Changing guard
Yesterday, Peter Bradley, president of the International Bible Society, announced plans to retire -- eventually. He'll hang around for as long as the IBS needs him. For my money, he's heading one of the region's most fascinating religious groups.
IBS's goal, created under Bradley, is to get Bibles into the hands of 2 billion people by 2008. When it comes to seeing that mission through, IBS has been pretty darn creative -- and sometimes controversial. Several years ago, IBS was behind a controversial translation of the Bible called Today's New International Version. IBS said it represented the best biblical scholarship available, but that didn't stop some conservative Christians from blasting the new Bible -- sometimes with a shotgun.
Now, the IBS is producing a new Bible without chapters and verses and rearranging the order of some of the texts -- again, a move that will likely make some Christians uncomfortable. And let's not forget that IBS was also behind the Cityreachers Bible -- cheap, city-centric Bibles delivered through a city's daily newspaper, like advertising flyers or shampoo samples. IBS used The Gazette for its Cityreachers program in December, 2004.
Bradley wasn't afraid to take risks. It'll be interesting to see if IBS remains one of the evangelical movement's most active risk-takers.
IBS's goal, created under Bradley, is to get Bibles into the hands of 2 billion people by 2008. When it comes to seeing that mission through, IBS has been pretty darn creative -- and sometimes controversial. Several years ago, IBS was behind a controversial translation of the Bible called Today's New International Version. IBS said it represented the best biblical scholarship available, but that didn't stop some conservative Christians from blasting the new Bible -- sometimes with a shotgun.
Now, the IBS is producing a new Bible without chapters and verses and rearranging the order of some of the texts -- again, a move that will likely make some Christians uncomfortable. And let's not forget that IBS was also behind the Cityreachers Bible -- cheap, city-centric Bibles delivered through a city's daily newspaper, like advertising flyers or shampoo samples. IBS used The Gazette for its Cityreachers program in December, 2004.
Bradley wasn't afraid to take risks. It'll be interesting to see if IBS remains one of the evangelical movement's most active risk-takers.
posted by Paul Asay | 9:37 AM
1 Comments:
I'm actually very excited to take a peek at the new chapterless Bible. It would be a good change to put chapter beginnings where they actually belong contextually. And the books in chronological order would be incredibly helpful. Especially if they put the proper Psalms in order when they were written.
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