Salvaging Sacred Scripture - Case for a "Concise Canon"

By: Dr. Barclay M. Newman, PhD

Author is Retired Senior Translator of the American Bible Society

In the early senveties, I once met a gentleman whose responsibility it was to write an annual report onf the hygienic conditions - or the lack thereof - in a certain Southeast Asian country. In the course of our conversation, he informed me that if he made his report too long, no one would read it, and if he made it too short, no one would pay attention to his conclusions and recommendations. So he had to find "middle ground" for his report to become truly effective.

When the King James Version of the Bible was first published in 1611, it included the Old Testament, the New Testament, and also "The Books called Apocrypha," those books that were included in the Latin Vulgate, though were not part of the Hebrew Bible. Then in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, several British missionary societies started publishing editions of the Bible without the Apocrypha, because these "sized-down" editions of Sacred Scripture were cheaper to produc e and less expensive to ship to the mission field.

For three decades I served under the auspices of the United Bible Societies as a translation consultant for a number of projects in Southeast Asia and elsewhere; some of these projects resulted in a complete Bible, but many of them did not. at present I am in correspondence with a former colleague, who is working with a tribal group in New Guinea, hoping to make scripture portions, or possibly some entire New Testament books, available in their language.

In 1995, when I first traveled to Australia to promote the Contemporary English Version of the Bible, I was met by Reverend Jim Payne of the Bible Society, who greeted me by saying, "Barclay, you may think I'm a heretic, but I believe the worst thing we can possibly do is to hand someone a whole Bible, without explaining the historical background and some basic theological presuppositions of the writers, as well as the major differences between the perspectives of the Old and New Testaments." My immediate reply was, "Jim, you may think I'm a heretic, but I agree with you one hundred percent."

As a longtime follower of Jesus Christ, my journey has led me to the firm conviction that certain biblical passages - particularly in the Old Testament - frequently communicate an undesired message. For example, many people - believers and unbelievers alike - assume that it was morally right for the Israelites to kill everyone, men and women, young and old in the cities of Jericho and Ai, and then to rase these cities to the ground (Joshua 5.13 - 8.29). Deuteronomy 21.18-21 instructs the parents of a rebellious son to have the town elders stone him to death. And according to Numbers 5.11-30, a wife suspected of unfaithfulness must undergo trial by gulping down a cup of water polluted with floor sweepings. Should these same laws be enforced today? Were such ridiculous rules every really justified?

What about New Testament passages such as Ephesians 6.5-9 and Colossians 3.22-23, where Paul instructs slaves to obey their masters? When interpreted apart from  their historical context - as has often been the case - these passages assume that slavery has God's endorsement. Then Ephesians 5.24 and Colossians 3.18 are often taken as a divine command for wives to be submissive to their husbands.

The passages alluded to above contradict what we learn elsewhere about Jesus. So why subject innocent readers to such problematic passages as these? Perhaps the most satisfactory solution to "Salvaging Sacred Scripture" would be the creation of a "Concise Canon" that provides the essence of the New Testament message about the person and teaching of Jesus in a publication brief enough to be nonthreatening, yet long enough to be taken seriously, and interesting enough to appeal to believers and unbelievers alike.

Scripture Stark Naked is just such a book! This 120 page publication, which is about the size of a National Geographic and is sold at cost, represents the Maryland Bible Society's serious endeavor to create a "Concise Canon" - without doctrinal note or comment - that is faithful to the meaning of the biblical text and at the same time challenges contemporary readers with the person and teaching of Jesus.

For further information or to purchase  Scripture Stark Naked, please contact: Rev. Raymond T. Moreland, Ph.D.  - Executive Director - Maryland Bible Society 9 East Franklin Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202-2203   Email: rmoreland(at)marylandbible.org   Phone:  1-888-242-5309

Sample Test from  Scripture Stark Naked:

What's the Word?    (John 1.1-18)

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