In my morning Bible study times, I’ve been reading through a contemporary-language version of the Bible called “The Message.” At first, I enjoyed the change of pace; after all, one of my soapbox issues is that the Bible in its original form was very much for the common man, and we Christians have done a pretty good job of mucking it up since then to make it inaccessible and stuffy. So it was good at first to read familiar Bible stories in language more consistent with the original cadence.
But lately, I’ve been longing for the stuffier versions. For in extracting out all religious words, “The Message” has taken away phrases that hold special significance for me, phrases that ring with passion and poetry. Take this verse from the second chapter of the book of Acts, which I read this morning (New American Standard Version): “And God raised Jesus up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” In “The Message,” it reads: “But God untied the death ropes and raised Jesus up. Death was no match for him.”
Give me the stuffier version on this one. And however you say it, how wonderful a reality – that in Jesus Christ, God has conquered death, and that someday, so will we.
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