Friday Faves - Spoken English New Testament

I've made it a goal to read as many different Bible translations as possible in my lifetime, so each year I choose a new version to explore in my daily devotions. Lately, I've been drawn to newer, more current translations, written in the language of today.

In the past, I told you about the time my husband and I spent 3.5 years working our way through the Bible, reading aloud to each other in the mornings. The exercise was a tremendous marriage-building experience, but now I wish we had known about the Spoken English New Testament (SENT). As the name implies, this version is designed to be spoken out loud. I believe it would have greatly enhanced our journey through God's Word together.

Recently, I was given a copy of the SENT Bible by the man who developed the translation, J. Webb Mealy, PhD, a trained theologian and scholar of biblical studies. During the past few months, I've incorporated SENT into my daily reading and have found the terminology to be very clear and natural-sounding. Thankfully, it avoids the use of slang, clichés, and colloquialisms that may not be widely understood. What's more, the translation appears to maintain accuracy in the original Greek context, while at the same time makes biblical concepts and ancient practices easier to grasp.

You may not realize that in Bible times, books were typically read aloud. In fact, many of the New Testament epistles were meant to be spoken in Christian gatherings. As I've begun to verbalize God's Word each morning, it's been rather stirring to experience the Scriptures in a manner similar to the earliest New Testament believers. If my husband happens to be around getting ready for work, I've started reading aloud to him again.

I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Mealy and ask him a few questions about his work on the SENT project. In today's "Friday Faves," I wanted to give you a chance to get to know the SENT Bible translation and its creator. If you're having trouble relating to God and you'd like to add a new dimension to your Bible reading, I encourage you to consider the Spoken English New Testament.

• Read My Interview with J.Webb Mealy
• Test Drive SENT Online

_{Image: © J. Gamble and J.W. Mealy}