The Living Bible

Today I was thinking about writing about my walk with Raven (again), because it is so rare that Tim joins us on our walks. Tim brought his camera today, so maybe I will post some pictures in the near future. I can't post pictures on this computer for some reason (it must be anti-photo), but I figured out how to do it on the computer in the basement.

But, as I was reading the EPA (Evangelical Press Association) blog (which my friend Doug Trouten writes), I noticed a link to The Writing Life, a blog by writer/editor Terry Whalin. Today's entry is about Ken Taylor, who wrote the paraphrase known as the Living Bible. Ken passed away yesterday, June 10. He was 88 years old.

Ken Taylor and his wife Margaret were raising ten children in the days where there was no other English Bible than the King James version. Ken found that his children had difficulty understanding this version, so he paraphrased it for them. When he had completed the New Testament, he called this work the Living Letters, and looked for a publisher. No one was interested, so he and his wife self-published about 2000 copies. They also founded Tyndale House Publishing. When Billy Graham mentioned the Living Letters from the pulpit, readership increased exponentially. Eventually he produced The Living Bible.

When I was in high school in the mid 1970s, I had a green hard bound copy of the Living Bible as well as the paperback version of The Way. My faith grew as I could read this paraphrase and understand God's word in a fresh way. By that time the Revised Standard Version was also popular and more contemporary than the King James Version, but I could easily read the Living Bible and enjoyed studying God's Word.

I'm thankful for men like Ken Taylor and more recently, for the author/paraphraser of The Message, Eugene Peterson. Who knows how many people will be in the kingdom and learned from God's Word because of these faithful servants who wanted to make God's message understood in their time.

Till next time,


Suzi