On “Our Home Page” we discussed a bit about the Christian Bible Society, the owner of this website and the publisher of the Christian Bible and its Companion Reference Guide.  So let’s, instead, now talk about the translators of the Christian Bible, who were also the editors and compilers of the Companion Reference Guide.

The translators of the Christian Bible wish to remain anonymous, so that any honor, respect, and glory that might be given by fellow Believers, might not be given to them, but rather, where it belongs, to God.  Also, they don’t want the Christian Bible to be judged based on some person’s perception of their personal qualifications (or weaknesses), but rather, on the results of their labor — this translation of the Bible itself.

Plus, the translators want any enemies of this translation to focus solely on the translation itself, such that their attacks can only be against our stronghold — the translation’s excellent quality.  The translators don’t want to provide any additional ammunition to these enemies, to prevent them from being able to divert the attention of others, by allowing them to improperly attempt verbal attacks against the translators themselves.  However, so that you might know a little about the development of the Christian Bible, and about those who have done this work for God, for you, and for themselves, we provide the following.

The translators realized, back in 1967, that a new, good, literal, accurate translation of God’s Word (“the Bible”) was needed.  Yet, they humbly hoped that someone else more qualified would do the work (or had already started it). Yet, by the middle of 1975, they were finally forced to recognize that God had prepared them for this work.  God had given them the intelligence, insight, training, and temperment to do this.  Now, since they were trying hard to faithfully follow their Savior and to do what He wanted, it became obvious to them that they had better not dare reject doing this work and be negligent and disobedient slaves.  So, they accepted responsibility for this monumental task with many prayers for much assistance, and set about planning how to carry it out.

It was decided that during the planning stage, three areas needed to be addressed:  first, the goals, methods, and rules for the translation of the Bible should be defined; second, the equipment that was required, should be purchased; and third, the money needed to accomplish the task, should be made.  The first two items were achieved over the next two years; but, of course, the third item (money-making) became a dismal failure.  Between 1975 and 1980 they tried eight separate money-making projects.  However, it finally became obvious, that God in His wisdom did not intend to have them be rich, so that they might have the time and money to do a translation of the Bible.  If they had become rich, they might have lost their perseverance and dedication, and so never finished the work; or they might have become soft and quick to finish, and so just slapped something together; or they might have become “too smart” and transformed God’s Truth into a cultic book through prejudiced mistranslations.  No, it was laid upon them, that they must joyfully move forward with the work, with faith that their Father would provide, as it was needed.

By December of 1980 the translation rules, methods, and goals had been firmly established, the most modern equipment was ready, the necessary tools had been developed, and the best Koine Greek version of God’s Word (“the Bible”) had been made ready.  At this point the translation team didn’t spend much time considering how long it would take to finish the work, but they probably would have guessed twelve to eighteen months.  Rather, they began working with a fervent zeal that they would maintain even until the work was completed and published.  With very little time off, with many overtime hours (many times to 3 a.m. and beyond), with many sleepless nights, with many times in fear of faulty work, with many times in shocked joy of the beauty found, and in spite of many sacrifices, they spent the next 7 years and 7 months through June of 1988 working on the translation of God’s Word (“the Bible”).

Then, for the next 21 months, from July of 1988 through March of 1990, they merged and enhanced their translation tools into a reference guide that includes an exhaustive concordance for the Bible.  They did this even before publishing the Christian Bible, so that people would have a book to use, to prove for themselves, that the Christian Bible is faithful to the original Greek.

Then, from March of 1990 until the middle of 1991 when the Christian Bible and its Companion Reference Guide first went to the printers, the time was spent re-editing the books, checking footnotes, laying out the pages, drawing maps, writing the introductions, and typesetting the pages.

So, from start to finish, this work took 16 years.  In 1975 before it was begun, each translator had a good job, owned a nice home, drove a nice car, and the youngest was in his twenties.  When this “labor of love” was completed, none of them had a paying job, none had made any money in the past 7 years, none owned any stocks or property, none owned a vehicle newer than thirteen years old, none even had $1,000 in a bank account, and the oldest was now well into his forties.

No institution, group, or individual (apart from the translation team) financed this translation work of the Bible.  Only three people who were not on the translation team, were aware that a team member was working on a translation of God’s Word (“the Bible”).  For sixteen years, neither family (parents, siblings, etc.), nor friends, nor neighbors knew about this work.  None of the three people who did know about it, contributed even one dollar towards the work, or made any suggestions as to how this translation of the Bible should be done; and at its completion in 1991, none of the three lived closer than 700 miles to a team member or had communicated with a team member since 1981, except by letter, no more than once a year.

As you can see, the translators wanted no outside human influence on this translation work of the Bible.  So, they supported themselves with savings, temporary jobs, and sales of possessions; plus, there were four other people who provided some financial help to individual team members, but they were not aware that the recipients were working on a translation of the Bible.

This translation of the Bible was done in cities, in a small town, but mostly in the country.  It was done while team members lived in apartments, in a small old house, and in single-wide mobile homes.  There were different times that lasted for days (and even weeks) when their living and working facilities didn’t have electricity, hot water, running water, or working indoor plumbing.  During most of the translation work of the Bible and at its completion, none of them had a microwave oven, a dishwashing machine, an automatic clothes washing machine, or even a clothes drying machine, but they never missed a meal for lack of money, they used the best equipment available for the translation of the Bible, and they never had to consider carelessly rushing the translation of the Bible through to completion.  They meticulously took one step at a time, while trying hard not to be overwhelmed by the enormity and complexity of the task, trusting that God would take care of them and everything else.

The translators came out of different, mainline Protestant denominations (both liberal and conservative), lived in many different states, and represent both genders.  Even though they were in their prime child-rearing ages during these 16 years, they did not have any children born to them during this time.

Like many of you, the translators are from middle-class and public school backgrounds.  God guided their lives, so as to develop their minds with advanced training and education in analytical, scientific, teaching, journalistic, linguistic, and biblical areas.  But, they are simple people (“unsophisticated” – Matthew 10:16) with knowledge and experience in many other areas, such as: livestock raising (sheep, goats, cattle, chickens, turkeys, ducks, etc.) using natural methods, organic gardening and farming, herbal medicine, crafts, computers, carpentry, plumbing, electrical work, construction, etc.

It must be noted that the translators were most hesitant about providing this information.  Since, as they point out, a person can push against a two-ton boulder for hours, without moving it even a fraction of an inch; and yet, since he is exhausted, he will think that he has worked hard, but in reality he has accomplished nothing (except exhausting himself)!  It is not how long or how hard you work, that really counts; nor even how smart or educated you are, nor how much money you spend; but rather, what really counts is what you accomplish!  So, it is the hope of the translators that you will study the Christian Bible with the help of its Companion Reference Guide without prejudice, and then judge it fairly, based on your perception of what they have accomplished, that is, its quality.

Back in 1991, when we first began publishing the Christian Bible and its Companion Reference Guide, the “experts” said that based on our printing costs, normal expenses, and shipping costs, that the Bible should be priced at $29.95 and its huge Companion Reference Guide at $38.30.  Well, we are now in the “Second Edition” of these books and, as you can guess, our costs and expenses have gone up since 1991 (shipping costs alone have gone up twice), but we really want you to have these two books, and we are a nonprofit concern staffed with volunteers (not employees), so we are continuing to price the Bible at only $20.00, and its Companion Reference Guide at just $25.00.  (We pray that this is what God wants us to do!)

But . . . order both of these books together now, and you get an additional $6.00 savings, so that this “Special Offer Duo” costs you only $39.00. That’s a total $29.25 savings from what those “experts” said we should be charging way back in 1991.

So, send us a check (or money order) for $20.00 (Bible), $25.00 (CRG), or $39.00 (Duo), along with your USA shipping address, and we will send out your books.  If your shipping address is outside of the USA, e-mail us that address to find out the additional shipping charge.

Sorry, but we don’t currently handle credit cards or “PayPal.”  But, of course, you’re right, when we do, the books will likely end up costing more.

Yes, we’ve priced these books too low, and are giving you too good of a deal – but we are trying to be good spiritual brothers and sisters.  We are trying to use “an ideal measure” (giving you more than you would normally expect), in order to obey the following from the Bible:  “. . . an ideal measure ( [like grain that is] squeezed down, shaken together, and yet running over [the brim]) they will give to you in your lap; for that measure which you are using to measure others, it will be used as a measure for you in return!” – Luke 6:38 (CB).