Annette's Fav Translation

About 5 minutes ago, Annette got very excited. She just found that the J.B. Phillips translation of the New Testament online and free to use. For those of you who aren't familiar with this translation, here's a bit of background:

The translator John B. Phillips (1906-1982), was an English clergyman who had studied classical Greek at Cambridge University. He worked directly from "the best available Greek text" and did not consult other modern translations until his own version has been finished.

In his acknowledgements he specifically thanks C.S. Lewis for encouraging him in the translation process and for providing a title for the epistles - Letters to Young Churches - and an introduction.

For his part Lewis said, "It would have saved me a great deal of labour if this book had come into my hands when I first seriously began to try to discover what Christianity was."

Annette loves it because 1) it is a translation and not a paraphrase, 2) it is fresh but not bogged down in clichés. Try out this excerpt:

With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity. Romans 12:1-2

I hope you enjoy it (click here).