Bibles written in "contemporary" language. Bibles made to look like magazines. Bibles with metal covers. Bibles with comic strips instead of text.
And the list goes on, and on, and on...
Who are all these "repackagings" aimed toward? In a word, youth. That's the biggest excuse today for any alteration to God's word in its original form. "It's not fresh enough," they say. "It needs to be made new and exciting. Besides, kids just can't understand the Bible the way it is."
Wait a second!
Let's think about what we're saying here - and about how youth respond to it. As a teen myself, I do not take kindly to the broad-brush statement that kids can't understand the Bible. I didn't know that everything had to be translated into so-called "contemporary" language in order for kids to comprehend it. I suppose that means teenagers can't read newspapers or high-school textbooks (or even books in general) either. After all, they're not all in "contemporary" language.
And just what is "contemporary" language, anyway? Well, why don't we take a look at a very popular Biblical paraphrase to see what people mean by that. Let's compare the Lord's Prayer in Luke 11:2-4 in the Amplified Bible (acclaimed as one of the most accurate Biblical translations in existence) and in "The Message" by Eugene Peterson.
The Amplified Bible:
And He said to them, When you pray, say: Our Father Who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come. Your will be done [held holy and revered] on earth as it is in heaven.Give us daily our bread [food for the morrow]. And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended us or done us wrong]. And bring us not into temptation but rescue us from evil.
The Message:
So he said, "When you pray, say,
Father,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil."
I believe something has been lost in translation here. Did the passage in the Amplified Bible say anything about "revealing who you are", "setting the world right" or "three square meals?" Did it mention keeping us "safe from ourselves", or did it even mention "the Devil"? Does "contemporary" language include using poor grammar, such as in the phrase "forgiven with you"? In a more general sense, does it require us to pray by ordering God around rather than making sincere, reverent petitions?
As a teen, when I read this passage in the Message knowing that it was written with the intention of assisting my age group in "understanding Scripture", I am insulted. This blatant twisting of the very meaning of God's Word is without excuse, and it is certainly unnecessary. In fact, it is condemned in Revelation 22:18-19. I believe we young people can cope very well without having our Bibles reduced to irreverent blather such as the above example.
