Customer Reviews

The Bad News Bible: The New Testament

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There have been numerous attempts to make the Bible more readable. In this rendition, the story is told by James, the brother (but not apostle) of Jesus. Thus, we read an entertaining yet educational story by what Voas calls a sympathetic but critical insider. James Voas, a scientist on the faculty of the science division at New Mexico State University, uses the text from the King James Version, probably because of its status as a text in the public domain.

But this is self defeating in a quest to make reading the Bible easier. He does provide chapter numbers in the margins. Voas exhibits his apparent lack of Hebrew and Greek studies in a number of places, including his narrator's comment on the beatitudes. James asks, "what happens to the rich in spirit?" References to Psalm 110 neglect the usage of the multiple names of God: "Who could call his offspring 'Lord?'" Prometheus Books has published well researched volumes which are outside the mainstream of thought, in such fields of psychology and sociology; but this is not one of them. This book will be most useful in seminary libraries as an exercise for theological evaluation.

Those who desire a more readable New Testament translation should try "The Message," by Eugene H. Peterson (Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress, 1995). Those in search of a lucid story should seek "The Book of God: the Bible as a Novel" (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1996) or "Jesus: A Novel" (2005), both by master storyteller Walter Wangerin.