Archive for the ‘BibleFresh’ Category

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Touching the World

Wednesday, October 12th, 2011

On Saturday, October 22nd, St Martin-in-the-Fields host a celebration of accessible Bibles, called Touching the Word. It highlights the variety of Bibles available that make access easier for people with sight loss – whether through large print and Braille Bibles, audio Bibles or e-reader and online versions.

As well as celebrating in conjunction with the 400th anniversary of the Authorised Version of the Bible, this years also marks 52 years of Torch Trust and 100 years of the Guild of Church Braillists. These two organisations are working with RNIB, Compass Braille and Premier Christian Radio* for this event.

The day starts off with readings from Braille Bibles for an hour ahead of a service in St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, at 11.30am. The celebration is free to attend and bookings are open at premier.co.uk/biblecelebrations.

As well as providing wonderful and suitable prompts to thank God and celebrate the Bible’s accessibility here, the centenaries of the Authorised Bible and the Guild of Church Braillists point us to the inaccessibility of the Bible for millions around the world. Through Bible translation and literacy, Wycliffe are helping to change that. You can help too.

Biblefresh: a movement of churches, agencies, colleges and festivals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the word of God.

*Find out more about these organisations on their websites: www.rnib.org.uk, www.compassbraille.org, and www.premier.org.uk.

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Alister McGrath speaks at Wycliffe Bible Translators event

Thursday, October 6th, 2011

On 5 October 2011, over 60 church leaders in London gathered at the Emmanuel Centre Westminster to hear Professor Alister McGrath speak on the origins and the significance of the King James Bible (the Authorised Version).  He described one of the great themes of the reforming movements of the 16th century: that of accessibility, removing barriers which stopped ordinary people from having access to the riches of the Christian faith.

Alister McGrathThere was a recognition that language really matters.  There is no point having something of immense value if it’s locked in a box, confined there in a language that people cannot understand. 

Following Professor McGrath’s message, Eddie Arthur Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators, shared some of his experiences.  Eddie lived in the Ivory Coast, working on the translation of the Kouya New Testament.  He described the people he’d got to know through this work, and the impact that the Kouya Scriptures had in their lives and community.

“The Kouya NT won’t have the global impact that the KJV had, there are only 14,000 Kouya.  It’s not going to be a world changing book…  But by God’s grace we made history for the Kouya people.  Not because we’re anything special, but because this Word is special.”

Listen the full message here [1:03].

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Worth debating

Wednesday, October 5th, 2011

It’s time for Sunday lunch, and Jerry is having a comfortable chat with his friend Bill. The conversation switches from how the children are getting on at school to what today’s sermon was like. Bill has strong opinions; he can’t believe Pastor Peter would say what he said. He’s sure he read a verse somewhere that said the opposite! But Jerry read that recently too, and he thinks Pastor Peter has understood the verse correctly. Who’s right?

Like Jerry and Bill, we all want to diligently understand what the Bible’s saying, but often get conflicting meanings from different people. How do we understand the meaning of a passage?

Barrie Evans has worked as a Bible translator and a translation consultant in Africa, and has often had to delve into this very question. Next week, Barrie will be giving an introduction to hermeneutics, a scary word, but it will help Jerry, Bill and Pastor Peter to work out how they can understand the meaning of a Bible passage.

How to understand the meaning of a passage: Principles of Hermeneutics will be on Wednesday 12 October. It’s part of our series of Understanding the Scriptures Biblefresh* evening classes. You are very welcome to join us: find out more and register online for a discount at wycliffe.org.uk/eveningclasses.

biblefresh logo*Biblefresh: a movement of churches, agencies, colleges and festivals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the word of God.

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Reading the Bible with the World

Friday, September 23rd, 2011

On September 14th, we hosted the seventh Understanding the Scriptures Biblefresh* evening class. Eddie Arthur, director of Wycliffe Bible Translators in the UK, shared gleaned insights about how differently the Bible is read around the world.

As we listened, we were surprised by how many assumptions we make about how the Bible is read. Eddie touched on questions like,

  • How much difference does it make to hear the Bible instead of reading it?
  • How is our reading of the Bible impacted by the massive-and-growing church in the global south?
  • How does living in a highly divided or a pluralistic society impact Scriptural understanding?

And scattered throughout these thought-provoking ideas were stories both humorous and touching. You can download the talk through iTunes, or listen along with the powerpoint on our website, at wycliffe.org.uk/eveningclasses.

And if you enjoyed this, you’ll love next month’s too: ‘How to understand the meaning of a passage’ will be on Wednesday 12 October. See you there!

biblefresh logo*Biblefresh: a movement of churches, agencies, colleges and festivals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the word of God.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

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Extreme Bible Reading

Friday, September 9th, 2011

This Biblefresh* year of celebrating the 400th anniversary of the KJV has been wonderful so far, not least by the way that it has provoked people to get back into the Bible for themselves.  In the news today David Bathurst’s record-attempt exploits have been reported, which should probably carry a health warning!

World record attempt crumbles after Bible reader nods off
An effort to break the world record for reading aloud, by reading out the entire Bible, failed after the reader lost consciousness while reading Jeremiah.  (full post from Christian Today)

Despite having to take a rest on Saturday, he went on to complete his reading on the Sunday.  David is to be commended for having reached as far as Jeremiah, though he would have read these verses from Psalms along the way:

‘I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety’ Psalm 4:8
‘In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat – for he grants sleep to those he loves’ Psalm 127:2

So, it appears the Lord’s love overcame him in his record-breaking attempts.  Many other churches have taken up similar challenges to have Biblefresh* Bible-read-a-thons this year, and have had great fun in the process. 

Meanwhile, over 340 million people worldwide do not have access to even one verse of Scripture in their own language, and Wycliffe Bible Translators along with partners are helping to change this fact.  You can be involved.

biblefresh logo*Biblefresh: a movement of churches, agencies, colleges and festivals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the word of God.

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The YouTube Bible

Thursday, September 8th, 2011

As part of the celebrations of the anniversary of the King James Bible, one of the many celebratory projects that has been launched is The YouTube Bible. It’s aim is to have video of people reading every chapter in the King James Bible. That’s 1189 chapters!

Prunella Scales and Timothy West read their selections

You’d probably be surprised by the people involved. There are politicians, like Boris Johnson (Isaiah 11) and John Berkow, the Speaker of the House of Commons (Jonah 1). There are writers, including former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion (Ruth 1). Actors Timothy West (Revelation 1) and Prunella Scales (1 Samuel 16)  have contributed, as have academics Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Library, (Jonah 4) and – surprisingly – Richard Dawkins (Song of Songs 2). And Prince Charles has read John 14.

But the King James Bible wasn’t written just for the politicians and royalty. It was written for us everyday folk too. And that’s important in this project. If you are interested in contributing to The YouTube Bible, you can find out how on the website, kingjamesbibletrust.org.

This year marks the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible translation. But in many languages, spoken by more than 300 million people, not even one chapter of the Bible is available. As we contribute to more people hearing the KJB, we can also help more people to hear the word for the first time. Wycliffe Bible Translators are involved in translating the Bible, around the world, for people who have never heard it. Find out how you can give the Bible.

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Evening Classes: Back for More

Tuesday, September 6th, 2011

September: a time for fresh starts. You’re back from holiday, the kids are back to school and the slightly worrying grey clouds are back overhead. But fear not – we also welcome back Understanding the Scriptures evening classes.

Perhaps you’ve missed out on the classes up to now, or maybe June seems so long ago that you’ve completely forgotten them. To jog your memory, here’s what people have been saying about them so far:

“It was well researched, very well thought out. There’s plenty of content. They are well presented and accessible to just about anyone”

“The variety of topics and the scholarship of speakers have been excellent”

“The speakers obviously love their subjects”

“I enjoyed it enormously”

September also sees the return of Eddie Arthur, the Director of Wycliffe Bible Translators, as our speaker. Last time he spoke, here’s how people responded:

“An interesting speaker, easy to listen to and understand, sprinkled with jokes and stories”

“Clear, concise, understandable at all levels”

Eddie’s talk will be on How do other cultures read the Bible? Insights from the worldwide church. If you want to hear Eddie’s previous talk, you can find that – and all the others – on the resources page of our website.

Classes start again on Wednesday 14 September at the Wycliffe Centre, near High Wycombe. Come along, bring a friend, and sign up in advance for a discount: more information on our website, at wycliffe.org.uk/eveningclasses.

Understanding the Scriptures evening classes are a Biblefresh initiative. Biblefresh is a movement of churches, organisations and individuals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the word of God as part of this year’s celebrations of the 400th anniversary of the KJV. .

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Handwritten, buried treasure

Sunday, September 4th, 2011

Through the Biblefresh* year this year, we’re having a great time connecting with other agencies who are also passionate about people having and reading the Bible for themselves.  Open Doors Youth share this story in their new resource ‘The Dangerous Book’.

CHINA: “We took shifts copying for 20 days continuously, two copying and two correcting. By the last night, we finished and went to return the Bible. Exhausted, we fell asleep on the way. Morning came and we rushed to return it to the elderly woman, constantly apologizing. We started reading Open Doors Youth logoour hand-copied Bible immediately. At the time we had 10 churches, and we used that Bible during meetings. This copy was lent among the churches. This Bible is very precious to us. We hid it at a meeting place by digging a hole, putting it in and covering it with a rock. I used it for 10 years, until it was discovered and confiscated.”

Millions of people across the world are cut off from God’s word.  Some don’t have access to it because of persecution.  Some don’t have access to it because their language isn’t written down, and there’s no translation yet.  Those without it are hungry for it.

‘How can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’  Romans 10v14

Or how can they hear when the word is confiscated, or not in a language they can understand?  God is reaching out in so many ways, and using very ordinary people to do extraordinary things.  Whilst Open Doors supports Christians who are persecuted for their faith by supplying Bibles to them, Wycliffe Bible Translators is pressing on by starting a Bible translation projects for every remaining language that needs one.  Find out more about the persecuted church through youth.opendoorsuk.org, and check out their new resource ‘The Dangerous Book‘.  You can also  get involved with what God is doing through Bible translation by reading more on the Wycliffe Bible Translators UK website.

*Biblefresh: a movement of churches, agencies, colleges and festivals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the word of God.

 

 

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Evening Classes are on the way

Tuesday, August 16th, 2011

It’s just one month now until Understanding the Scriptures evening classes return. The series started in January and has been providing quick introductions to big theological topics, like hermeneutics or the reliability of the Bible.

Each class is taught by someone involved with Wycliffe Bible Translators, so they have experience of working intimately with the Bible. Their experiences from around the world often provide a new and interesting insight that you may not have considered before.

If you want to get a taster before classes begin again on Wednesday 14 September, we have the audio and presentations from all the classes so far available on our website. You can also find out more about the speakers and how to sign up.

In the next class, we’ll be considering how other cultures read the Bible and what insights we can get from the worldwide church. Sign up now.

biblefresh logo

Understanding the Scriptures evening classes are a Biblefresh initiative. Biblefresh is a movement of churches, organisations and individuals seeking to encourage and inspire churches across the UK to a greater confidence and appetite for the word of God.

Photo: Søren Kjeldgaard (http://www.sorenkjeldgaard.com)

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Biblefresh So Far

Sunday, August 14th, 2011

As you may know, Wycliffe Bible Translators and lots of other organisations have been celebrating the ‘Year of the Bible’  through Biblefresh. Biblefresh is an initiative to help people get back into the Bible. So with the Biblefresh year more than halfway gone, how have things been going?

How has the Bible changed you? Photo from Biblefresh

Here are some of the numbers we’ve seen since January 1:

120 different organisations and agencies have come together sharing a single vision under the Biblefresh banner.

12-plus different dishes inspired by the Bible such as locusts and wild honey, Passover supper, pigeon, partridge and quail and bread and fish were served up by members of the Churches Together in Sidmouth.

3,000 shoeboxes were filled with different items to represent each of the 66 books of the Bible. Boxes included knitted figleaves, Lego men being massacred and the feeding of 5,000 jelly babies. The shoe boxes were displayed at Peterborough Cathedral.

21,000 GBP pounds has been raised so far by asking people to donate £1 for every copy of the Bible they own. This has gone towards translating the Old Testament into Bissa Lebir and the New Testament into Bissa Barka – two native languages of the Bissa people of Burkina Faso, the world’s third poorest nation.

biblefresh logoYou can get more numbers from the Biblefresh press release, available here on the Evangelical Alliance website.

There’s still time for you to get involved with Biblefresh: find out more.

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