Customer Reviews

The Unvarnished New Testament: A New Translation From The Original Greek

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When I opened Andy Gaus' translation of the New Testament, and began reading Mark, I literally experienced a shock, whether of the spirit or of recognition, I can't be sure. Mark's headlong, atemporal enthusiasm burst off the page as I had always imagined it should, but never had, in any other translation. Further reading of other books continued opening facets of these texts I had only guessed at. Gone is the theologically anachronistic language of standard translations (and Lattimore) which puts concepts into the text that weren't there when it was written. In Gaus, churches are assemblies, repentance is a change of heart, baptism is bathing, gospel is the good word, angels are (often) messengers, spirit can be breath, and so on. The translation is sometimes less literal than I would have liked, but translation is always a balancing act, and overall, Gaus has found a great balance for the reader who doesn't know Greek and is frustrated by the jargon which encrusts most New Testament editions. I don't know anything about Mr. Gaus, or who he is associated with, but my hat is off to him. For me, this New Testament is right alongside Richard Elliott Friedman's Torah.

Andy Gaus has created a snappy, fun-reading translation of the New Testament, that is bold, blunt, direct, sharp, at times rib-tickling and always bright. Anyone thinking that the Bible is difficult to read will have his mind changed after reading this translation. For a refreshing blast that's just a great read, this is the translation. Of great fun to read, especially aloud, is Paul's letter to the Galatians. Of course, as with all translations, there are parts where you'll wince a little, Gaus' is no exception. Nonetheless, this is a great read, a welcome addition to any library, and a great way to encounter the freshness of Christ's teachings.

This rendition of the New Testament was so good, that I actually finished the whole thing for the first time, without it putting me to sleep. It was remarkably clear and readable. Another interesting facet of this book is that there is a purer translation of the gospels without the interference of church councils that interpret them through the myths of the church. This is a great book to read and to have.

I love it! It is so easy to read. You feel like Jesus is in the same room with you talking to you like a friend. This translation is like reading a novel. Children can identify much easier to this translation than to the King James version of the Bible. I wish the Old Testament was in the same format. RJB

Ok, first, I am a long-time priest (Anglican) and have read the NT zillions of times and studied it pretty intensely because I've had to preach on it literally thousands of times. I got my copy of this book in a used book store and was delighted to find it readable, erudite (which is to say the text is VERY true to the original Greek -the most literally translated of all of the versions I've read). Most importantly, to me, is that unlike all of the other translations on the market it's translated in its original voice, which is to say, not in the voice of an upper-class Englishman or a highly educated Anglo-American scholar. What comes out, then, is the original colloquial voice of the author (or at least the person who wrote it down under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit). I could not recommend this version of the New Testament more highly.

This is simply the best version of the New Testament available to Americans in English. The painstaking scholarship is beautifully incorporated, without great fanfare, into a bold translation that flows along like heightened speech. Gaus has stripped away centuries of overlay here and given us the feel and spirit and original intention of the Greek. It won't get any better than this in the forseeable future.

By completely breaking with tradition Gaus manages to preserve the meaning of the Greek. I am continually frustrated by how bad most translations are. Bible translation has a 1600 year history that quite often works as a weight more than buoy. The New Testament is a Greek first century book written for other first century people about first century topics. Most bibles aim to "close the gap" obliterating the Greekness of the NT, including dynamic translations. Gaus doesn't. Gaus shows you what you read if you read Greek fluently. The books read wonderfully smoothly since there is no attempt at maintaining any semblance of formal translation. At the same time preserving the mysticism, philosophy and theology of the underlying Greek better than any bible I know of. He accomplishes exactly what dynamic translation aims for. There aren't many reviews on the web but google books has half of it online.

Andy Gaus has blessed the public with a unique opportunity to get at the truth about God and Jesus and much else without the blockage of encrustations from dogmas and creeds (from Councils) which make it almost impossible to hear Jesus' words for what they meant in the very non-Trinitarian atmosphere of the first century. His English is very real, refreshing and unchurchy. The fact that he renders John 1:3 as "all things were made through it," the word, not through Him, the fictitious eternal Son, enables the reader to grasp Jesus' own very Jewish creed announced by him in Mark 12:28ff. Would that every churchgoer could read this marvelous document.

The Unvarnished New Testament is a translation of the Holy Scriptures from the original Greek. It is the words of the New Testament as a person who knew Greek would have understood them in the First or Second century. It is minus the interpretation of vocabulary that biblical scholars have incorporated into modern translations.

For example, most translators of the New Testament write the Greek word "hamartia" as the English word "sin", the breaking of divine or moral law. But the Greeks used the word "hamartia" in relationship to archery and it meant "missing the mark".

Gaus does not use the word "sin" in his translation but "mistake" or "doing wrong", words that have a more loving and forgiving feeling, words that a parent might use in guiding a child to better behavior.

The translation that moved me the most, however, was that of the Our Father. Mr. Gaus explains in the Glossary that the word "abba" is an intimate Aramaic word that meant father, but was generally used inside the family and had the connotation of "papa".

Mr. Gaus's translation of the Our Father from the original Greek.

Our Father in the skies,
Let your name be sanctified.
Let your kingdom come,
May your will be seen
On the earth, just as in the sky.
Give us day by day the next day's bread,
And forgive our debts
The same as we forgave the debts that others owed us.
And do not put us to the test,
But snatch us from the Evil Ones clutches, let it be so.

The Our Father is a beautiful, powerful prayer in just about any translation, but Gaus's gives the supplication more vigor and vitality through simplicity.

Gaus's translation of the New Testament is deeply engaging. It gently connects the reader to Christ and his teachings.

I actually bought this copy as a gift for my Pastor after years of sharing quotes from this translation during Bible studies and sometimes even during sermons.
Over the centuries, pious copyists and translators "prettified" the language of the New Testament. No truth was lost (there is nothing in this translation that affects basic Christian understandings of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, but the immediacy and power of the original language was compromised. This translation won't change your understanding of the the Gospel, but it will enhance it.