The scholars would debate their opinions, informally vote on the best wording, and the editorial board would decide the final translation. Every book of the New Living Translation was reviewed by three or four people, then rated in the areas of accuracy and clarity. Bergen and the other translators worked independently to correct the Living Bible or produce new translations, then worked together to produce a joint translation. The purpose of the New Living Translation (NLT) was to make a translation that is accurate with the original languages, yet lively and dynamic. Taylor, the original author of the Living Bible, approved this decision, and plans were made for Tyndale Publishing House to print the New Living Translation. However, as the 100 scholars began to work, the decision was made to complete an entirely new translation. According to Bergen, the project began with the purpose of merely correcting parts of the Living Bible. In 1989, ninety evangelical scholars from various theological backgrounds and denominations were commissioned to revise the Living Bible. The origin of the version is described in a press release from Hannibal-LaGrange College, where one of the version's "reviewers," Robert Bergen, serves on the faculty: It was designed to improve the accuracy of Taylor's paraphrase. The New Living Translation is an extensive revision of Ken Taylor's Living Bible (published by Tyndale House in 1971). Norton, ed., Holy Bible, New Living Translation. Titus 2:13 – “looking forward to that wonderful time we have been expecting, when his glory shall be seen – the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.The New Living Translation - A Critical Review Bible Research > English Versions > 20th Century > New Living Translation Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it.” And even trusting is not of yourselves it too is a gift from God. John 8:58 – “Jesus: ‘The absolute truth is that I was in existence before Abraham was ever born!’”Įphesians 2:8-9 – “ Because of his kindness, you have been saved through trusting Christ.
John 3:16 – “For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” And some of us have seen his glory – the glory of the only Son of the heavenly Father.”
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And Christ became a human being and lived here on earth among us and was full of loving forgiveness and truth. He has always been alive and is himself God. John 1:1-2, 14 – “Before anything else existed, there was Christ, with God. There is nothing inherently wrong with a paraphrase, as long as users of the paraphrase understand exactly what it is - not a Bible translation, but rather an interpretation/commentary on what the Bible says. The primary problem of any paraphrase of the Bible is that it inputs far too much of a person’s opinion of what the Bible says, instead of simply stating what the Bible says. Rather, his goal was to put the basic message of the Bible into modern language that could readily be understood by the typical reader without a theological or linguistic background.Īs with any paraphrase, putting the Bible "in your own words" runs the risk of enabling your own biases, thoughts, and preferences to influence what the Bible says. Taylor never intended for his paraphrase to be used as the reader’s only source of biblical knowledge, or as the primary text for scholars. Paraphrasing is essentially rewording the text with the intention of making it clearer and more easily understood. While direct translation involves using a thought-for-thought or a word-for-word recreation of the text from original Greek and Hebrew manuscripts, paraphrasing uses the “in other words” method of restating a previously translated manuscript, in this case the American Standard Version of 1901. Taylor employed the method of paraphrasing to create The Living Bible. It was published in 1996 as the Holy Bible: New Living Translation.ĭr.
After many years of work, the result was an entirely new translation of the Bible.
In the late 1980s, Taylor and his colleagues at Tyndale House Publishers invited a team of 90 Greek and Hebrew scholars to participate in a project of revising the text of The Living Bible. By 1997, 40 million copies of The Living Bible had been sold. The Living Bible was very popular in the 1970s and was, in fact, the best-selling book in America in 19. (See Translation Method.) In 1962, Living Letters, Taylor’s paraphrase of the epistles, became available. The Living Bible is not a translation of the Bible it is a paraphrase. Taylor, the founder of Tyndale House, a major Christian publishing company.
First published in 1971, The Living Bible (TLB) is a version of the Bible created by Kenneth N.