Reflections on STORY: Part 1 – THE VOICE
It is always nice to wait a few days after an exciting event and see which elements of the day stick with you, hang onto your thoughts and won’t let go until you’ve visited with them for awhile. One very specific message from Story is definitely doing that for me. In one of the general sessions, pastor Chris Seay introduced the Bible translation called The Voice. Here is a short clip of Seay speaking (it has baseball in it, so consider it my World Series reference even though, really, who cares?) – it doesn’t have anything to do with this Bible version, but it will give you a sense of his style and why I enjoyed his message so much at the Story Conference:
If you like The Message, you’ll enjoy this version as well. Seay and his church’s Ecclesia Bible Society, along with the impressive backing of Thomas Nelson publishing, put together Biblical scholars with modern writers and poets. Their goal was to rediscover the story of the Bible. It is a beautiful attempt. For example, and from the title of this version, they translate “the Word” in John 1 as “the Voice” for very specific reasons. We read “the Word” and automatically think of the physical book sitting on our nightstand as if we are reading it every day. But this team translated it as “the Voice” in agreement with the original Greek meaning that this Logos is alive and active in our world today – not just a bunch of pages glued together and covered with fake leather.
Dan and I have been reading from The Voice since we got home. It is enticingly simple and artistic, but my Bible College “theologians” also agreed with its self-described tag line of “faithful.” My son Jesse liked the way the narratives are written in play form, each speaker clearly identified before his or her lines. From our reading, we’re reminding each other that Jesus is our Liberating King and realizing what a beautiful difference that perspective makes.
Dan bought me a special copy of the New Testament that came with a handmade leather cover from Argentina (a project designed to provide jobs for a fair wage in good working conditions). You’ll have to get your own!
One of the many ways I bet you are still sucking the marrow from everything you enjoyed at Story. I’m so glad you have this blog so you can feed it back to all of us. I hope I get to talk to you in person, though, soon. That’s really the only way…
And I just watched the video. Look at you being all controversial! “If you haven’t been offered [drugs], you gotta ask yourself if you’re living in the path of Christ.” Boy do I know some people who’d shoot holes all the way through that idea. It’s hard for me to shut out those voices in my head. But mostly – I gotta say – hear, hear.
Ha! That’s how controversial I am – I didn’t even think about it being controversial!
Although he did say things during his speech that would definitely fit in that category for some people. I loved it.
you’re right, i would like that version of the Bible. i just checked out the download of John. i’m on a hunt for it now.