WHATCHU TALKIN BOUT WILLIS?

I grew up when Diff'rent Strokes was a popular television show. That's no big deal unless your last name is Willis. To this day I still hear those famous words popularized by Arnold: "Whatchu talkin bout Willis?" Usually they are uttered by someone looking at me as though I may have never heard it before. Yeah, right! Well this blog is what I (Willis) am talkin bout...my thoughts, observations & opinions. Enjoy...



Thursday, June 18, 2009

Another Bible (of sorts)


I recently discovered "The Books of the Bible" published by the International Bible Society. I don't want to overstate this, but it has brought a substantial jolt to my Scripture reading. Is it a Bible? Yes & No. All of the Bible is in there, but it doesn't look like your Bible. Most noticeably, there are no chapters or verses. It is also arranged differently. If you want more info on specifics, just visit the website. You can also download some samples if you want to check it out firsthand. Now, as a disclaimer, I should mention that it is only available in the TNIV. You might this strange from a "complimentarian" guy like me. The TNIV is a "gender neutral" translation and a revision of the popular NIV. I don't have time to wade into the debate surrounding gender neutrality in translations, but there's plenty online if you want to explore more about the TNIV's approach. I don't endorse the TNIV as a primary translation for study, but I have found it to be a smooth read and, because of my familarity with the NIV, a surprising improvement in some places (and a disappointment in others). Anyway, "The Books of the Biblle" really helps me focus on reading the whole instead of particular chapter or verse. It also helps me see context better, which is most significant. I'm really enjoying it, so I thought I'd let you know. If you do check it out, let us know what you think.

8 comments:

SammyBoy said...

I have this on my shelf of Bibles, but had forgotten it was there. I'll pull it down and have a good look at it.

I've got a translation of the New Testament that I find terrifically interesting. It also has no verse divisions, although it gives you an extra empty line and a paragraph mark at the beginning of each chapter, and a heading at the top that gives you an idea where you are (e.g., "Luke 12:6-22").

The interesting thing about this translation is that it wasn't done by a bunch of Christian scholars, but by a guy who is a Greek scholar and educator -- I don't even know whether he's a Christian or not. He's translated a large number of classic Greek texts. While he was teaching translation to some students, he says, "I was struck by the natural ease with which Revelation turned itself into English." So he translated Revelaiton, and then just kept going, as he was able to find the time, until he had translated the whole NT. It's interesting to me to read a Bible translation that doesn't automatically bring with it heavy theological pre-suppositions, but rather just a Greek scholar's approach of, "Hmmmm, I wonder how this will translate?"

David H. Willis said...

You have me interest - what's the name of that translation? The Messege?

SammyBoy said...

It's simply called "The New Testament". The man's name is Richmond Lattimore. He died in 1984, two years after he finished the work. It was originally published in two volumes (the Gospels and Revelation in one, the rest in the second). It's now available in one volume. Here's the Amazon page link. The reviews are interesting.
http://www.amazon.com/New-Testament-Richmond-Lattimore/dp/0865475245/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1245349730&sr=8-1

David H. Willis said...

Thanks bro. Amazon here i come...

William Mckinley Dyer said...

Sam---im interested on how u found that one translated by the possible non-christian Greek scholar? That sounds like a cool story. And i would love to see how he translates some stuff

William Mckinley Dyer said...

Willis----The Living Oracles by AC doesn't have any verses in it. It does have chapter divisions but they are very subtle and almost unnoticeable.

David H. Willis said...

I think I got AC's trans on the shelf somewhere around here...

SammyBoy said...

Billy,

I came across it while I lived in St. Louis. The two volume set was actually a feature in a book-of-the-month club I was part of back then. Just one of the regular ones, not a Christian one. They were featuring some of his works, and this translation was among them. I took a chance and ordered them.

The one hting that some of us will be a little disappointed in is that he transliterates the "baptisma" words. He doesn't explain why, but I'd guess that probably it was because the word "baptism" has come to be "its own word" in English, and is almost never translated in common use. I'm guessing he would have gone with the English use that was the most commonly understood and used.