarity but ambiguity. According to the gospels, the genius of Jesus lay in his ability to put into language that could be grasped by ordinary people things that the scribes obscured by their sophistication or pedantry. This new translation takes the bull by the horns in providing a translation of the early Christian scriptures in the idiom of today. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)225.5209Religions Bible New Testament Modern versions and translationsLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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