bevin Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Given that the Clear Word is NOT a Bible, and that describing it as such has fueled a lot of anti-SDA attacks, why does this site (Club Adventist) have a link on its front page advertising The Clear Word Bible? /Bevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cricket Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Bevin, why do you refer to it as "The Clear Word Bible", when, indeed, it is simply titled "The Clear Word"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shane Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 The Living Bible is also a paraphrase made for the purpose of being used for devotions. The Clear Word is to take the place of the Living Bible in Adventist homes. It is not to take the place of a study Bible. Quote Pastoral Family Counselor... Find me at www.PostumCafe.com Author of Peculiar Christianity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bevin Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 I am simply quoting the Club Adventist home page ad /Bevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil D Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Quote: Shane said: The Living Bible is also a paraphrase made for the purpose of being used for devotions. The Clear Word is to take the place of the Living Bible in Adventist homes. It is not to take the place of a study Bible. Perhaps it is symantics, but I thought devotions were a bible study.....If so, why have the Clear Word Bible at all?What makes it any different than the Douy Bible for JW's? Quote Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.  George Bernard Shaw  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shane Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 It is like reading a Bible story from a Bible story book - it is a paraphrase of the Bible. The Clear Word was made for the same reason the Living Bible was made. They are not study Bibles, they are devotional paraphrases. Quote Pastoral Family Counselor... Find me at www.PostumCafe.com Author of Peculiar Christianity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cricket Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 Yeah, I understand. My point was that you've quoted it from somewhere else...maybe the people who posted this ad did the very same. Also...Club Adventist advertises itself as an unOfficial Adventist website. So, I guess it just depends on the viewpoint of the person that owns the site. Are you a partial owner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bevin Posted January 1, 2006 Author Share Posted January 1, 2006 The Clear Word is NOT a paraphrase - it contains statements which are both in direct violation of the Bible and which are extrapolations which go much further than the original. While I am not aware of any that are fundamentally flawed, it is not to the SDA advantage to claim it is "just a paraphrase" because in fact the changes are designed to make it appear that SDA interpretations are inherent in the original text when they are not. We have been around this before - and it is the reason why the title was changed from "The Clear Word Bible" to "The Clear Word". /Bevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shane Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 I feel the same way about the Living Bible, which I do have and do enjoy reading. However its name has not been changed. Quote Pastoral Family Counselor... Find me at www.PostumCafe.com Author of Peculiar Christianity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted January 1, 2006 Share Posted January 1, 2006 *tacking on The only reason it is listed on the front page as The Clear Word Bible, is because that is a link to Amazon.com Books. It is the way Amazon has it listed in their program. I'm not even sure the link title can be changed. Quote <p><span style="color:#0000FF;"><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span style="font-style:italic;">"Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you."</span></span> Eph 4:29</span><br><br><img src="http://banners.wunderground.com/weathersticker/gizmotimetemp_both/US/OR/Fairview.gif" alt="Fairview.gif"> Fairview Or</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bevin Posted January 2, 2006 Author Share Posted January 2, 2006 The html source for the home page says... <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0970011113/adventistbooksto"> THE CLEAR WORD<br> Â BIBLE, SAVE $7.50!</a> All that is needed is deleting the word BIBLE /Bevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stan Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 If it walks like a duck... looks like a duck... etc etc If you ran a book store, you probably would not put the Clear Word in the section on how to fix cars.. but in the Bible section. Let common sense prevail on the title. Just because someone is an Adventist Scholar does not mean they should be denied using their talents. He self published the New Testament for years before the Review was able to convince him to distribute through them. I doubt if there is any translator or paraphraser was work was not influenced by their personal thoughts. Those who claim this is an Adventist Church Bible, probably have not done reasonable research on other statements they have made either. HMS Richards Sr came under attack when the HMS Richards Bible came out, (mostly from within our denomination). They claimed he would be viewed as creating an Adventist Bible as well. The work, life and writing of Blanco have been a huge blessing to a lot of people. May we have many more people like him who will not bow to nay-sayers, and are willing to move into areas that are a blessing to others without feeling they need to get approval of everyone first. I make no apology for the front page title of his writings. Quote If you receive benefit to being here please help out with expenses. https://www.paypal.me/clubadventist Administrator of a few websites like https://adventistdating.com  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susie Posted January 4, 2006 Share Posted January 4, 2006 About a year ago I came into contact with a friend from many, many years ago and dicovered that she had not been to church for 24 years because of the fact that she had been 'squished' by her SDA church members when her husband died a very untimely death. It is a terrible story that made me feel free to tell her that SDA church members had treated her very badly and I wanted to send her a Sabbath School Quarterly and a Clear Word for her to read just as an interesting help along with the SS Lesson Quarterly helps from Sr. White. The lady still had her Dad's old King James version for in-depth study. She tells me that she reads the Clear Word as a devotional book and she is again trying to keep the Sabbath and would like to return to church as soon as some family matters are resolved. I do not feel that if she had not had the Clear Word to again get her interested in once again studying the doctrines of our church that she would be wanting to return to church. Anyone who does not want to read the Clear Word should simply not own one nor should they read it. To criticize the 10 year labor of an amazing man who has brought so many young people to Christ is an unseemly thing to do. He goes to great lengths to make sure that everyone understands that it should not be read instead of the perfectly translated KJV or the New KJV or the NIV or so many others that has not corrected the error in the story of Christ's statement to the theif on the cross when he promised him that 'today you shall be with me in paradise.' In the Clear Word one can not mistake the meaning of Christ's words. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toni Posted January 5, 2006 Share Posted January 5, 2006 Quote: Neil D said: Quote: Shane said: The Living Bible is also a paraphrase made for the purpose of being used for devotions. The Clear Word is to take the place of the Living Bible in Adventist homes. It is not to take the place of a study Bible. Perhaps it is symantics, but I thought devotions were a bible study.....If so, why have the Clear Word Bible at all?What makes it any different than the Douy Bible for JW's? I think maybe, that it's different because The New World Translation is the only Holy Scriptures that the JW's follow (they won't even call it a Bible...DH grew up JW). They won't read or study with any other translation. (I think the Douay is the Catholic translation?) I had never even hear of the Clear Word until reading about it at this site! I'm kind of intrigued now Quote Toni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bevin Posted January 5, 2006 Author Share Posted January 5, 2006 Quote: In the Clear Word one can not mistake the meaning of Christ's words. The problem with the Clear Word is simple. Let me give you two simple examples (a) Read the story of Moses' rod. The Bible says that the Egyptian's rods did exactly the same thing - the Clear Word says they did something different. ( Read the story of Saul and the Witch Of Endor. See the difference... There are many others. None, to my knowledge, are really wrong - but he has resolved ambiguities and added material and (almost?) always in favor of traditional SDA understanding. This means that, when you read it, you don't get to see the complexity of the real issues in understanding what the Bible actually says. /Bevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cricket Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Bevin, Until you believe that the Bible is true and speaks only volumes of truth, why do you even care if the Clear Word is a Bible or not? What difference does it make to you? QB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shane Posted January 6, 2006 Share Posted January 6, 2006 Quote: The problem with the Clear Word is simple... This means that, when you read it, you don't get to see the complexity of the real issues in understanding what the Bible actually says. That describes a paraphrase exactly. The Living Bible is the same, except it slants to Baptist theology. These paraphrases are not for the purpose of study. These are for devotional purposes only. Quote Pastoral Family Counselor... Find me at www.PostumCafe.com Author of Peculiar Christianity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators John317 Posted January 14, 2006 Moderators Share Posted January 14, 2006 There are many paraphrases of the Bible available and the Clear Word is one of these. I enjoy reading all of them, including the Living Bible, the New Century version, the Good News Bible, and over 20 others in my library. However, when I want to find out exactly what a particular passage of the Holy Scriptures is saying, I go to the more literal translations, such as the King James, the New King James, the New American Standard, the Revised Standard Version, Robert Young's Literal Translation, the New American Bible, Rotherham's Emphasized Bible, as well as the about 15 different Greek texts. As far as I can see, SDAs know the difference between paraphrases and accurate translations of the Bible. On the other hand, SDAs have just as much right to publish and read the Clear Word as anyone has to publish and read any other paraphrase. The author of the Clear Word says in his introduction that the Clear Word is a paraphrase and not a "translation." So what is the problem? Jim Quote John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bevin Posted January 14, 2006 Author Share Posted January 14, 2006 Quote: There are many paraphrases of the Bible available and the Clear Word is one of these. A paraphrase rephrases the material in the original The Clear Word goes way beyond that (a) It says things that are not in the original ( It says things that contradict what is in the original /Bevin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators John317 Posted January 14, 2006 Moderators Share Posted January 14, 2006 The Douay version is the Catholic translation of the Vulgate (Latin) text. The New Testament was published in 1582 and the Old Testament in 1609 and 1610. It is a faithful translation of the Latin. In many instances, it reads the same as the critical Greek text upon which the New American Standard Bible is based. The New World Translation by the Jehovah's Witnesses is claimed by them to be the most accurate translation of the Bible. However, unfortunately, it is actually one of the least accurate because an attempt was made to conform all Bible texts to the Arian view of Christ as a created being. Other verses, such as the first Psalm, are translated beautifully and accurately. No such claim for accuracy in translation is made for the Clear Word. The author of this paraphrase says plainly in his introduction that the Clear Word is a paraphrase and should be read along with literal translations of the Bible. Jim Quote John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators John317 Posted January 14, 2006 Moderators Share Posted January 14, 2006 All paraphrases add things that are not in the actual text, and they all also subtract many things that are in the original text. All paraphrases contradict things in the original text. That is the problem with all paraphrases. It is a matter of degree when it comes to the Clear Word. The important point is that the author of the Clear Word advises that readers study the literal translations as they read his paraphrase. It is intended as a commentary rather than as a true translation of the Bible. As long as readers understand that and apply it, I don't see any problem with any of the paraphrases any more than I do with Bible commentaries. I do agree with you, however, that when we study the Bible, we need to concentrate on the literal translations, such as the New King James, the New American Standard, etc. Jim Quote John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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