(The Holy Bible) minus (Jesus) does not equal (The Voice)

Seven years ago, long before Cee-Lo and Christina Aguilera sat in big, red chairs in front of big, red buzzers, one of my friends and colleagues, Dr. David Capes, asked me if I would be interested in being on a board of biblical scholars working on a new translation of the Bible called, The Voice.  He explained to me that the rationale behind The Voice was to combat the rising tide of biblical illiteracy among the present and future generations.  As one who has been called by God, gone to seminary for a decade, and dedicated my entire life to doing this very thing, why would I ever say "No" to such an invitation?

What followed in the months and years to come was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  I found myself wading through pages and pages of text editing many of the most familiar and best-loved passages of the Old Testament.  The Psalms.  Ezekiel.  Jeremiah.  Genesis.  Our mandated task as biblical scholars was to be certain that the submitted translations were not too far from the original text.  In two rigorous levels of original language review (only two of over a dozen levels of editing, by the way), we used all of our skills in Ancient Hebrew and New Testament Greek to make sure that the translation was new and fresh, but not unfaithful to the most ancient texts held sacred by followers of the Lord.

The Voice has been in the news recently, but not in celebration of the release of the finished, combined Old and New Testaments.  Not celebration, but condemnation.

An editor for the "Religion" section of USA Today ran a story about The Voice on April 15 which incorrectly gave the impression that "the name Jesus Christ doesn't appear in The Voice."  (Here is a link to the article:  http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/story/2012-04-15/the-voice-bible-translation/54301502/1)  The story got picked up by CNN, which aired an interview with Dr. Capes the next day (http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/bestoftv/2012/04/17/sot-nr-the-voice-bible.cnn).  The treatment by CNN was even worse, as evidenced in the title of the segment, "Christ missing from new Bible," and from the anchor, Carol Costello's, repeated references to the "removal of Christ from the Bible."  The Internet immediately blew up with angry, well-meaning (but misinformed) Christians berating The Voice and lauding the King James Version.  Others were not so kind, accusing David Capes, Thomas Nelson Publishers, and the rest of us who worked on the project of "only being out to make more money" off of the sales of a new translation.  "Just more evidence of the scam that is Christianity" they wrote.

Before I submit a brief, scholarly defense of The Voice, I want to make two things as clear as I possibly can.  First, any money that I made from the many hours that I worked on The Voice, which was only a few hundred bucks, has already come and gone.  David told me on the first day that he asked me to work on the project that this would be "a labor of love."  Anyone who is in the trenches of ministry and/or theological education can tell you that we ain't in it for the money.  (Can I get a hearty "Amen" from my fellow members of the clergy?!)  Since the New Testament is not my specialty field and Greek is not my main language of study, I didn't even work on the New Testament section, which is the section under attack.  I am not defending The Voice because I am being paid to do so or I am taking it personally.

Second, I made a decision a long time ago not to be drawn into any ill-tempered conversations with ax-grinding non-believers.  The Bible does not need me to defend it, and God, who inspired righteous human beings in the original composition of the biblical texts, will be just fine without me attempting to "prove" His existence to someone who has already made up his/her mind that He does not.  I don't have the time or the energy anyway.  In other words, I am not defending The Voice because I am trying to start a fight with anyone.

Having said this, I would ask those who would automatically dismiss the idea that "newer translations are easier to read and more accurate" to consider three truths.

The first point is the most important.  Put it on a billboard.  Write it in the clouds.  Shout it from the highest mountaintop.  Broadcast it.  Tweet it.  Post it.  In every language and in every country.  THE WORD "CHRIST" IS NOT A NAME, BUT A TITLE.  Now "Jesus?"  That's a name.  But Jesus' last name was not "Christ."  Though it is admittedly a somewhat simplistic explanation, in 382 AD, Jerome was commissioned by Pope Damascus I to finish a Latin translation of the Old and New Testaments.  The result is what we call the Latin Vulgate.  It is the translation upon which the authorized Catholic Latin Bible, the Nova Vulgata, is based.  Jerome, rightly or wrongly, opted NOT to translate the Hebrew word for "anointed one" or "messiah," mashiach, and the Greek word for "anointed one" or "messiah," christos.  He chose to transliterate them.  This means that he approximated an English word based on these foreign words.  (It would be like me writing, "The Hebrew word for 'heart' is 'lev.'"  I could write it in Hebrew, but unless you know Hebrew, you wouldn't be able to read it.)  Most English translations have followed Jerome's lead.  Thus, IESOU CHRISTOU was rendered "Jesus Christ" instead of "Jesus the Anointed One" or "Jesus the Messiah."  The translators of The Voice made a conscious decision not to transliterate any Hebrew or Greek words except proper names.  Since "Christ" is not a proper name, they didn't transliterate it.  Instead, they did what you are supposed to do in a translation:  translate.  They did not "take the name 'Christ' out of the Bible" because there is no "name 'Christ'" IN the Bible.  If anything, this rendering is closer to the original intention of the text, not further away from it.  To say that the translators of The Voice "removed the name of Christ from the Bible" is completely, totally, patently, 100% false.

The second point has to do with the character of those who have been the driving forces behind The Voice.  There were dozens of people, including myself, who worked on this project.  Some of them are friends and colleagues of mine, and others I have never even met.  When I think of this project, though, there are three names that come into my mind:  Chris Seay, David Capes, and Frank Crouch.  While I know all of them, I know David the best.  He is one who hired me to teach as an Adjunct Professor for the Department of Christianity (now the School of Theology) at Houston Baptist University in 2004, and, as I mentioned, the one who asked me to work on this project.  For anyone to claim that David Capes has a low view of Christ is sheer lunacy.  He is one of the kindest, most engaging, and most intelligent scholars that I know.  In an age when most followers of Christ are drawing lines of demarcation in the sand against those of other faiths, David has done more to foster the ongoing dialogue between Christians, Jews, and Muslims than just about anyone else in the City of Houston.  Now, he has become the one with the biggest target on his back.  It is just ridiculous.  I would encourage those ready to crucify David Capes upside down to pick up one of his books, read a few pages, then tell me if you think he doesn't believe that Jesus is the Christ.  Keep your head up, David.  If the world hates you, you know that has hated Him before it hated you.  (John 15:18)

Finally, and rather ironically, all of this brouhaha has only proven the case for The Voice.  The whole reason for the project is to clear up much of the misunderstanding about the Bible.  This has shown how many of these misconceptions there really are.  If you need further proof, watch Jeopardy!, see the blank stares, and listen to the crickets chirp when a "Bible" category appears.  Before you throw The Voice onto the trash heap, I would encourage you, just as the childlike voice that Augustine heard did, to Tolle, Lege, "Take, Read."  Lest you think that this is just another ploy to get you to buy it, if you don't want to buy one, just let me know.  I'll either give you one of mine or I'll buy one and give it to you.

I know that this has been long post, but I wanted to give a clear, detailed explanation of the heartfelt motivation behind the project and to clear up the blatant misrepresentation of this great work.  When it comes to The Voice as a viable Bible translation, if I had a big, red buzzer in front of me, I would pound it (just like on The Voice, not America's Got Talent).