[Alex Murphy]

Photos by Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger

Meeting in the Princeton office of Bill Jemas’ 360 Intellectual Equity, are, from left, Jemas; Sarah Miller, business manager; Farrah Gross, creative director; and Michael Martucci, web developer. Jemas, below, is writing a new translation of the Book of Genesis.

[a fool in paradise]

“This is really about a vision of divinity that is what I’ve been thinking about for most of my adult life,” said Jemas, who sent samples of his work to 200 scholars of religion. “People who want to believe that the only possible view of God is as a male human sitting up in heaven, it throws them. I’ve gotten a dozen angry letters.”

He did a reboot on comic book characters and now intends to the do the same for the Bible.

[Natural Law]

The biggest hurdle one faces in any biblical translation is trying to determine word meaning and original intent. One has to differentiate between what a word originally meant and what it came to mean. This is particularly difficult with works that begin as oral traditions.

[dixiebelle]

I’m sorry, but as someone who has studied Hebrew at a very basic level as well as the history of the Bible in its various translations, I find this, for lack of a better word...comical.

[a fool in paradise]

Genesis in the King James Version starts out, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth,” whereas Jemas’s translation begins, “In principles the powers that be the universe conceive …”

To Jemas, choosing the word “principles” instead of “beginning” is significant, and lends itself to the ideas that principles are essential before moving ahead with anything, and the bottom-up idea, which he said he believes, that “God is the contribution of all of us.”

Sounds like President Obama would like this Bible, Obama defines sin as that which is "out of alignment with my values".

[fishtank]

Enough already.

Instead of buying the latest English translation, English-speaking Christians should consider using that money for mission groups that are translating into languages that don’t have a Bible yet.

P.S. As well intentioned as they may be, I think the ESV and others are just the latest in marketing and publishing business one-upmanship.

[techcor]

let alone a man like himself without any formal theological training

It won't be any trouble at all. First start with what is commonly believed and then change it to the what liberals want it to be. Good start with the "powers that be" . That changes it to the liberal pagan version of many gods so that any thing can be worshiped. He'll continue with "homosexuality is great" and conclude with "Gods are all for abortion and socialism". Oooh, big mystery as to what this guy is doing. /s

[TexasRepublic]

His abomination will be worse than Westcott-Hort’s.

[Liberty1970]

Genesis in the King James Version starts out, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth,” whereas Jemas’s translation begins, “In principles the powers that be the universe conceive …”

And he thinks this will be readable and useful to anyone??? I think he is badly in over his head. I think he will end up doing more to confuse people then help shed light on the ambiguities of translation.

[GreyFriar]

interesting

[OneVike]

Genesis in the King James Version starts out, “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth,” whereas Jemas’s translation begins, “In principles the powers that be the universe conceive …”

It seems to be another attempt at heresy by another unenlightened individual.

The Lords brother, James wrote in his letter.
My brethren, let not many of you become teachers, knowing that we shall receive a stricter judgment.James 3:1

Mr Jemas is putting himself into a precarious position with God, and I for one would not want to be in his skin when he meets Him.

Remember Joseph Smith and other false prophets and false teachers will have a greater condemnation for their sins then Hitler, Stalin, or any other evil man who can only destroy the body. However, destroy ones soul and it will be worse for you then for those of Sodom and Gomorrah.

[Doomonyou]

he’s put the materials together in such a way that a beginning reader can see the Book of Genesis as being filled with possibilities of meaning, and not just limited to a single meaning.

Smooth move there, Exlax.

[Iscool]

Training for Bible scholars typically includes many years of studying ancient languages like Hebrew, Aramaic and classical Greek, and involves study of whether translations should be verbatim or “thought for thought” so passages can be better understood by modern readers

God will be very happy...God said He would preserve His word forever...And finally, after thousands of years and hundreds of translations, God found someone who can get it right...

Genesis in the King James Version starts out,
“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth,”
whereas Jemas’s translation begins,
“In principles the powers that be the universe conceive …”

Well let's see here...Which one is easier to undestand in the modern language???

And which one removes God from the bible??? What we have here is another anti-Christ...

[onedoug]

There are many Hebrew translations already extant within Judaism. It’s hard to think that what he’ll find is new.