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Good News Bible
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GNT or GNB
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1966
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1976
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1976
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32% deviation from Nestle-Aland 27th edition (NT)
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20% paraphrase rate
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In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the water Then God commanded, "Let there be light" — and light appeared
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For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life
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The beginnings of the Good News Translation can be traced to requests made by people in Africa and the Far East for a version of the Bible that was friendly to non-native English speakers. In , the translation was revised.
The GNT has been a popular translation. By . Excerpts from the
New Testament were used extensively in
Evangelistic campaigns, such as the Billy Graham crusades and others, from the late 1960s right through to the early 1980s. In
1991 , a
Gallup Poll of British parishioners showed that the GNT was the most popular Bible version in that nation. In
2003 , the GNT was used as the basis for a
Film Version of the
Gospel Of John .
The GNT is written in a simple, everyday language, with the intention that everyone can appreciate it, and so is often considered particularly suitable for
Children and for those learning English. Unlike most other translations, the GNT contains line drawings of Biblical events with a snippet of text. The line drawings were done by
Annie Vallotton . However, Vallotton is credited with doing the drawings only in certain editions of the GNT — in others, the drawings are simply credited to "a Swiss artist". There are introductions to each book of the Bible.
Since the focus is strongly on ease of understanding, poetry is sometimes sacrificed for clarity. This choice can be seen in the example quote of John 3:16, which is rendered "For God loved the world so much that . . ." which is more pedestrian than the familiar "For God so loved the world . . . ."
The GNT has been challenged as to the degree of accuracy one of the translators maintained to the Greek texts. A lot of concern was raised after Robert Bratcher made public statements questioning the inerrancy and inspiration of scripture in March of 1981, as well as deriding those who hold to such views as dishonest or willfully ignorant. Many people believe that Bratcher's viewpoints unduly influenced what was written into the GNT version. His speech so outraged many churches that they withheld monetary donations to the American Bible Society, a move that nearly bankrupted the ABS. The ABS requested Bratcher's resignation later that year.
Further statements from Bratcher and subsequent investigation of the GNT cause some to believe that it weakens or undermines other key doctrines, such as the virgin birth of Christ; it failed the
"Isaiah 7.14 litmus test" that had been used by conservative Christians since the publication of the
Revised Standard Version in 1952 (see
Revised Standard Version#Reception And Controversy ).
As
David Cloud explained, "The popularity of the Today's English Version is frightful in light of its perverted renderings of key passages dealing with Christ's deity, the inspiration and preservation of Scripture, the blood atonement, and many other doctrines."http://www.wayoflife.org/articles/tev.htm
Others emphasise however that Bratcher was only part of a committee of translators, and that this attack is simply an attempt to support the view held by some that "Literal translations, especially the King James Version, are God's word, and all dynamic translations are evil" argument, typified by the
King-James-Only Movement . The Bible Societies' latest release is the
Contemporary English Version of the Bible.
- Metzger, Bruce. ''The Bible in Translation'', pp. 167-168.
- Cloud, David, ''A Most Frightful Deception: The Good News Bible and Translator Robert Bratcher'' at http://www.wayoflife.org/articles/tev.htm.
- The Canons of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church: Canon 2: Of Translations of the Bible. (PDF file) At http://www.churchpublishing.org/general_convention/pdf_const_2003/Title_II_Worship.pdf.
- Marlowe, Michael. ''Good News Bible'' at http://www.bible-researcher.com/tev.html.
- Sheeley, Steven M. and Nash, Jr., Robert N. ''Choosing A Bible'', pp. 38, 52-53.
