June 21, 2007
The Organic Bible
Reading God's Word with no artificial additives.
Previously, John Dunham from the International Bible Society wrote about the unintended impact of having scripture divided by chapters and verses. It's led to what he calls "verse jacking," taking scripture out of context and using it for a purpose it was never intended. In this follow up post Dunham responds to some of your comments, and introduces an alternative way to read the Bible.
Commenting on my previous post, Glenn Krobel wrote:
There are too many Christians in ministry today who thrive off attacking our heritage without offering a solutions to problems they address.
Thanks for bringing that up, Glenn. I agree. And despite many people thinking the current system is too ingrained to move away from, I think it's worth a try. On August 1, International Bible Society will release The Books of The Bible. Chapter and verse numbers? Gone. Topical section headers? Gone. Extra columns? Gone. On the page helps? Gone. Footnotes? Moved to the back of each book. What you are left with is a no-additives edition of the Bible.
Not only have we taken out the dubiously beneficial additives, but we have also humbly attempted to bring a more faithful structure to today's Bible. There is no doubt the Holy Spirit has worked powerfully throughout the centuries through God's word in the Messiah's church, no matter what form his word has taken. But form does matter as we display the beauty of God's word.
Topical section headers are shortcuts for finding a verse or letting us know what's going on. Therein is the problem. Too often we rely on them to tell us how to interpret a passage without regard to the larger story, and sometimes these breaks come at the worst spots. While trained leaders may easily look past them, most readers are better off without them. The Books of The Bible allows the literary structure of a book to spring out by inserting appropriate amounts of white space in places where the author shows a transition (e.g., the toledot formulae in the Torah or Matthew's five sections of Jesus' activity and teaching).
A single-column typesetting is what we expect when we open any non-fiction book or novel. But most Bibles have two columns. Rick Shott correctly commented that this is for conserving space and reducing white space. This ends up saving publishers about fifteen to twenty percent on paper. But at what cost? Books like the Psalms are absolutely decimated with no reasonable way of making sense of the poetic structure. A single-column text displays poetry more clearly and narrative more naturally.
At times throughout the Bible's development limits in technology forced scribes to separate books that were meant to be one. For example, the books we know today as 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings were originally a unified book telling a single narrative. In The Books of The Bible, Samuel?Kings is presented as the one book that it is. Luke and Acts are two volumes of a single history, so they have been placed together.
Historians have documented over 70 different orders of the books of the Bible. In the current Protestant Bible, poetry and wisdom literature are mixed up with each other and prophets are generally grouped together by the size of the books, the four gospels are grouped together, and Paul's letters are placed in the order of their length. As the reformers did, we asked, "Is this tradition helpful?" In The Books of The Bible, we have put poetry books in a group and wisdom books in another. We have put the prophets in historical order, and the same goes for Paul's letters. And we've honored the fourfold gospel tradition by grouping each gospel with other New Testament books by theme or audience. To see the complete table of contents, visit www.thebooksofthebible.info.
To revisit chapters and verses, in many ways they have become a crutch for us to quickly locate a passage. But recall what Jesus did in Luke's account: "He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: ?The Spirit of the Lord is on me . . .' " Our Lord did not use a handy reference system. He had devoted his life to the study of Scripture and was able to find passages based solely on context.
I crave that sort of familiarity with the Bible, and I think it will help all people. In sermons and Bible studies, one can locate a section like any book club would: "Turn to page 362, second paragraph, where it says . . ." We already do just fine without chapters and verses in every other area of life. (We recognize, however, that chapters and verses are of limited benefit, so we have retained a chapter and verse range at the bottom of each page.)
We hope that God's image bearers will use this new (and in many ways, old) format of the Scripture to engage in more and better Bible reading. There is no question that God has worked in amazing ways throughout the history of the Bible. But it is time to revisit how we print and read sacred Scripture. By liberating God's word from some of the formatting constraints that have been placed on it, his people will be better equipped to tell his awesome story of redemption.
Posted by UrL Scaramanga on June 21, 2007
Comments
This copy of the Bible will be on my Christmas list. Thank you.
Posted by: Melody at June 21, 2007
Honestly, coming from the people who make Camo bibles, wittiness bibles, women of faith bibles this seems more like a gimmick than a need. If you want to sell a bible with no verses or chapters then sell it. The verses and chapters and headers have been so much more of a help to people than a hindrance.
Posted by: leoskeo at June 22, 2007
I'm excited about readng the Bible in this fresh way, but I have to ask: Why did you not use the TaNaK ordering of the First Testament? I've been wishing someone would publish one for a while.
I fear that your own ordering of the books might be somewhat akin to section headings. I mean that your ordering adds something to the message which is unoriginal. However, the same might be said for the original order.
Posted by: Shannon Caroland at June 22, 2007
Pardon me being blunt, but I wonder if your passion for this is motivated by wanting to sell them?
I do trust IBS and work near your headquarters, I hope for the best for your new bible.
Posted by: Carl Holmes at June 22, 2007
I think this sounds like a great way to present the biblical texts. Not only is it truer to the original context of these works, but it also newly awakens us to the impact of the words.
In terms of add-ons and "bible helps" go, I do think one thing is missing in the average Evangelical's understanding of the Bible: that would be genre awareness.
Understanding the forms and implicit messages/expectations behind various genres helps us to understand the author's intent- and how the original audience would have understood the text.
Without genre awareness we end up with a one-size-fits-all approach that turns the Bible into less, and sometimes more, than it actually is.
Posted by: Darren King at June 23, 2007
It is time that the Bible looked less like a textbook and more like the collection of literary genres it is. It is time that we read the Bible according to the respective forms in which it was written. This upcoming version from the IBS can only aid the Spirit in his efforts to illumine our minds and hearts to the wonderful truths that our God has embedded in the stories and accounts given in his Word.
Posted by: Jesse at June 24, 2007
Hallelujah! Thanks to this new publication, I do not need to personally remove unwanted accretions; a laboriously time-consuming acivity even for shorter pieces of scripture. Once I can afford it, that is ...
However, I think that "Scriptural Texts", "Christian Scriptural Texts", "Texts of the Bible", "Texts of Scripture" or something along these lines would have been a more appropriate title than "Books of the Bible". For example(as I noted in a previous post), referring to epistles, which are in fact letters, as books, can have an adverse effect on the literary integrity/identity of the text being interpreted. I don't know about others but I read something I label a book and something I call a letter very differently. Think about the last time you eavesdropped on a tele-conversation ...
The notion "book" has lingered far too long in reference to scripture, forming unnecessary and possibly less than edifying associations(Evangelical encrustation?)along the way.
Then again, maybe others do not eavesdrop ...
Posted by: Kelvin at June 24, 2007
I think this will be an excellent addition to many people's collection, but I don't think its going to revolutionize Scripture reading. It will be much more difficult for someone to read. A collection of writings so large as the Bible really with subheadings and a chapter/verse structure is an invaluable tool for the average busy individual who has 30 minutes to sit down and read. Also, the use of white space and original author structure could be objectionable. The original structure of many writings are controversial still and so the break-up of the text will be a subjective endeavor.
I still plan on getting this Bible when it comes out. It will, no doubt, be an interesting and fresh perspective in reading Scripture. I do like the idea of white space and natural writing breaks without any editorial additions inserted. I think it will bring a much more personable understanding to the Bible.
Posted by: Miracle at June 25, 2007
Kenneth Wuest in his Bible study commentaries had already begun the same kind of work. I find chapter and verse a way to navigate at times. I find the Message Bible a way to read continuously without "stop" signs, etc. Whatever method will bring people to the Word of God.....so be it.
Posted by: Charlotte Fortier at June 26, 2007
Very interesting approach. I'll also add it to my Christmas list.
I do appreciate the idea of the lack of division, commentary, outline, or whatever. I have studied with too many people who think the additions, etc., are written in stone but not the scripture. Thus, some wild and sometimes destructive conclusions have been voiced which was difinitely not the spirit of author God or the intent of the publishers.
This may not cause a revolution in Bible study but I like the idea of a visual "unity" of scripture.
Posted by: Checkers at June 26, 2007
The ONLY thing I like about chapter/verse is it helps my passion for Bible quizzing! I currently direct two leagues that involve about 150 teens per season (we quiz as part of Bible Quiz Fellowship) But as far as study/preaching/teaching; I look forward to this new edition, and will work thru the groupings as appropriate. I've spoken for about 170 teen weeks over the past three decades, and for the last 7 or 8 years I've been trying to go thru books with the students as opposed to topical etc...simply because of the epidemic of Biblical illiteracy..and, like the Frito potato chip of old, trying to get them to just taste one...and get (correctly) addicted to reading the Word book by book...I look forward to this publication!
Posted by: Jack Hager at June 26, 2007
I'm looking forward to this new edition! Thanks.
Posted by: Alan Rathbun at June 26, 2007
It appears that quite a few people, many who come across as serious Bible readers, are excited about this publication. I consider it a privilege to be in such company. Can I impose on you folks to kindly help me along in something that I have been mulling over for quite a while: If the work of Christ (death and resurrection) that took place around Passover makes reliance on levitical atonement obsolete(Hebrews), does the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost(giving of the Law to Moses on Sinai)do anything of the like to "the letter that kills"(2 Corinthians)?
Of course, I realize that I am prompted to think in this manner because of the significance I attach to the Bible.
Posted by: Kelvin at June 26, 2007
To be honest, the "sectioning" of the Bible has helped me tremendously in my early Christian walk. This "milk" as I call it, has helped me to understand a lot of the Bible. I had a ding-dong of a time separating different story lines and understanding that this new paragraph was the start of a whole new idea, not just a part of the current story, as some of the books of the Bible do. I think there is a place for those footnotes and sections, and verses. I think for the new believer, this is extremely helpful.
But on the other hand, I am really looking forward to this new Bible and having a new understanding of what the Bible is all about.
Posted by: Juli Daniels at June 27, 2007
I'm interested in the details--such as how close the translation and rhythm of the psalms matches the Hebrew poetry. I like the idea of letting the text be by itself on the pages, formatted according to the text instead of according to the page layout and limited space.
I'm interested to know why there is still a division between "First" and "New" testaments, especially since this version seems to encourage a more unified reading of the Scriptures.
I agree with Ms. Caroland that it would have been an ideal opportunity to use the older Tanakh ordering of the Scriptures. There would be something connective and powerful about reading the Scriptures as our Master did, in the order he did.
All that said, it looks like an interesting version that could be useful for long readings, Scripture immersion, and understanding context and flow in a new way.
Posted by: Julia at June 27, 2007
Reading the blogs just strenghtens my understanding that God is all and in all, according to the Person of the Holy Spirit in me as described in the bible I read.
I never met a bible but I have seen the person who handed me a small new testament on my way to war in Vietnam. I also met the person who laid hands on me years later and prayed that I would be healed and I helped the person who was eating out of a dumpster that I fed a meal, who out of his temporary relieved misery placed his hand on my forehead and said " God bless you." in thanksgiving.
That Person has many faces but only one concern... my (our) well being, and it is this concern that I have come to recognize as being handed down to me as a Living Legacy to be passed on effortlessly by all effort.
It would be interesting to ask Paul the Apostle, which book is his favorite. Which book he would choose to read if stranded on an island. He probably would say (my understanding of the Spirit of the Paul I read in the bible) "The one God would supply me with."
Posted by: Richard at June 29, 2007
I have one quibble, but I think it's significant: I think your decision to place Luke and Acts are misguided. Where other books have been split because of length (1 Sam through 2 Kings), or have been ordered out of no regard for their content (the Pauline epistles), Luke and Acts were separated in order to place the gospel of John as the last gospel.
If you have any faith in the efficacy of the scriptures that have guided the church for centuries, you have to trust that God was at work in the construction of the canon. But if you're going to re-order the gospels, you're starting to question the construction of the canon--in which case you have bigger problems than separating Luke from Acts.
Posted by: Nate at June 30, 2007