Good News Bible

At first glance Good News Bible looks like an inverted version of the Bible that most of us are familiar. Good News Bible itself is an off-gold color and the title is printed in black ink. The cover is adorned with narrow vertical stripes that adds a certain aesthetic to the otherwise drab cover. These strips stop directly above the word “Bible” and they seem to make-way for an important phrase placed below the books title: “Today's English Version”. Underneath the hard front cover lies a map of the ancient world, further distancing this Bible from many others. The map is a bit of a gold color as well and mainly consists of what is today known as The Middle East. It seems as if it would be extremely easy to use. As I first plunged into the

However, the way that these stories are presented is somewhat unique. The Bible is written in simple everyday English; it is comprehensible to nearly everyone with a basic grasp of the English language. The font used is large and easy to read, some pages even include cute illustrations. The illustrations are mostly made up of thin lines and are not very detailed, although some of them actually do have a caption. To my understanding this is a bit unusual as well. Most of the Bibles I have ever encountered included no such thing. Within each book of the Good News Bible there are headings located at the top of every few paragraphs. These headings give a clear and rather precise description of what will occur in the following lines. They are actually quite helpful and do make reading the Bible a simpler task. At the bottom of some pages there is the occasional foot-note and the end of the book includes a word list, chronology of the Bible, more maps, and two indexes. Many of the words included in the list are actually shockingly simple (such as paradise or pervert), but I must say that a few were alien to me. The chronology looks as if it could be quite useful. It only goes on for a few pages, but it lays out the time frame established in the Bible clearly. The maps towards the end of the book are a bit more detailed, but are still easily understood. There is

This information is made easily available in small print on the first few pages just as in most relatively modern books. In 1976 America was in the need of some good news, although Americans were able to celebrate the bicentennial on July 4th, our nation was combating some serious inflation woes. Interestingly enough the American Bible Society is actually located in New York City on Broadway and very close to Central Park. It was founded in 1816 and its goal has always been to make the Bible more intelligible. In the foreword of Good News Bible it is clearly stated that “the aim of this Bible is to give today's readers maximum understanding of the original texts”. Initially I thought that, because the Bible had such a seemingly positive title that it may even be censored, but no details of a violent or sexual nature are forgone; the goal of the American Bible Society is clearly to make the unadulterated “Word of God” available to as many people as possible. The last page begins with an interesting phrase as well, “The Bible in the language of the people”. This is what the American Bible Society designed their book to be. They wanted to make the “Word of God” more available to people across the world. Their goal has been shared by many Christians throughout history and fortunately for