The Underground -- Digital edition of complete Common English Bible now available |
- Digital edition of complete Common English Bible now available
- California school district refunds brick project donations because some had Bible verses on them
- U.S. Catholic bishops tweak sex abuse guidelines
- Letter from wife of Chinese blind activist reveals graphic details of torture
- Duggar family promotes free interactive teaching programs for families
- Southern Baptist Convention adopts resolutions on immigration, gender-free NIV bible
- Man pleads not guilty in case of stolen cross relic
| Digital edition of complete Common English Bible now available Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:17 AM PDT
Some two months before its print editions will be released at bookstores, the complete Common English Bible can be downloaded online. The new CEB is available in 20 digital platforms, namely iPad, iPhone, Kindle, Olivetree, Logos, Sony, Nook, BibleWorks, Kobo, ChristianBook, Accordance Software, YouVersion, Lightning Source, Copia, Blio and OverDrive. Also available online is a search widget that can be downloaded by users to their websites and blogs. It can also be accessed through Bible Study Tools and Bible Gateway. The digital version of the complete CEB is available at a special introductory price of $5.95 until September 1, when the price will be raised to $9.95. This is the first time that a complete version, including the Old Testament, New Testament and Apocrypha will be available in the CEB, which released a New Testament in August last year. “The Common English Bible is a brand-new, bold translation designed to meet the needs of people in all stages of their spiritual journey and study,” Paul Franklyn, associate publisher, said, adding, “We’re excited to make this translation available as soon as possible through the Internet and other digital resources.” 21st century English The CEB is distinctive because it uses the daily language of 21st century readers, making it relevant without compromising authenticity. Some examples are the use of “reconcile,” or “reconciliation” in place of “atonement,” “chest containing the covenant” in place of “ark of the covenant,” and “temple equipment” in place of “vessels of the temple,” according to its website. Over 120 scholars from 22 faith traditions worked on the CEB, including men and women from American, Asian, African, Latino and European communities. They hailed from leading academic institutions including Yale University, Princeton Theological Seminary, Asbury Theological Seminary, Bethel Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Seattle Pacific University, Denver Seminary and Wheaton College, among others. The CEB was also previewed by some 500 readers, who listened as the translation was read aloud, and pointed out passages that were potentially confusing. Their input was considered in its final reworking. The CEB was approved last May by the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA for scholarly use. (See http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2011/05/fuller-theological-seminary-adopts-gender-friendly-more-readable-common-english-bible-15895/). “The Common English Bible is the result of collaboration between opposites: men working with women; scholars working with average readers; conservatives working with liberals, many denominations and many ethnicities coming together around the common goal of creating a translation that unites rather than divides, with the ultimate goal of mutually accomplishing God’s overall work in the world,” Franklyn said. It has special relevance amid the digital revolution which has hastened daily language changes, making the bible more understandable and compelling whether privately used by individuals or for church worship. |
| California school district refunds brick project donations because some had Bible verses on them Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:17 AM PDT
A school district in California returned recently some $45,000 in donations after some donors purchased bricks inscribed bible verses which were to be used to help build a new school. The Desert Sands Unified School District returned recently money from a fundraising project for Palm Desert High, as a portion of a settlement in a court case that was filed against them. The case was filed against DSUSD because it would not permit the use of bricks that contained bible verses for the new school, which is slated to operate in the fall. The case was filed against DSUSD by donors Lou Ann Hart and Sheryl Caronna. They were represented by attorney David Cortman of the Alliance Defense Fund. It is expected that with the refund, they will request a dismissal of the lawsuit. All of the bricks that donors purchased were, upon legal advice, destroyed by the school and its components have been recycled, Cindy McDaniel, assistant superintendent at DSUSD, told MyDesert.com. Some of the funds that were raised had already been used by the Parent Teacher Organization for the graduation of the Class of 2010, but the district still paid all refunds and will also shoulder the legal fees of Caronna and Hart. Bible verses The melee began when Hart and Caronna purchased bricks for the fundraiser at the cost of $100-$250 each. The bricks were supposed to be used along the walkways of the school. Bible verses on the bricks included “The old life has gone, a new one has begun” (2 Cor. 5:17), “Be kind to each other, forgive one another” (Eph. 5:32), and “No one can serve two masters,” (Luke 17:13). The fundraiser was announced in February by the parent-teacher association of the school. However, no specifications were given as to what donors could print on the bricks. Under the program people or groups were allowed to personalize a brick that they purchased, and it would be placed along one of the new buildings of the high school. Hundreds of other bricks had already been accepted that had quotes and messages on them, including some with religious themes. One quote that was accepted came from the Bible, but it was written in Spanish. Leaders of other school districts did not comment on the issue, mentioning pending litigation. Cortman said, “There is absolutely nothing unconstitutional about a Bible verse on a brick when a school opens up a program for anyone to express a personal message.” |
| U.S. Catholic bishops tweak sex abuse guidelines Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:17 AM PDT
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops revised recently its 2002 charter regarding clergy sexual abuse of children, but critics think the changes are not strong enough. The revision on the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People states that under church law, child pornography is a crime and that abuse of a mentally disabled person is also equivalent to child abuse. The new revisions are minor and largely in line with the new standards that were set by the Vatican in May. The 2002 Charter was drawn up in response to nationwide reports of clergy sex abuse. In a vote of 187 to five, with four abstentions, the revisions were approved by the bishops, who said that the sharp decline in the incidence of clergy sexual abuse since 2002 shows that the Charter has been effective. However, advocates of the victims cited recent incidents by church leaders that occurred in Kansas City and Philadelphia, and stressed that because church policies are weak, nonbinding and cannot be enforced, more change is needed. Report bishops, not just priests Two proposals that the bishops adopted were suggested by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston. One is that bishops must report accusations of sexual abuse committed by bishops and priests to civil authorities. The 2002 charter only required this if the accused is a priest. The other categorizes pornographic images of children to apply to anyone under the age of 18. Previously, this only applied to children under age 14. Squandered opportunity “[T]he bishops…chose to rubber-stamp a nearly identical policy for the future,” BishopAccountability.org wrote on its website adding, “This is a squandered opportunity and a disaster for children.” “Dramatic reforms are needed to better protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded. But we still aren’t seeing any bishops really trying, Barbara Dorris, outreach director of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests said in a statement. Dorris, who was 13 years old when a priest abused her, said, “We especially want to see the policy amended to mandate harsh penalties for any church employee from custodian to cardinal who ignore or conceals child sex crimes. There are no such provisions now, and almost never are those who ‘enable’ child molesting clerics ever punished for their misdeeds.” Church officials disagree, however. Bishop Blase J. Cupich said, “The charter has served the church well. It is a helpful tool as we keep our pledge to protect children, promote healing and rebuild trust,” CNN reported. Some $2 billion has been spent overall by the church in settling cases of sexual abuse, education on the abuse crisis and training on spotting abuse. Nearly limitless power “The crux of the crisis continues to be the nearly limitless power of bishops,” David Clohessy of SNAP told CNN, adding that although the guidelines require bishops and other religious to report any sexual abuse allegations, “It’s akin to having speed limits with no cops. If no one ever gets a ticket, safety won’t improve.” |
| Letter from wife of Chinese blind activist reveals graphic details of torture Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:14 AM PDT
A letter from the wife of a blind activist in China was released recently by ChinaAid, detailing the torture and beatings that she and her husband have been subject to since he was placed under house arrest. Yuan Weijing, wife of blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng, said in her handwritten letter that her husband and she had been abused and beaten to unconsciousness by dozens of plainclothes men led by a local Communist leader. Afterwards, they were denied medical treatment, Reuters reported. Bob Fu, president of ChinaAid, slammed the cruelty and called on the international community for support saying, “Peaceful legal advocates, like Chen Guangcheng, can be beaten, jailed and tortured, but they will not disappear unless the international community is silent.” Fu added, “This is unacceptable from a country that claims to follow the rule of law. The international community, including the Obama administration, should call China to account.” House arrest Chen had been in jail for four years, and last September was placed under house arrest. In 2005, Chen exposed abuses committed by the government through its population control policy, including forced sterilization and late-term abortions, the AFP said. However, the police claimed that he was jailed for disruption of traffic due to a protest and damage to property. Chen and his family say the charges are false, Reuters reported. Chen is a self-taught lawyer who has been blind since childhood. He often advised neighbors who complained of various abuses including land grabs, according to Reuters. Video Torture was stepped up against the family, including Chen’s mother and his daughter, since last February, after a surreptitiously-made video was released by ChinaAid which showed the conditions of Chen and his family under house arrest, Reuters reported. Fu, president of ChinaAid, told Reuters that Yuan’s letter was smuggled through “very reliable persons,” and added that the handwriting matches previous correspondence by Yuan. International support needed Yuan said that on Feb. 18, (one week after the secret video was released), some 80 plainclothes men led by Zhang Jian, vice secretary of the town’s Communist Party, forcibly entered their home. The men, who did not produce any legal documents, beat and tortured the couple for more than two hours. “More than 10 men covered me totally with a blanket and kicked my ribs and all over my body,” Yuan wrote. “After half an hour’s non-stop torture, I finally squeezed my head out of the blanket. I saw more than 10 men surrounded Chen Guangcheng, torturing him. Some of them twisted his arms forcefully while the others pushing his head down and lifting his collar up tightly,” she wrote in her letter. After the beatings, Yuan described the following injuries: “My left eyebrow bone and one of my bottom left ribs might be broken. My left eye lost vision for 5-6 days because of the bruise, blood in the white of my eye, and swollenness. Even today, I still cannot stand with my body straight and I suffer pain when breathing,” according to the letter. She wrote in her letter that they were not allowed to receive medical aid, except for a one-time injection that Yuan was allowed to be given from a village doctor. Yuan also said the men took away their video camera, audio tape recorder, chargers, flashlight and computer. Yuan then narrated the following sequence of events:
Yuan said their five-year-old daughter is also under house arrest and the men took her toys and books. Chen’s mother was also monitored even when she worked in the field as a farmer. By mid March, she was not allowed to leave the house at all. Yuan also said that Chen suffers from long-term diarrhea and the blood is now dark instead of its former red color. The guards have been threatening to move the family to an empty courtyard, she wrote in the letter. Foreign journalists who have tried to visit Chen have been forced away and calls to local government offices by journalists and to China’s Foreign Ministry are not answered, Reuters said. To see the video footage that was made last Feb. 9, and which initiated the latest rash of abuse, go to www.chinaaid.org/2011/02/exclusive-video-shows-ill-treatment.html. |
| Duggar family promotes free interactive teaching programs for families Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:11 AM PDT
The Duggar family, who star on TLC’s reality TV program, 19 Kids and Counting, forged a partnership recently with The Seed Company, which is among the fastest-growing bible translation groups in the world. The projects that they will collaborate on are The Seed Company’s KidsDiscover program, an free online biblical interactive program for families and their children, and MakazieVille, an interactive online game that is designed to help children understand how other children in different parts of the world deal with social, environmental, religious and economical difficulties. The Duggar family will feature both programs on its website. Currently, KidsDiscover is already being featured, while MakazieVille is currently scheduling a launching date. “We feel extremely blessed to partner with the Duggar family in our shared mission of spreading God’s word,” Roy Peterson, president and CEO of The Seed Company said, adding, “Becoming a recommended resource on the Duggar’s new website is a great opportunity.” Peterson added that the tie-up will help The Seed Company to reach a wider market and bring families closer together through the Scriptures. It will also help in “providing them with an opportunity to support the Great Commission.” Under the KidsDiscover interactive and educational program, families learn of God’s word through storytelling in OneVerse ministry. Two 10-week programs are offered for free, one on the Old Testament, and the other on the New Testament. Aside from taking a journey from creation onwards in the bible, children also are given tools to measure what they have learned, including challenge questions, downloadable worksheets, vocabulary builders, games, teaching activities and others. Another offering is the VBS program, where children learn about the ways that Scripture changes people once they hear it in their own languages. Included is an exercise where children can help to translate specific bible verses for the first time. This program includes a component for missions so that families learn of the more than 2,000 groups of people totalling 340 million who still do not have access to the bible in their spoken language. Of the partnership, Jim Bob Duggar said, “By partnering with The Seed Company, we are not only providing families with the tools to grow closer to God, but we are also providing them with a way to grow closer as a family through God. It is our sincere hope that families utilize the KidsDiscover program as a catalyst to share the Bible together and simultaneously consider the opportunity to share the gift of God’s word with a family across the globe.” The Seed Company was founded in 1993 by Wycliffe Bible Translators and has over 600 projects that are either ongoing or completed. Its vision is to develop novel ways to more efficiently, accurately and rapidly translate the bible for others. |
| Southern Baptist Convention adopts resolutions on immigration, gender-free NIV bible Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:10 AM PDT
The largest protestant denomination in the country adopted recently a resolution that would provide a way for undocumented immigrants in the country to acquire citizenship, without granting them amnesty. The Southern Baptists, in their annual convention held in Phoenix, approved a statement calling on the government to prioritize effective border security and rendering businesses accountable in their mode of hiring. The statement asked government officials “to implement, with the borders secured, a just and compassionate path to legal status, with appropriate restitutionary measures, for those undocumented immigrants already living in our country. The resolution, which was passed last Wednesday, called for compassion, justice and a rejection of bigotry, stating, “any form of nativism, mistreatment, or exploitation is inconsistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” It also urged SBC members and churches to share the gospel with all people, without lending consideration to their immigration status. Also passed during the convention was a surprise resolution about the newly-released, New International Version of the Bible which is gender neutral. Immigration resolution Paul Jimenez, chairman of the Resolutions Committee, said it was only incidental that the immigration resolution was passed during the Convention, which is being held in a state that is largely perceived as hostile to immigrants. A number of groups boycotted the convention because of this. The resolution on immigration was adopted by a broad majority only after the language clearly stated that it was not endorsing amnesty by adding the phrase, “This resolution is not to be construed as support for amnesty for any undocumented immigrant.” With the addition of the phrase, up to 70-80 percent of the convention participants endorsed the resolution. Not everyone agreed with it. Richard Huff, of Corona de Tucson Baptist Church in Arizona, said, “[T]he principle is that citizenship is a right of people that are here under legal processes, and you do not want to make this something you are rewarding people who are in violation of the law and they have no interest in being here legally,” RNS reported. But Jimenez said the resolution is “a realistic and biblical approach to immigration” that will “speak first and foremost to the pockets of lostness” within the country. Jimenez added, “[I]mmigrants in this country are in desperate need of the Gospel and their numbers are growing and growing at an exponential rate,” adding, “We can present the Gospel while at the same time upholding the law of the land.” NIV resolution A resolution was also overwhelmingly passed by delegates expressing “profound disappointment” with the 2011 New International Version of the Bible which uses gender-neutral language. The delegates agreed in a vote that the Bible is an “inaccurate translation of God’s inspired scripture.” Other resolutions that were adopted concerned Biblical teachings about hell, religious freedom in the world, the exclusivity of marriage between a man and a woman, corporate repentance and civil public discourse. This year’s SBC Convention had the lowest number of registrants since 1944, totaling 4,814 delegates. |
| Man pleads not guilty in case of stolen cross relic Posted: 17 Jun 2011 08:03 AM PDT
Earl Frost, 35, pleaded not guilty to the felony of receiving The Relic of the True Cross, which was stolen last year from a Boston cathedral, and is being held on bail of $10,000. Description Police told the AP that the relic, which is over 2,000 years old, is about two inches in width. It had been kept in an inner chapel inside of a round, glass case, that was edged and backed with brass. In the back, it was stamped with the seal of the pope’s ring. When the relic was reported missing Lt. detective Michael Conley told The Boston Globe, “Somebody knew what it was.” There was no indication of forced entry into the cathedral, but the casing that kept the relic had been pried open. The relic dates back to the 18th century, when it was given to Boston’s first bishop, Rev. Jean-Louis Lefebvre de Cheverus. It is one of many similar relics the world over that are believed to be parts of the cross of Jesus. Terrence C. Donilon, spokesman of the archdiocese told The Boston Globe, “The Relic of the True Cross is an important sacramental that helps Christians contemplate the crucified Savior and the great suffering He endured for the salvation of the world.” Frost told the Vermont police last August that he had the relic, but he denied stealing it. Instead, Frost claimed that he acquired the artifact from a person in Rhode Island. The Vermont State Police told the AP that they came to know of the artifact with the help of Richard Duncan, the partner of Frost. Duncan and Frost had a heated argument, after which Duncan went to the police and told them there was a matter that they needed to know about, but they should hear it from Frost. When the police contacted Frost, the latter informed them that he had the Catholic relic. He added that Duncan and he had argued because Frost wanted to return the artifact directly to the church, while Duncan said it should be handed over to the police. Church verifies authenticity Officials of the church verified the authenticity of the artifact, but by then, Frost had gone to New Hampshire, where he was arrested on unrelated charges. Because he did not agree to be extradited to Vermont, his arraignment at the Windsor County Superior Court was delayed and only took place last Tuesday. His next court hearing will be on July 12. Prosecutor Robert Sand said the value of relics such as these is usually established by the church and by eBay. “The standard definition of fair market is what a willing buyer will pay a willing seller,” the AP reported. Sand placed the value of the relic at around $3,000. |
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