The Living Bible (TLB) is an English version of the Bible by American publisher and author Kenneth Taylor released in 1971. Unlike most English Bibles, the volume is a paraphrase. Mr. Taylor was quoted as having said that he paraphrased the American Standard Version as a project for several years, largely while commuting to his job in Chicago by subway. The efforts of translating the Bible from its original languages into over 2,000 others have spanned more than two millennia. ... A number of Old English Bible translations were prepared in mediaeval England, translations of parts of the Bible into the Old English language. ... The age of Middle English was not a fertile time for Bible translations but saw the first major translation that of John Wyclif. ... Early Modern English Bible translations are those translations of the Bible which were made between about 1500 and 1800, the period of Early Modern English. ... There are many attempts to translate the Bible into modern English which is defined as the form of English in use after 1800. ... Jewish English Bible translations are modern English Bible translations that include the books of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) according to the masoretic text, and according to the traditional division and order of Torah, Neviim, and Ketuvim. ... There are other translation projects which are worthy of note which are not easily classified in the other groups: Anchor Bible Series - The Anchor Bible is a translation treating the Bible merely as a historical text; each book is translated by a different scholar, with extensive critical commentary. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... The Bible (Hebrew תנ״ך tanakh, Greek η Βίβλος [hē biblos] ) (sometimes The Holy Bible, The Book, Good Book, Word of God, The Word, or Scripture), from Greek (τα) βίβλια, (ta) biblia, (the) books, is the classical name for the Hebrew Bible of Judaism or the combination of the Old Testament and New Testament of Christianity... Kenneth Nathaniel Taylor (May 8, 1917 - June 10, 2005) was the creator of The Living Bible and the founder of Tyndale House Publishers. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... Paraphrasing is the act in which a statement or remark is explained in other words or another way, as to clarify the meaning. ... The Standard American Edition, Revised Version, more commonly known as the American Standard Version (ASV), is a version of the Bible that was released in 1901. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ... This article describes subways as mass transit lines. ...

Taylor never intended for his paraphrase to be used as the reader's sole source of Biblical knowledge, or as an aid to serious, scholarly study, but rather to put the basic truths of the Bible in language which could readily be understood by the typical reader without a theological or linguistic background, and that he had never represented himself as a professional Bible scholar or his work as a translation.

The Living Bible was well received in many moderate Evangelical circles. Youth-oriented Protestant groups such as Young Life accepted it readily. In 1962 Billy Graham received a copy of the Living Letters – the title of the first-published portion of the Living Bible containing New Testament epistles – while in a hospital in Hawaii. He was impressed with it enough to order 50,000 copies of the Living Letters for use in his "crusades". Later, he ordered an additional 450,000 to 600,000 copies of Living Letters for his crusades. In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who holds an intermediate position between two extreme or radical viewpoints. ... The word evangelicalism usually refers to a tendency in diverse branches of Protestantism, typified by an emphasis on evangelism, a personal experience of conversion, biblically-oriented faith, and a belief in the relevance of Christian faith to cultural issues. ... Protestantism is a general grouping of denominations within Christianity. ... Young Life, which began in 1941, is a non-profit non-denominational organization founded by Jim Rayburn. ... The Rev. ... See New Covenant for the concept translated as New Testament in the KJV. The New Testament, sometimes called the Greek Testament or Greek Scriptures, and, in recent times, also New Covenant, is the name given to the part of the Christian Bible that was written after the birth of Jesus. ... A physician visiting the sick in a hospital. ... Official language(s) Hawaiian and English Capital Honolulu Largest city Honolulu Area  - Total  - Width  - Length  - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 43rd 28,337 km² n/a km 2,450 km 41. ...

The Living Bible was a best-seller in the early 1970s, largely due to the accessibility of its modern language, which made passages understandable to those with little or no previous background in Bible study. A year after the 1971 release, the Living Bible was the most popular Bible sold in America. In 1973 Taylor received royalties of roughly 8 million US dollars. By 1974, those royalties had swelled to more than 29 million dollars. By 1997, 40 million copies of The Living Bible had been sold. The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ... 1973 (MCMLXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday. ... A royalty is a sum paid to the creator of performance art for the use of that art. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV in Roman) is a common year starting on Tuesday (click on link for calendar). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Criticisms of the Living Bible

With this level of acclaim and acceptance came criticism, especially from conservative circles. The criticism took several forms, but generally fit one or more of the following: Conservatism or political conservatism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ...

• The Bible is too sacred to be paraphrased. This shows a lack of respect for the text and is too likely to reflect the doctrinal biases of the paraphraser. This view is often expressed by proponents of literal translations.

• The paraphrase is too infelicitous of phrase in some instances.

• Taylor was devoid of linguistic, theological, or other qualifications sufficient to have his work taken seriously.

• Among Calvinists, they are uncomfortable that Taylor's Arminian (which is at the opposite end from calvinism) biases are reflected in this paraphase. In fact, the "Living Bible" became popular among Arminians because of the biases.

• It was, at the time, simply too radically different from more literal translations, such as the King James Version and American Standard Versions, to possibly be considered valid. This was similar to the sort of simply time-blinkered criticism suffered by Tyndale - just as nobody would now criticise Tyndale, many fewer today would criticise the Living Bible than did at the time of its first appearance. Nowadays, with other more accepted non-literal translations such as the Good News Bible, and ultra-modern translations such as The Message and The Word on the Street, the groundswell of defenders of literal-only translations has been greatly eroded.

Dr. Bill Ruhl, a minister from the Church of Christ in Nashville, Tennessee, wrote a tract containing most of these criticisms and several others. Other very conservative leaders followed suit in some instances. Supporters of Taylor accused these critics of smallmindedness and replied that many of their attacks were more of a personal nature than serious criticisms of the work. Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and someone who engages in this study is called a linguist or linguistician. ... Theology is reasoned discourse concerning God (Greek θεος, theos, God, + λογος, logos, word or reason). It can also refer to the study of other religious topics. ... Calvinism is a system of Christian theology and an approach to Christian life and thought, articulated by John Calvin, a Protestant Reformer in the 16th century, and subsequently by successors, associates, followers and admirers of Calvin and his interpretation of Scripture. ... Calvinism is a system of Christian theology and an approach to Christian life and thought, articulated by John Calvin, a Protestant Reformer in the 16th century, and subsequently by successors, associates, followers and admirers of Calvin and his interpretation of Scripture. ... This page is about the version of the Bible; for the Harvey Danger album, see King James Version (album). ... The Good News Translation (GNT) as it is known in North America, or the Good News Bible (GNB) as it is known in the rest of the world, is an English language translation of the Bible by the American Bible Society, first published (as Good News for Modern Man) in... This article describes The Message paraphrase of the Holy Bible. ... The Word on the Street, formerly known as The Street Bible is a Bible-based book by Rob Lacey, using extremely modern language. ... In most Protestant churches, a minister is a member of the ordained clergy who leads a congregation or participates in a role in a parachurch ministry; such a person may also be called a Pastor, Preacher, Bishop, Chaplain or Elder. ... The Churches of Christ are autonomous Christian congregations. ... Nickname: Music City Motto: Official website: http://www. ... poop ...

Largely in response to the criticisms, plans were made to supplant the paraphrase with a translation that would incorporate the simplicity of language of The Living Bible and yet address some of the issues above. The result of this work is the New Living Translation, released by Tyndale House in 1996 which has effectively replaced The Living Bible. New Living Translation The New Living Translation or NLT is a translation of the Bible into an easily readable form of modern English. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) is a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ...

Unusual Fact

The Living Bible is probably the only version of a Bible in modern times that contains a swear word, in 1 Samuel Chapter 20, verse 30. This angered many parents, especially since the word was also in the children's verion of the Living Bible. The verse, where Saul yells at Jonathan, has been toned down in the New Living Translation.