Kenneth Nathaniel Taylor (May 8, 1917 - June 10, 2005) was an American publisher and author, better known as the creator of the Bible paraphase The Living Bible and the founder of Tyndale House, a major Christian publishing company. May 8 is the 128th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (129th in leap years). ... Year 1917 (MCMXVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar (see link for calendar) or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day slower Julian calendar (see: 1917 Julian calendar). ... June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Living Bible (TLB) is an English version of the Bible by American publisher and author Kenneth Taylor released in 1971. ... Tyndale House is a publisher founded in 1962 by Kenneth Taylor, in order to publish his paraphrase of the Epistles, which he had composed while commuting to work at Moody Press in Chicago. ...

Taylor was born in Portland, Oregon. His parents were George and Charlotte Taylor. His father was a Presbyterian minister. He graduated from high school in 1934 and enrolled in Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. He met his future wife, Margaret West, in high school. They were married in 1940 and had 10 children. Nickname: City of Roses, Stumptown, Bridgetown, PDX Location in Multnomah County and the state of Oregon Coordinates: Country United States State Oregon County Multnomah County Incorporated February 8, 1851 Government  - Mayor Tom Potter Area  - City  145. ... Presbyterianism is part of the Reformed churches family of denominations of Christian Protestantism based on the teachings of John Calvin which traces its institutional roots to the Scottish Reformation, especially as led by John Knox. ... Wheaton College is the name of two colleges in the United States: Wheaton College, Illinois Wheaton College, Massachusetts External Links Wheaton College (Illinois) Wheaton College (Massachusetts) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Incorporated City in 1859. ...

In 1940 Taylor also began to work on a Th. D. at Dallas Theological Seminary. During the course of his studies he was offered the position of editor for HIS Magazine, headquartered in Chicago. Taylor moved back to Wheaton, began working at the magazine, and finished his degree at Northern Baptist Seminary. Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) is a conservative graduate-level theological seminary located in Dallas, Texas, which has been, according to its mission statement, equipping godly servant-leaders for the proclamation of His Word and the building up of the body of Christ worldwide since its founding by Lewis Sperry Chafer... Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (often abbreviated to Northern Baptist Seminary) is a seminary located in Lombard, Illinois, outside of Chicago. ...

For a time Taylor worked with Clyde Dennis, founder of Good News Publishers, on translating tracts and distributing them overseas. Later, he worked on the editorial staff of Moody Bible Institute for sixteen years. During that time he assisted a student named George Verwer in distributing Christian literature in Mexico. Verwer would later found Operation Mobilization, which, among other things, distributed Bibles and other books for Taylor. Because of his interest in worldwide distribution of literature, Taylor formed a foundation called Evangelical Literature Overseas for the development and distribution of Christian literature to third world countries. Moody Bible Institute ( MBI ) was founded by evangelist and businessman Dwight Lyman Moody in 1886. ... George Verwer founded Operation Mobilisation in the early 1960s with his wife Drena. ...

Taylor developed a series of Bible stories with pictures for his own children to read. They were eventually published in a book called The Bible in Pictures for Little Eyes. He followed this volume with Stories for the Children's Hour and Devotions for the Children's Hour.

After these books were published Taylor began working on an ambitious project--the paraphrasing of the Bible in easy-to-read modern language. He published the New Testament epistles under the title Living Letters' at his own expense in 1962. He actually formed his own publishing firm, Tyndale House, to do so. His Bible paraphrase was successful enough to allow him to leave Moody Press and work exclusively at Tyndale. Taylor finished the entire Bible in contemporary language and published it as The Living Bible in 1971. Over 40 million copies of this paraphrase have been sold. Tyndale House is a publisher founded in 1962 by Kenneth Taylor, in order to publish his paraphrase of the Epistles, which he had composed while commuting to work at Moody Press in Chicago. ...

Taylor died on June 10, 2005 from heart failure.

External links

• Kenneth Taylor biography - biographical sketch from the Kenneth Taylor collection at Wheaton College
• My Life: A Guided Tour - Autobiography by Kenneth N. Taylor
• Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. - Official website of the company founded by Dr. Taylor
• NLT - Official website of the New Living Translation (NLT)