Bible HIStory
After centuries of Bible translations, the last century saw an explosion in the number of versions of Scripture. It began with the publication of the American Standard Version in 1901, which closely resembled the English Revised Version. In 1952 the Revised Standard Version began a rush of modern versions, followed by the Amplified Version in 1965, the Living Bible in 1971, the JB Phillips in1972, the New King James Version published in 1990, and many more .All through this era, there has been controversy over the accuracy of the different versions, especially as publishers sought to express the Scriptures in more contemporary language. There were the critics of each new version, such as the Good News Bible in 1976, the Contemporary English Version in 1992 and Eugene Petersen’s ‘The Message’ in 2002. There were also those who welcomed the chanceto read the Bible in more accessible and modern day language.

As all of this was going on, scholars’ knowledge of the Bible’s original languages, ancient Hebrew and Greek grewim measurably. This enabled many scholars and Bible students to make more educated judgements on the text of the Bible.In our next issue of Bibles@work, we’llconclude our popular Bible HIStory series with the history ofthe Bible Society.

How God Provides
Castle Hill Baptist church in Sydney has been a long termand generous supporter of Bible Society work – andthey’re very creative!

Their latest fundraising endeavour was a ‘slave auction’. It was run by the church’s Family Fellowship group. In the lead-up to auction night, they see what special gifts and expertise they can uncover in their congregation. A list is compiled and each item is auctioned off in a fabulousnight of fun and fellowship.

Here are some of the treats that were auctioned on thenight - boat rides, motor-bike tours, a harbour cruise,wedding car services, drum lessons, a family portrait photographic session, dinners cooked and lawns mowed. One of the highlights of the night was a husband and wifebidding against each other!

As the auction proceeded the bids were recorded and projected up on a screen for everyone to follow. As the total increased, they could also see how many Biblescould be purchased with the proceeds. All up $3,000 wasraised on the night.

As they say on TV – ‘But wait, there’s more’. Castle Hill Baptist has organised other great fundraisers for Bible Society. Their Girls Brigade raises money for Bible A Month partners. The Oasis kids group also cooks yummy food to sell to their appreciative parents and friends, with the proceeds going to Bible Society.

So to Castle Hill Baptist, THANK YOU!

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