Getting to Know God’s Word, Part 4

Introduction

In Isaiah 55:8-9, the prophet writes, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

What this means is that God’s thoughts are such that man can never figure out what He is thinking and yet, that’s exactly what the Living Bible is doing. It’s known as a paraphrase of the bible; the gist of what each of the verses are saying. In the process, though, an intentional insert was made for the purpose of Calvinistic doctrine.

Dictionary Definition

PAR’APHRASE, (verb transitive) To explain, interpret or translate with latitude; to unfold the sense of an author with more clearness and particularity than it is expressed in his own words. (1828 Webster’s Dictionary)

Origin and Author

After completing high school in Oregon, Ken Taylor enrolled at Wheaton College, and graduated four years later as a pre-med student. From 1940-43 he attended Dallas Theological Seminary, then returned to the Chicago area and completed his theological studies at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1946. Mr. Taylor was editor for His magazine, became the director of Moody Press, and founded Tyndale House Publishers in 1963.

Ken Taylor began paraphrasing the New Testament Epistles on the train while commuting to Moody Press. The project took seven years to complete. Unable to interest publishers in his Living Letters, Mr. Taylor took out a loan for $2,000 and had his paraphrase printed privately. It was not until Billy Graham recommended Living Letters from the pulpit that they became popular. The success of this first publication resulted in the founding of Tyndale House Publishers, the completion of the Living Bible, and the establishment of the Tyndale Foundation.

The first printing of the entire book was in 1971 and by 1974, they were up to their 38^th printing!

A Bible for Children?!

It was Mr. Taylor’s intention to have his bible be found in the hands of the children as his paraphrasing would make it much easier for kids to read and study. Let’s look at an example from the 1971 edition and see if you’d want your children to study from it…

(NKJV) John 11:49, And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all,

(LB-1971) John 11:49, And one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “You stupid idiots—

How does this encourage a child to become a Christian? Imagine them using this phrase in front of their parents or teacher and say, “It’s all right, I’m quoting scripture!” Naturally, in this day and age, children would get in trouble for just quoting the bible but, back then, name calling is unnecessary.

The Calvinistic Slant

There are many examples I can share but due to limited space in an article, I’ll share just a couple of them. In the previous article on translations, we looked at Ps. 51:5 and that the NIV had changed the verse to say that a child is born a sinner. The living bible does the very same thing, however, let’s look at Ezek. 20:18. As discussed, this verse proves that the child doesn’t inherit the sin of the father or vice versa and, surprisingly the Living Bible agrees!

(NKJV) The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

(LB 1971) The one who sins is the one who dies. The son shall not be punished for his father’s sins, nor the father for his son’s. The righteous person will be rewarded for his own goodness and the wicked person for his wickedness.

As you can see, Living Bible contradicts itself by stating that one is born in sin and then they are not!

The most damning passage in the Living Bible is the intentional insertion found in John 1:11-13…

(NKJV) 11. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13. who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

(LB-1971) 11. Even in his own land and among his own people, the Jews, he was not accepted. 12. Only a few would welcome and receive him. But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them. 13. All those who believe this are reborn!—not a physical rebirth resulting from human passion or plan—but from the will of God.

Look at how much longer the passage is in the Living Bible. The phrase highlighted in red is a blatant insertion by the author to promote salvation by faith only. A preacher friend of mine tried to shake that sentence out of his own bible while I preached this as a sermon. It’s just not possible!

There are other examples that I might share in the near future. If you’re interested in them, I can send you a copy. Let me know in the comments.

New Living Translation

Like other versions of the bible, the Living Bible also has an updated version. The version I have is from 1996 and is approved by the Billy Graham Evangelistic association. There are very little improvements in this version.

Let’s look at our example from above featuring John 11:49…

(LB-1971) And one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “You stupid idiots—

(NLT-1996) And one of them, Caiaphas, who was High Priest that year, said, “How can you be so stupid?

Not much of an improvement if you ask me. However, if you check Bible Gateway for the NLT, you’ll see that they removed ‘stupid’ altogether.

Let’s look at our other example of John 1:11-13…

(LB-1971) 11. Even in his own land and among his own people, the Jews, he was not accepted. 12. Only a few would welcome and receive him. But to all who received him, he gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust him to save them. 13. All those who believe this are reborn!—not a physical rebirth resulting from human passion or plan—but from the will of God.

(LB-1996) 11. Even in his own lang and among his own people, he was not accepted. 12. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave them the right to become children of God. 13. They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God.

This is an improved translation but, as the saying goes, “too little, too late”. Millions were led astray since 1971. Many have gone on to their reward; condemned to an eternity in Hell all because they trusted humans to tell them what the bible really said. A paraphrase version is NOT a translation.

Conclusion

As I’ve said before, most of the translations out there are good ones. You just have to do a little study of them to find which one suits you. Don’t base your judgment on my suggestions but do the work for yourself. Compare the various translations to one another.

But, above all, avoid this paraphrase nightmare because it is the work of the devil. As the apostle Peter wrote, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. (NKJV)