New Bible Translation Replaces 'Christ,' 'Angel' & 'Apostle

There's a new Bible translation in town. "The Voice," an apparently easier-to-digest format that is aimed at reaching those individuals who may own a Bible, but who rarely or never read it, is taking some interesting avenues to help ensure that people better comprehend the Good Book.

Here's the controversial part: The words "angel," "apostle" and -- "Christ" have been removed from the translation. It's not that these themes aren't present in the newfound Biblical interpretation. Instead, the translators have chosen alternatives. For instance, Jesus Christ is now "Jesus the Anointed One." The meaning is still there, but the traditional semantics have been altered.

Here's a video that further explains the project:

CNN's Belief Blog provides more about this new, purportedly easier-to-comprehend Biblical version:

Professor David Capes says the Bible "is probably the most owned and least read book out there. That's because, for many, it's too difficult to understand."

The "own it but haven't read it" demographic is his target market, says Capes, who teaches the New Testament at Houston Baptist University and was part of a team that compiled "The Voice," a new translation of the King James Bible. Capes told CNN that the motivation behind the translation, seven years in the making, was to emphasize the meaning behind the words.

"'The Voice' considers the narrative links that help us to understand the drama and passion of story that is present in the original languages," according to the website for the book. "The tone of the writing, the format of the page, and the directness of the dialog allows the tradition of passing down the biblical narrative to come through in 'The Voice.'"

Rather than re-writing the Bible, those scholars and individuals behind the seven-year project apparently wanted to help readers, as The Christian Post reports, "hear God speaking."

Despite these intentions and a major publisher -- Thomas Nelson -- backing the project, some critics have been railing against the translation. The Post has more about those who see the project as a disaster of Biblical proportions (pun intended):

On the website "Life More Abundant," poster "Coralie" commented that the format of The Voice, which includes commentary in the body of the text, was a concern.

"The … effect of the inclusion of midstream commentary is the blurring of the line between inspired word and human opinion," wrote Coralie.

"My fear in our postmodern world is not that a new reader would take the commentary as the very word of God, but that he would read the words of God with the casual ease of another form of commentary."

The blog "Extreme Theology," an apologetics website, declared that The Voice was a "distorted version of the Bible."

Below, watch a CNN interview that further describes the process of putting "The Voice" together:

(H/T: CNN Belief Blog)

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