Despite my dislike of this book in the past a sufficiently large number of people have told my that it is worth a read for me to take another look. So while browsing at my local Bible shop today I decided to fork out the £10 for it and see what all the fuss was about. I will admit now that I have not even finished reading Genesis in it yet so my decision on it may change, but I doubt it. Before I say anything negative I will begin with some positives. It is easy to read and it is a bit of a page turner. It may not be the most lyrical paraphrase I have read but it does have a little punch about it, enough to keep you reading it anyway. However I do find that it tries too hard to be "down with the kids" and comes across to me as The Bible Lite. I know that it does not claim to be The Bible and admits that it skips chunks too, but when I am reading it I feel that it is missing something. There is a lack of connection that exists with other paraphrases and translations. The mystery, majesty and wonder is not there. Fair enough there may be action, adventure and gripping story lines, but then that is all there in The Bible anyway. The poetry and literary styles of the books of the Bible do not come through for me in this paraphrase.
I wont knock it too much however because I think that for some people it may be the right introduction to the faith. As long as no one tries to use this as a replacement for the bible. I did say that I had not finished reading it yet and so I may be making judgements before all the evidence is in. Because of that I intend to stick it out and finish reading it, at which point I will write another post to let you know if my thoughts and feelings on it change or remain the same.
I was about 13 or 14 when I first read the Street Bible, and at the time it really helped to remind that the Bible was actually interesting. I've always thought that it tried a bit too hard, but if you take that as deliberate humour it doesn't seem quite so trite.
ReplyDeleteThe important thing is that right from the beginning it makes itself very clear as not intending to be a Bible substitute. It's there to interest newcomers and encourage people who know the Bible already to go back and look at things again.
Pslam 23 is a lot more entertaining when intended as a "rock opera á la Bohemian Rhapsody..."
I can understand that it is not claiming to BE the Bible but an alternative look at old stories. Its one reason why I am glad it is now called the word on the street rather than the street bible. But as I said I only just started reading it and do intend giving it a chance and read it all the way through.
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