I ran across this news article today. It sounded like a hoax, so I took a look at the publisher's website. From what I could decipher (the website is written in Dutch, so I had to use a translation program), the article below is fairly accurate. And disturbing....
Controversial new Bible cuts out difficult gospel passages
A new Bible translation is causing controversy after it cut out difficult parts surrounding economic justice, possessions and money.
The new Bible version, released by the Western Bible Foundation in the Netherlands, has created a storm by trying to make the Christian gospel more palatable. According to Chairman Mr. De Rijke, the foundation has reacted to a growing wish of many churches to be market-oriented and more attractive. "Jesus was very inspiring for our inner health, but we don't need to take his naïve remarks about money seriously. He didn't study economics, obviously."
According to De Rijke, no serious Christian takes these texts literally. "What if all Christians stopped being anxious, for example, and started expecting everything from God? Or gave their possessions to the poor, for that matter. Our economy would be lost. The truth is quite the contrary: a strong economy and a healthy work ethic is a gift from God." The foundation wanted to "boldly go where no one else has gone before" by cutting out the confusing texts.
“We don't use them anyway! There's no single Christian selling his possessions and giving them to the poor."
Some of the most important passages of the Bible: the Ten Commandments, sections of Isaiah, Proverbs, and the Sermon on the Mount, contain gaping holes where the original translation urged radical actions around money, justice or affluence.
4 comments:
I think that this is a "call to action" (e.i. write letters, make phone calls, and pray.) Just one more person driven to destroy what he doesn't understand. The Bible is complete and the way God intended it the way it is currently.
***"What if all Christians stopped being anxious, for example, and started expecting everything from God? Or gave their possessions to the poor, for that matter. Our economy would be lost. The truth is quite the contrary: a strong economy and a healthy work ethic is a gift from God."*** ......WHAT AN OUTSTANDING TESTIMENT OF FAITH if that were to happen! I believe that God blesses us for our faith and trust in Him.
Maybe no one he knows is selling all their possessions and giving to the poor.....but, hey, we usually run in circles of like-minded people.
This seems a little too blatant. I wonder if this is not publicized for the paradoxical effect of getting people to become more aware of how much Scripture has to say regarding the poor. In other words, this might be nothing more than a drastic attempt to get folks to pay more attention to issues of poverty and affluence. The line: "We don't use them anyway," seems to betray the deeper motive.
Just my morning thought.
Jason:
Yeah, that thought went through my mind also. One of those "lets see how outrageous we can be" kind of things that folks try to just get things stirred up. That's why my first thought was 'this has to be a hoax.'
You'd think the threat to marriage, killing our children, etc. would be a hoax as well. But satan is activly seeking to devour us and to undermind all that is good.
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