Category: Bible Translation

by Dr. Daniel Block, NLT Bible Translation Committee and Gunther H. Knoedler Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, College

I will never forget the meeting at the airport hotel in the late 1980s. With the encouragement and blessing of Kenneth Taylor ’38, Litt.D. ’65, I and five other biblical scholars were there to discuss a revision of The Living Bible. Ken had produced this work, a paraphrase of the American Standard Version, specifically to communicate biblical truth to his children. We all know what happened. The Living Bible became much more than an aid for promoting spiritual growth in one family in Wheaton, Illinois. With Ken’s determination to cast the Scriptures in language and forms that people actually speak and understand, it broke down barriers between the sacred text and modern readers.

Ken Taylor was sharply criticized, and in many circles The Living Bible was viewed as a sinister project that not only represented idiosyncratic interpretations of one individual, but with its loose renderings of treasured texts also undermined the authority of the Scriptures. For his part, Ken felt that scholars often were more interested in preserving formal equivalence in translation than actually communicating the Scripture’s life-giving message. Nevertheless, Ken authorized the leaders in his company, Tyndale House Publishers, to engage evangelical biblical scholars to address the problems the critics had raised.

We spent that first weekend asking each other what it was about The Living Bible that gripped the imagination of millions of people in the English-speaking world, and exploring how that quality could be preserved even as we addressed the problems that many—especially biblical scholars—had with Ken Taylor’s work. The decision was made to appoint a Bible Translation Committee (BTC) that included six biblical scholars (general reviewers) to lead the project. In addition, three scholars would assist in drafting a base translation of one or more books for the BTC to discuss and approve. Unlike the original Living Bible, which was a paraphrase, this New Living Translation (NLT) would be a true translation, based off the original Hebrew and Greek. Since all translation involves interpretation, however, sometimes we on the committee would disagree on how a passage was rendered; but after a discussion a vote would be called, and in the end the majority ruled.

Although the translation philosophy underlying the NLT is generally classified as a dynamic equivalence theory, for us the question was more practical: If this biblical book were written today, how would the author have written it? The question applies both to vocabulary and syntax. Formal translations (“word for word”) are not necessarily more accurate, because few words in any source language have the same semantic range as the words in the target language. Jesus’ quotation of Deuteronomy 6:5 demonstrates that the Savior himself had adopted NLT’s translation theory:

How could Jesus render a statement that had three critical elements in the Hebrew original with four Greek words? The answer is obvious when we realize that Hebrew leb cannot be fully represented with a single word “heart.” In almost half the occurrences in the Old Testament, the word represents primarily the seat of thought, rather than the seat of the will or emotion. Therefore to represent it with only one word in the target language is to skew the meaning, which apparently led Jesus to add “with all your mind” at the end. Here a word for word translation would have been lexically precise, but inaccurate in meaning.

The first edition of the NLT was formally celebrated in 1996, and a thoroughly reworked version was published in 2004. More than 27 million copies of the NLT have been sold over the past sixteen years. As a participant in this project almost from the beginning, I must say there is no greater honor than to be involved in the communication of the Word of God, and there is no greater blessing than to hear the stories of those for whom the Scriptures have come to life, and actually for whom the Scriptures have brought them to new life in Christ Jesus.

This article was originally published in the winter 2013 issue of Wheaton magazine, a publication of Wheaton College (IL). www.wheaton.edu/magazine

Note from the Christian Basics Bible

“These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life. Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you. Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:1-5, NLT

With Israel about to enter Canaan, with its many religions and various gods and idols, Moses needed to underline that there was only one true God: “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

In declaring the uniqueness of Israel’s God, Moses was affirming what the Bible says from the beginning. “In the beginning God . . .”—not a god, or the gods, but God. This belief in one God lay at the heart of Israelite faith—though sometimes they would forget that and so would be challenged by the prophets (e.g., 1 Kings 18:16-18; 2 Kings 17:7-20).

In light of this affirmation of the uniqueness of God, Israel was called, first, to have no other gods (Deuteronomy 5:6-7) and not to make any idols that might lead them astray (4:15-19; 5:8-10), and second, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength” (6:5). Why? Because if there were no other gods, they need not keep anything in reserve to offer to them. Why? They simply do not exist.

Jesus himself said that this commandment, to love the one God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, was the greatest of all the commandments, and that it, along with the commandment to love our neighbor as ourselves, was the basis of God’s entire law (Matthew 22:37-40).

Look inside the Christian Basics Bible

by Paul Caminiti, Institute for Bible Reading

Angola Prison, nicknamed “The Alcatraz of the South,” is one of the world’s most notorious prisons. Located outside Baton Rouge, LA, it’s the largest maximum-security prison in the country, with the property bigger in area than Manhattan. It began in the mid-1880s as a slave plantation, named “Angola” after the African country from which most of the slaves came.

When Angola was converted to a state prison in 1901, the inhumane practices from the slave plantation carried over. Convicts were frequently abused, underfed, and subjected to unregulated violence. Prisoners were often worked to death under the harsh conditions.

I was recently invited to Angola to present Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience to the 28 Protestant churches that operate inside the prison. Thanks to a partnership with New Orleans Baptist Seminary, there is a seminary program within the prison that has trained and ordained over 100 prisoner-pastors.

Our relationship with Pastor Jim Cymbala at The Brooklyn Tabernacle (BT) opened the door at Angola. (Hear what Pastor Cymbala has to say about Immerse.) After Immerse was successfully launched to 5,000 people at BT, Pastor Cymbala caught a vision for Immerse in Angola. BT has a long partnership with Angola, with groups traveling there every year to visit the prison hospital and minister to the men on death row.

Louisiana has one of the strictest penal codes in the country. Nine out of ten prisoners will die there, either by execution or by natural death. Many of the men I met committed crimes when they were teenagers and will never taste freedom again.

There is a long history of violence and abuse at Angola. I talked to men who told me how before going to bed, they would stuff magazines under their T-shirts and into their shorts to keep from being stabbed to death in their sleep.

We toured a housing unit referred to as “Red Hat,” named after the red paint-coated straw hats that its occupants wore when they worked in the fields. The building, located next door to the execution chamber and electric chair, consisted of 30 cell blocks. Each cell measured 5 feet by 7 feet, with a cement bunk and no mattress. Dinner was served in stinking buckets splashed onto the floors. During times of overcrowding, fifteen prisoners, often naked, were pressed into a single cell. Red Hat officially closed in 1972.

In 1995, a work of redemption began with a new warden, Burl Cain. Cain adopted the posture that if you treat people like animals, they’ll act like animals. He built several dormitory-like units where inmates could move for good behavior. He started a rodeo where prisoners could become cowboys for a day and where artistically-gifted inmates could sell their creations to the 10,000 spectators who come for the rodeo. It was Warden Cain who invited New Orleans Baptist Seminary into the prison.

The presence of Christ’s church in Angola has been palpable. The most violent prison in America went from 1,387 assaults in 1990 to 371 assaults in 2012.

Immerse immediately captured the imagination of lead chaplain Jim Rentz. A Bible in the New Living Translation that was easier to read, with no chapters and verses and with the books in a better historical order. He also liked that Immerse is more of a book club than a Bible study.

Chaplain Rentz told me there’s lots of good preaching in the churches, but structurally it’s always been very top-down. Immerse provides what’s been missing: the invitation for the inmates to simply read and dialogue together. Another chaplain, Liz McGraw, is excited. “The churches have been pretty siloed,” she told me, “but Immerse offers us the opportunity to come together as one, all different denominations, to read God’s Word!”

But how would the pastors react? I was able to present and explain Immerse to them for about 90 minutes. During my presentation I sensed they were tracking with me, but then came the moment of truth. With some trepidation I asked for a show of hands: “Who is interested in taking this to their church?” Without hesitation, all 28 hands shot up. We’re all in.

Later that night, to a packed house, I shared the Immerse vision with a larger group of 400-500. The meeting ended, and I was swarmed with inmates who were full of questions, wanting to know when the Bibles would arrive. There were tears. The hope of the gospel and the power of the Scriptures has shone a light into the darkness at Angola.

This year, all 28 Angola churches are reading the New Testament together with Immerse: Messiah.

This is a powerful story in the making, but it needs your prayers. Already we’re seeing the domino effect. A large state prison in Michigan, upon hearing about Angola, has launched Immerse to 300 inmates.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” ~ The prophet Isaiah

Learn more about Immerse

Learn more about the Institute for Bible Reading

Taken from the HelpFinder Bible

If you’ve ever spent two hours stuck in traffic or held a crying baby at 2:00 a.m., you know something about patience. According to the Bible, patience is a form of perseverance that allows us to respond to frustrating circumstances with grace and self-control. Contrary to popular opinion, patience is not merely a personality trait but instead is a byproduct of the Holy Spirit’s presence and work. Let’s see what the Bible has to say about growing in patience.

How can I grow in patience?

• JAMES 5:7 | Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen.
Whether you’re waiting for crops to ripen, a traffic jam to unsnarl, a child to mature, or God to perfect you, you can grow in patience by recognizing that these things take time and there is only so much you can do to speed them up. A key to understanding God’s will is to understand God’s timing.

• EXODUS 5:22 | Then Moses went back to the Lord and protested, “. . . Why did you send me?”
Focusing less on your agenda and more on God’s agenda for you will provide a big picture perspective and help you be more patient.

• PSALM 40:1 | I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.
Prayer is a necessary tool in developing your patience and giving you God’s perspective on your situation.

• HABAKKUK 2:3 | “If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed.”
Patience can actually give you an attitude of anticipation for each new day. If God is going to do what is best for you, then his plan for you will be accomplished on his schedule, not yours. Keeping that in mind, you can actually become excited about waiting for him to act, anticipating what good thing he will work in your life that is just right for you at the present time.

• GALATIANS 5:22 | But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience.
The more you let the Holy Spirit fill and inspire you, the more patient you will become. All fruit takes time to grow and mature, including the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

• 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4 | Love is patient and kind.
Patience is one of the evidences of love.

• ROMANS 8:25 | But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.
Patience is produced by the hope a believer has in God’s plans, especially his eternal plans. When your long-range future is totally secure, you can be more patient with today’s frustrations.

• 2 TIMOTHY 2:24 | A servant of the Lord must not quarrel but must be kind to everyone, be able to teach, and be patient with difficult people.
God develops patience in you through your relationship with others. Abrasive relationships teach you to patiently endure. Even in loving relationships patience is necessary.

• ROMANS 5:3-4 | We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.
God uses life’s circumstances to develop your patience. You can’t always choose the circumstances that come your way, but you can choose how you will respond to them.

by Jim Jewell, NLT Communications Director

Bible reading is showing an enormous uptick in the most unlikely of places: prisons.

To keep their minds sharp and their hearts encouraged, many prisoners turn to reading, but reading materials are often in high demand and low supply, especially personal Bibles.

According to a recent survey of prison chaplains conducted by Prison Fellowship, most prisoners do not have easy access to individual Bibles.

To help meet this need, Tyndale House Publishers has partnered with Prison Fellowship to offer free Inside Journal NLT Life Recovery Bibles to prisoners who request them by mail. Inside Journal^® is Prison Fellowship’s quarterly newspaper for men and women behind bars.

Since the release of the special edition prison editions of the Life Recovery Bible in July 2018, more than 10,000 copies have been provided to prisoners across the country.

Offered in English and Spanish, the Bibles are easy to read and understand. Each Bible includes supplemental content that’s relevant to prisoners. The large-print format is invaluable to the aging prison population, and in cases where cell lighting is poor.

Over the years, Inside Journal has received numerous letters from men and women behind bars longing to receive their own Bible. Here are a few examples:

 “I was really wondering if you could please send one [Inside Journal Bible] to me please. I have no one to send me any Bible or mail, and I would really appreciate it. I used to be a drug addict, and I think the recovery Bible will help with my new journey with the Lord.” —Michael, Florida

“I had my own Bible, but I got transferred [to a different prison] and I wasn’t allowed to bring my belongings along with me. … I miss my Bible that kept me busy, kept me learning, and how to forgive and love. I never read the Bible until I came to prison this third time around, and what I can say is what a learning experience it is.” —Wilson, Pennsylvania

“Hello brothers, God bless you. My name is Abraham and I’m in prison. I first met God here in the prison, and so I believe God has a purpose for me in this place, and I’m glad I came. I would like [an Inside Journal Bible] please. Because right now I do not have [a Bible]. Thank you so much, and may God bless you.” —Abraham, Florida

 “I had my own Bible, but I got transferred [to a different prison] and I wasn’t allowed to bring my belongings along with me … I miss my Bible that kept me busy, kept me learning, and how to forgive and love.”

###

Since its founding in 1962, Tyndale House Publishers has been a voice to trust for generations of readers. Today, Tyndale is one of the largest independent publishers in the world. Tyndale’s mission is to make the Bible accessible to as many people as possible in language that they can relate and respond to. Tyndale publishes the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT) and offers nonfiction books that equip readers with Christ-centered insight, counsel, and life-improving stories. In addition, Tyndale publishes fiction from fresh, new voices and celebrated authors alike, capturing the imagination of millions of readers. With a deep understanding of the importance of nurturing future generations, Tyndale also publishes children’s products that make God’s Word and wisdom come alive.

Prison Fellowship® is the nation’s largest Christian nonprofit serving prisoners, former prisoners, and their families, and a leading advocate for criminal justice reform. The organization was founded in 1976 by Charles Colson, a former aide to President Nixon who served a seven-month sentence for a Watergate-related crime. Today, Prison Fellowship brings restoration to those affected by crime and incarceration nationwide by facilitating prisoners’ transformation, supporting prisoners’ families and returning citizens, and advocating for a criminal justice system that reflects the God-given dignity and potential of each life. Through an awakening to new hope and life purpose, those who once broke the law are transformed and mobilized to serve their community, replacing the cycle of crime with a cycle of renewal.

Taken from the Africa Study Bible

A Swahili proverb says, Muvumbo wa kañonyi ye witubula
kajo ko aja, meaning, “The beak of the bird is what tells us
the things it eats.” In other words, the kind of person that you
are is shown by your words.

Psalm 77 is a typical psalm of lament. The writer is in
deep trouble and crying out to God. Like a bird’s beak, the
psalmist’s own words describe him as crying out and shouting
(Psalm 77:1), troubled (Psalm 77:2), moaning (Psalm 77:3),
searching for God (Psalm 77:2), longing for help (Psalm 77:3),
and so distressed he cannot pray or sleep (Psalm 77:4). Some
Christians think that showing these kinds of emotions is a lack
of faith, that a person of deep faith only expresses positive
emotions like joy and peace. Some people teach that the
emotional words found in this psalm show that a person is
spiritually weak and does not trust God. But the psalms of
lament teach us something different. The very fact that over
one-third of all the Psalms are laments or complaints shows
us that God is ready to hear our cry. He chose to include an
important number of these kinds of prayers in his holy Word
so we could learn how to express our distress.

Lament psalms follow a pattern with certain characteristics,
some of which can be seen in Psalm 77. Four of the main
parts are calling out to God and asking for help (Psalm 77:1-
3), expressing the lament (Psalm 77:4-10), then choosing to
remember how God acted in the past, and then praising him
on that basis (Psalm 77:11-20).

Verses 10 and 11 are the turning point of the psalm. The
writer was so discouraged that he wondered if God had turned
against him, but then he chose to start thinking about all the
wonderful things God did in the past and it changed his outlook.

God does not ask his children to pretend to be something
they are not or to be dishonest about their struggles.
He encourages us to tell the truth about our distress and
trouble, to give voice to our doubts and fears. But we should
not stop there. We must go on to remember with praise and
thanksgiving all the ways God has proved himself in the past.
Those memories and offering praise for God’s great deeds give
us hope for the future. Let our words show that we are weak
and struggling people who choose to trust in a powerful and
faithful God, even when all seems dark around us!

Read Psalm 77

I cry out to God; yes, I shout.

Oh, that God would listen to me!

When I was in deep trouble,

I searched for the Lord.

All night long I prayed, with hands lifted toward heaven,

but my soul was not comforted.

I think of God, and I moan,

overwhelmed with longing for his help.

Interlude

You don’t let me sleep.

I am too distressed even to pray!

I think of the good old days,

long since ended,

when my nights were filled with joyful songs.

I search my soul and ponder the difference now.

Has the Lord rejected me forever?

Will he never again be kind to me?

Is his unfailing love gone forever?

Have his promises permanently failed?

Has God forgotten to be gracious?

Has he slammed the door on his compassion?

Interlude

And I said, “This is my fate;

the Most High has turned his hand against me.”

But then I recall all you have done, O Lord;

I remember your wonderful deeds of long ago.

They are constantly in my thoughts.

I cannot stop thinking about your mighty works.

O God, your ways are holy.

Is there any god as mighty as you?

You are the God of great wonders!

You demonstrate your awesome power among the nations.

By your strong arm, you redeemed your people,

the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

Interlude

When the Red Sea*  saw you, O God,

its waters looked and trembled!

The sea quaked to its very depths.

The clouds poured down rain;

the thunder rumbled in the sky.

Your arrows of lightning flashed.

Your thunder roared from the whirlwind;

the lightning lit up the world!

The earth trembled and shook.

Your road led through the sea,

your pathway through the mighty waters—

a pathway no one knew was there!

You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep,

with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.

Learn more about the Africa Study Bible

Glenn Paauw, Institute for Bible Reading

Many adults are struggling to read the Bible. We know this. At some level it’s understandable because the Bible is a big, complicated, and very ancient book. Yet the Bible is where Christianity gets its story, so the faith community needs to be deeply committed to knowing it well regardless of the challenges.

If adults are struggling, what should we expect from kids? If the Bible is tough going for the grownups, it’s going to be even tougher for young readers, right?

In a word . . . yes. But maybe it’s time to look at how we’ve been trying to introduce kids to the Bible. What, exactly, has been our goal? What’s the right expectation for kids reading, knowing, and understanding the Bible? And what would the path to solid Bible fluency look like for kids?

Where We’ve Been

Simply from looking at our standard Bible curricula, it would seem that what’s actually happening is that we have other goals besides fluency (spiritual formation, teaching morals, building faith, etc.) that cause us to use the Bible in certain ways. The intended purpose is not often to foster a deep engagement with Scripture itself. As a result, within any given lesson the Bible is encountered merely as either a theme verse or two, or a safely paraphrased version of a “Bible story.”

Perhaps this approach is seen as a good and necessary adaptation of the Bible for readers who are young and not yet proficient. That makes sense, right? Well. . .

The problem with giving children only a verse or two is that this approach tends to stick around as readers get older. Even into adulthood we continue to show and teach the Scriptures by referring to select Bible verses. The consequence of this is that many people persist in thinking the Bible is in fact a collection of these verses (and if they are honest, admitting that some verses are better than others).

And the problem with an ongoing diet of paraphrased Bible stories is that such narrations are not actually the Bible. They are typically told with any age-inappropriate elements toned down or taken out. And of course, any paraphrase represents someone’s interpretation of the essence of a particular story.

All of this is appropriate in a sense, but there’s also a danger here. Many of these “safe” versions of the stories are never replaced with the actual biblical texts as kids turn into teenagers and then young adults. This means that young readers often wind up not learning the way biblical language actually sounds and actually works. And older kids never learn to engage with the stronger, stranger, more complex versions of these stories that the Bible actually tells.

When do we get around to teaching young adults how to handle the real Bible?

Furthermore, these collections of paraphrased stories are often treated as stand-alone lessons, so kids don’t ever learn how the stories are connected and how they build on each other to tell the bigger biblical narrative. And rarely are different kinds of literary writings acknowledged. A curriculum constructed of “Bible stories” will naturally have difficulty incorporating letters, songs, wisdom sayings, and other literary varieties in Scripture.

So are we discipling kids into not being Bible readers?

What would the average child take away from their long-term experience with the Bible in our current teaching approach? Have they taken the first steps toward receiving the Bible on its own terms? Or have they been taught to use the Bible in simplistic and misleading ways?

I’m reminded of a conversation we had with a prominent publisher of children’s Sunday School resources and Bible curricula. After reviewing their programs and comparing them with our perspective on Bible engagement, one of their executives, deep in thought, looked up and said, “So you’re telling me that if our programs are successful, we are actually producing generations of non–Bible readers.”

Are kids growing up learning that the Bible is a book to be read? Do kids have any inkling of the big story? Are they falling in love with Jesus—that is, with Jesus as understood in the context of the overall narrative?

What To Do?

At the Institute for Bible Reading, we’re working on answers to these reading problems. As young people within the church grow up, graduate, and head out on their own in various ways, a healthy and hearty appetite for Bible reading doesn’t seem to be going with them. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, that there is a low number of adults in the church who are engaged in Bible reading and comprehension. People are following the path that’s been laid out for them, and then we scramble to convert adults into Bible readers. We are failing to show them the way in the first place.

So what would change look like?

The downward trajectory of Bible engagement in the church needs to be reversed if we are to fully receive the profound gift that we have in God’s Word. A Bibleless Christianity won’t be a vibrant and affective Christianity.

Let’s chart a course for a new future for kids and the Bible, so that kids know the Bible the right way at the right age and stage, and appropriately grow into the Bible. We want kids who not only love the Bible but also learn how to read it intelligently and well, so they don’t turn away from it the first time they encounter its opponents.

Read more about Bible engagement from the Institute for Bible Reading

Learn more about Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience

Hear what happens when a group of high school students read the New Testament

Throughout the Beyond Suffering Bible Joni Eareckson Tada shares personal insights on how God can use anything, even suffering, to bring us closer to him and display his glory. When our lives don’t go the way we want, when the suffering and pain seem too much to bear we have a choice, we can either rely on God or let bitterness consume us. Read what Joni has to say about a time when God brought her face-to-face with her own tendency to hold on to bitterness.

By Joni Eareckson Tada

Troubles. Hardships. Calamities. Ever heard that old adage, “Bad things come in threes”? It’s only folk wisdom, but somehow it seems true.

Bitterness was a temptation for me in the early days of my paralysis. Deep inside I knew it was wrong, but I justified myself by saying, “Surely God won’t mind if I let off a little steam now and then. After all, I am paralyzed!” But as many of us have learned, indulging in bitterness leads us down a path to even more despair and bitterness.

As if that trouble wasn’t enough, God added a second hardship. Several months into my hospital stay, I had an operation on my lower spine. After the surgery, I was forced to life face down for fifteen days while the stiches healed. “I am sick and tired of this,” I complained out loud.

Then, the third distress came: I caught the flu. Suddenly, not being able to move was peanuts compared to not being able to breathe. I was miserable! But as I thought about it, I understood what God was doing. No longer was my bitterness a tiny trickle; it was a raging torrent that could not be ignored. It was as if God was holding my anger up before my face and saying lovingly but firmly, “Stop turning your head and looking the other way. This bitterness has got to go. What are you going to do about it?”

The pressure had gotten so strong that I was either going to give the situation over to him completely or allow myself to wallow in bitterness. Faced with that ultimatum, I was able to clearly see what a wicked course bitterness would be. Sometimes troubles, hardships, and distresses—in groups of three (or more!)—back us into a corner and force us to seriously consider the lordship of Christ.

Lord, when troubles pile on, may I look to you for help and hope.

Looks Inside the Beyond Suffering Bible

WAY-FM’s World’s Biggest Small Group recently did a study on where God is in suffering. They used the Beyond Suffering Bible to explore how to connect the goodness of God with the pain and suffering we see in this world.

Having been a quadriplegic for fifty years after a tragic diving accident, suffering from chronic pain, and battling breast cancer, Joni understands the why question. But it wasn’t until she stopped asking why with a clenched fist and started asking why with a searching heart that she found hope.

In this study she shares the 10 words that changed her life and motivated her to bring God’s infinite hope to a hurting world. Hear her share her heart.

Learn more about the Beyond Suffering Bible study on WAY Nation

Look inside the Beyond Suffering Bible

by Glenn Paauw, Institute for Bible Reading

Reading the Bible well doesn’t happen automatically. There are steps we must take to ensure we’re receiving the Bible on its own terms.

We read a well-translated Bible, and we read it holistically. We read complete literary units. If at all possible, we read in a nice, clean, elegant Reader’s Bible. They’re built to make reading easier and better, so no surprise there. But wait. Who is reading? We are. We are reading.

Really? We? Yes.

Why?

Because, first, research shows that most of us are not really reading the Bible very much. And second, when we do read it, it’s not really we who are reading. It’s more like me or you. In other words, those who are doing something with the Bible are overwhelmingly doing it alone.

The fact is, we’ve largely privatized our experiences with the Bible. We hold up the “daily quiet time” as the center of what we’re supposed to do with the Bible. We’ve created a culture in which an individual Bible experience is at the heart of what a serious Bible reader does.

Alone with a Bible, I have my private time with God.

Which is fine.

Of course, none of this is a problem as far as it goes. It’s great to read your Bible alone. Lots of very good things can and do happen.

But not all the good things that God intended. Two historical points are really important here. First, when the Scriptures were first experienced by God’s people, they were always experienced in community. There were very few copies, so a village in ancient Israel or one of the earliest Christian gatherings would at most have a copy of some of the books that now make up the Bible. As such, these Bible portions would be read aloud for the community, and people would simply listen.

Now, they could listen well and remember what they heard because they lived in an oral culture, a far cry from our context, in which written materials are so readily available. The historical evidence also shows that these listening experiences were interactive, not merely one-way communication. Everyone (including the leaders) was processing the sacred words together.

Secondly, and just as importantly, the original audience knew that the Bible itself was a community-formation book, not a private me-and-God book. The word you in the Bible is most often a plural word, not singular. God’s Word is addressed to the gathered people of God and is intended to speak to them in their corporate beliefs and actions. As a group, they were being invited to get caught up in God’s great restoration movement.

We’ve moved away from this ancient, oral, community-based culture in lots of ways. In fact, it is worth noting that the Bible first became widely available to individuals in their own language right at the same time that modern individualism was growing as a cultural force. We live and move and have our being in this individualism. It is the air we breathe. Without even thinking about it, we think and act in independent, self-oriented ways.

So for us, recovering a deep, transformative engagement with the Scriptures has to include rediscovering ways of experiencing the Bible together. And this means more than doing a Bible study together. We must back up a step and find new ways of simply reading the Bible together, listening to it being read and letting the words wash over us.

Then we must craft new ways of interacting openly and honestly with what we’ve read or heard. We must learn the humility to speak our own views respectfully and well, and then listen closely and seriously to what others have to say.

This communal engagement will look more like a book club than a traditional Bible study.

Finally, we need to think about the communal implications of a passage, not just the personal impact for ourselves as isolated individuals. Our Bible reading must explicitly raise community-based questions. What kind of community will embody this teaching or instruction? How can we become that kind of community?

Bringing community-based engagement back to our Bible reading won’t happen unless we are intentional about making it happen. The Institute for Bible Reading has created a whole-church-based Bible reading program called Immerse precisely for this reason.

We don’t see, hear, experience, or know enough to experience the Bible sola me. We are too small to try to read this grand story only by ourselves. Together, we are the people of God’s new creation, and we need each other—even in our Bible reading, understanding, and, yes, living.

Learn more about Immerse: The Bible Reading Experience

Read more from Glenn on how to receive the Bible on its own terms.