“AFTER JESUS Christ was baptised by John the Baptist, he saw “the Spirit descending upon him like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, ‘Thou art my beloved Son; with thee I am well pleased’.” (Mark 1:10-11, Revised Standard Version).
Compare that with this new translation: “A pigeon flew down and perched on him. Jesus took this as a sign that God’s Spirit was with him. A voice from overhead was heard saying, ‘That’s my boy’!” There are many such chatty or doctrinally denuded passages in Good as New: A Radical Retelling of the Scriptures, an exceedingly loose New Testament paraphrase by Britain’s John Henson, a fundamentalist-hating Baptist.
Should we call it the Boy Bible, or the Pigeon Bible? Good as New is the wildest, wackiest and possibly worst of those trendy attempts to update Holy Writ. Billed as “women, gay and sinner-friendly,” it has stirred up a minor ruckus in Canada and Britain, but less chatter in the United States. ‘…’
“…Call it arrogance or deception, but Henson freely changes what the Bible itself says. The Apostle Paul taught that “each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband” and that if unmarried singles or widows “cannot exercise self-control, they should marry. For it is better to marry than to be aflame with passion” (1 Corinthians 7:2,9).
Henson’s version: “My advice is for everyone to have a regular partner. … If you know you have strong needs, get yourself a partner. Better than being frustrated!” Likewise, Henson has Jesus re-writing the Ten Commandments: “Don’t take away someone else’s partner” (Matthew 5:27). In 2004, this clearly implies approval for unwed heterosexual and homosexual couples, possibly including temporary live-ins. Henson simply chops out things he doesn’t like.”
Richard N. Ostling, AP Religion Writer
Analysis:
This Bible paraphrase will no doubt be embraced by radical feminists, homosexuals and liberal theologians, and has actually been endorsed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the leader of the Anglican Church.
It constitutes yet another example of men attempting to remake God in their own image. “Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man; and birds, and four-footed animals and creeping things” (Romans 1:22-23).
So long as men desire their own way, rather than God’s, and refuse to submit to Him, such outrageous and sinful behavior will continue.
As Christians we should be careful to recognize such attempts for what they are, and keep ourselves pure from such defilements.
