New Bible reveals God's heart towards poverty and injustice
A new Bible which connects Scriptures with some of the biggest issues of our day has been launched by Bible Society.
by Anne Thomas
Posted: Sunday, March 2, 2008, 6:34 (GMT)
Bible Society was inspired to develop the new Bible after Pastor Rick Warren, of Purpose Driven fame, admitted that had missed more than 2,000 verses that speak of God's heart for the poor despite studying theology and being a pastor for decades. He claimed that Christians risked losing their credibility if they failed to speak out against poverty and injustice.
Christian leader and commentator Tony Campolo added, "Here's proof that faith without committment to justice for the poor is a sham, because it ignores the most explicit of all the social concerns of Scripture."
Bible Society staff and experts spent months debating and sifting through the Contemporary English Version (CEV) Bible to pull out the verses that say something about God's attitude to poverty and justice. The result was more than 2,000 sections, with almost every page from Genesis to Revelation emphasising just and fair behaviour.
The organisation hopes that the Poverty and Justice Bible will also act as a springboard for Christians to take action on these issues by helping them link social action with Scripture.
The new Bible, produced with support from aid agency World Vision, includes a 32-page study guide written by bestselling authors Nick and Claire Page, and covering a wide range of timely issues from equality to education, farming to Fairtrade.
The studies highlight that concern for the oppressed is foundational to faith, and encourage action - from giving, to praying, to living responsibly.
Bible Society's Chief Executive James Catford said, "For us in this country, issues of poverty and justice have increasingly become front and centre. What this Bible shows is that on the topics that challenge us every day, God got there first. The Bible has something to say about life and, in fact, there's nothing on earth that we can experience that the Bible doesn't tackle.
"The Poverty and Justice Bible helps the Church engage with the Bible more effectively by linking Scripture with issues that are rooted in today's world. For Bible Society, this is just as important as our work to make the Bible available. It's all part of the fight against Bible poverty."
The Poverty and Justice Bible is available at the special introductory price of £9.99. Visit www.povertyandjusticebible.org to find out more.
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The comments below are readers' personal opinions and are in no way intended to reflect the editorial opinion of Christian Today.
Added: Tuesday, April 22, 2008, 3:53 (BST)
WHEN THE US MEDIA SAID NO MORE INJUSTICE !
WHEN THE US CONGRESS DENIED THE MASSES OF AMERICANS THEIR POSSIBLE FREEDOMS!Currently there are reported to be 100,000 falsely imprisoned Americans living along with the estimated 2,000,000 US prison population nationwide.America now has the very unique distinction of not only being rated the #1 in the World for having the largest prison population,but America also has the distinct rating of having the largest wrongfully imprisoned prison population in the World as well Our US Congress affords themselves all the perks and salary most Americans could only dream about,but ask anyone of these Leaders Of The Free World to protect our Middle Class or Working Poor Americans from continuing to be falsely imprisoned endless decades due to the lack of federal appeal legal counsel being afforded them, and you just might be thought of as being crazy?The masses of the American people could never come close to ever being able to burden these federal appeal legal costs for themselves or for a family member,and should not need a lobbying group for this basic right of legal protection to be afforded them! Our Poster Child of this exact neglect by our US Congress is this young man named Manny Gonzales.Anyone interested in reading first hand how our US Congress is willing to allow our judicial system to continue keeping this now 21 year old young man imprisoned for 27 mandatory years for frightening someone with a hand gun(not even injuring the so called victim,) without affording him federal appeal legal counsel to properly be able to defend himself in our Federal courts of Appeal? Manny Gonzales The kid that everyone forgot in the CA prison system can be entered into any WWW search engine for the judicial ride of ones life! Tens of thousands of other Americans being imprisoned in the US are facing this same lack of legal counsel everyday, and with this lack of legal counsel being denied their right to new retrials,which in turn forces many of them to remain endless decades in the prison systems of the wealthiest country in the world! Just like the German people prior WW2,the American people and our National Media have not felt any concern or interest to speak out about our country having so many of our fellow Middle Class and Working Poor citizens being falsely imprisoned and not even being afforded the proper Federal Appeal legal counsel to assist in their attempt at exonerating themselves!
We thank all of you Worldwide who have also had a concern and are interested with this injustice being changed in the American judicial system for assisting all of us(who are also just interested volunteers ourselves)with your time and computer skills in posting this article on the WWW anywhere you think it might make positive change!
***THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE EVER BEEN INFORMED ABOUT THIS INJUSTICE ***
Dougtlas Field, Santa Monica,CA USA
Added: Thursday, March 20, 2008, 11:35 (GMT)
Actually this is not a new bible but just a bible with certain verses highlighted. The aim is to help people (particularly young people who may not yet have engaged with scripture) to pick it up and read it for themselves. Lots of young people are concerned about seeing justice done for the poor, but don't realise how much there is in the bible about it. All this new edition does is to point them in the right direction and get them reading scripture. Don't see anything to criticise there :)
Sandie, Cambridge, UK
Added: Monday, March 17, 2008, 15:48 (GMT)
There is no need to create a new "Bible" People need to pick up the scriptures and read for themselves. I find that this group through it's creation will find once again ways to condemn this country as the sole problem in the world. And responsible for all the ill's that are prevalent in the world. When the problem is the lack of a Christ centered life, Which means as Christ himself claimed "i am the way the truth and the life none come on to the father but through me" Christ is the chief cornerstone of the church which many stumble over. Christ himself said that he did not come to bring peace but war. Because he new that his statement that he was the only way to salvation and heaven would indeed bring dissension and yes murder of Christian believers and history has proved ample evidence. Tony Campolo and others including Rick Warren believe otherwise. They believe that saying Christ is the only way to salvation has become an impediment to the universalism and new age philosophies that this group belongs too. The scriptures that have been passed down through the ages should be sufficient for teaching and reproof as the Apostle Paul spoke of so long ago.
Ernie Lofthouse, Sun City AZ USA
Added: Friday, March 7, 2008, 5:37 (GMT)
I know the Gospel will not be in that book. You do not believe The Gospel of THE LORD YESHUA (Jesus) CHRIST. Hell is a real place...I Pray you Repent and believe The Gospel, or you will be going there...Hell.
Gloria, Slymar
