The Living Bible
| The Living Bible | |
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| Full name | The Living Bible |
| Abbreviation | TLB |
| Complete Bible published |
1971 |
| Textual basis | Paraphrase of American Standard Version, 1901, with comparisons of other translations, including the King James Version, and some Greek texts. |
| Translation type | Paraphrase. |
| Copyright | Copyright 1971 Tyndale House Publishers |
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When God began creating the heavens and the earth, the earth was at first a shapeless, chaotic mass, with the Spirit of God brooding over the dark vapors. Then God said, "Let there be light." And light appeared.
For God loved the world so much that He gave his only Son so that anyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
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The Living Bible (TLB) is an English version of the Bible created by Kenneth N. Taylor and first published in 1971. Unlike most English language versions of the Bible, The Living Bible is a paraphrase. Taylor used the American Standard Version of 1901 as his base text.
According to "Ken Taylor, God's Voice In The Vernacular" by Harold Myra in a 1979 issue of Christianity Today, Taylor explained the inspiration for preparing The Living Bible:
The children were one of the chief inspirations for producing the Living Bible. Our family devotions were tough going because of the difficulty we had understanding the King James Version, which we were then using, or the Revised Standard Version, which we used later. All too often I would ask questions to be sure the children understood, and they would shrug their shoulders—they didn't know what the passage was talking about. So I would explain it. I would paraphrase it for them and give them the thought. It suddenly occurred to me one afternoon that I should write out the reading for that evening thought by thought, rather than doing it on the spot during our devotional time. So I did, and read the chapter to the family that evening with exciting results—they knew the answers to all the questions I asked!
The Living Bible was well received in many Evangelical circles. Youth-oriented Protestant groups such as Youth for Christ and Young Life accepted it readily. In 1962 Billy Graham received a copy of Living Letters – a paraphrase of the New Testament epistles and the first portion of what later became The Living Bible – while recuperating in a hospital in Hawaii. He was impressed with its easy readability, and he asked for permission to print 50,000 paperback copies of Living Letters for use in his evangelistic crusades. Over the next year he distributed 600,000 copies of Living Letters.
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