THE NEW LIVING MESSAGE: compassionate scripture for the modern world (1)

This isn't so much a paraphrase as it is a digest, and not a very good one at that. How can a Bible which omits EVERYTHING in the Old Testament except the Pentateuch even be called a "Bible"? What is the New Testament without the letter of James and Revelation? Oh, I realize that a NT without those books is exactly the New Testament that Martin Luther wanted...but there are reasons those books are still in the canon centuries after the Reformation. As for the Old Testament redactions...my mind boggles at the logic which would justify the omission of the Psalms and the Proverbs, these are ESSENTIAL manuscripts which show us how to live in both the world and in the Kingdom of Heaven, just as the books of Prophecy in the OT are signposts that lead to Jesus. For that matter, Jesus shows up in each of the 66 books of accepted Scripture, the gospel begins before Genesis and the thread is woven throughout the Canon. To take away from this cohesive unit is to deprive the reader of numerous epiphanies in which the Lord can be met throughout the histories, the wisdom writings, the prophets and the minor prophets and in the verses and books which this "translation" team has taken great care to excise.This is the bible for people who don't really want to know what the bible is about, they don't want context or to have to use their own brains in determining which parts are truly "barbaric" or just "outdated" (ha! we're talking about stuff that predates civilization and the birth pangs of a new age)...This looks like a bible that would sit well in a bookshelf between A Course in Miracles and The Urantia Book. Nothing against ACIM or even The Urantia Book (though I consider it to be fiction) but I've noticed they don't have much use for the actual bible anyway.One of the things which makes the bible a timeless work is the cohesiveness of the different books, how they all tell the same story in different ways. The New Living Message is a rip-off because all you're getting is what the publishers are willing to give you and though they offer a good starting point nevertheless it should not be marketed as a "Holy Bible" when only 5 books of the Old Testament are represented.

Although I have greatly enjoyed The Message Bible for years as a companion to my bible study and for sharing with my children, I have always found the vernacular language used in that work to be too seriously dated (ala 1970's popular slang). I found this new paraphrase volume, The New Living Message Bible, wonderfully readable and clear, using modern day vernacular speech without slang or the feeling of attempts to be "cool". I also appreciated that the editors went to great lengths in the forward to explain their methodology for paraphrasing and interpretation, to provide their justifications for any changes or modifications to text or numbering and, that they clearly state that it is a paraphrase and interpretive translation intended as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the many excellent literal translations available. A wonderful new addition to the body of scripture available and that I highly recommend, especially for those who find literal translations too challenging to wade through at first.

Please do not be decieved into thinking this book is a bible (the holy inerrant word of God). This book has been corrupted by man's words and ideas.

Readable and understandable. More paraphrase than actual translation. Very good for comparison with translations in teaching preparation.

Just what I needed

It is missing entire books of the bible, as well as verses that do not fit the overall ideology of the translators of this book. Only first five books of Old testament are included. Romans 1, 1 Peter 3, Galatians 5, and The entire book of Revelations do not exist or are so utterly destroyed they represent nothing of the original texts. While this can be called a book I think it misleading to call it a holy bible