Controversial new Bible cuts out difficult passages |
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Press release
The recently established Western Bible Foundation in the Netherlands has created a controversy with a new Bible translation. Their mission: to make the gospel easier and more attractive. Their method: literally cutting out all outdated and much too difficult texts about money, possessions and justice.
According to Chairman Mr. De Rijke the foundation reacts on a growing wish of 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 economy, 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 wants to “boldly go where no one else has gone before”: cutting out the confusing texts. “We don't use them anyway! There's no single Christian selling his possessions and giving it to the poor.” The Western Bible is published – in Dutch only, unfortunately – by the well-known Christian publisher Buijten & Schipperheijn, containing some of the most important chapters of the Bible: the Ten Commandments, a part of Isaiah, a part of Proverbs, the Sermon on the Mount, and the Last Judgement. All these chapters contain holes where the original translation contained words about money, justice or affluence.
Hundreds of Western Bibles have been sold in the first few weeks, whilst anxious Christians filled newspapers and web logs with their doubts.
Sometimes Christians seem to have more anger than humour, however. The names of the board, ‘De Rijke’ (meaning ‘the rich’) and ‘Fortuijn’ (meaning ‘fortune’), as well as the holes in the pages of the Western Bible hint to the truth: the Western Bible is a joke. It is published by Time to Turn, a network of Christian students and young adults who campaign for a just and sustainable lifestyle. According to their website: “Time to Turn is a movement of young people in the Netherlands who want to choose for a sustainable and just way of life, based on their faith in Jesus Christ.”
Time to Turn doesn't believe in a new legalism, or in a utopian philosophy. They believe that God wants to deliver us from materialism and injustice wherever it keeps us from loving God or other people.
Frank Mulder, chairman of Time to Turn, is surprised by the commotion. “Many Christians accept the Western lifestyle, including the degradation of creation and the injustice of our trade, and they only take the easy parts of the gospel. But it isn't until we publish this gospel with holes, that they get confused!”
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