| Imagine
how my head spun that first day on the job as I was immersed in
a world with more versions of the Bible than I ever dreamed existed:
The New English Bible, The New American Standard, The Revised
Standard, The Good News Bible; and, hot off the press, The New
International Version, and many, many more. Just what made them
different from each other? What were these terms I was hearing—paraphrase,
translation, dynamic equivalent? I quickly learned that the
source material for translating the Bible into contemporary
languages was one important difference. Did the translator work
from Hebrew and Greek, or from English? That was a crucial question
even 400 years ago when a taskforce of scholars met together
to develop the best known of all Bibles, The King James Version.
And what about earlier translations? There’s a story here
and not many people know it. You could say it’s the “making
of” story of the Greatest Story Ever Told.
The video resource The History of the Bible in English
traces the progress of the Bible you own from original texts
to the many modern translations available today. It’s
a tale of faith and murder, betrayal and belief, even a little
sex and scandal . . . who would’ve ever guessed the history
of bringing the gospel to people in their own language was so
exciting? An online companion quiz is available to make this
resource even more useful in an adult study group, confirmation
class, church gathering, or home setting. |
