Chapter 2: Unveiling the Elegant Bible
"We have created a Bible with an imposing, off-putting surface of bad complexity, while pretending the Bible is a directly-accessible list of simple propositions. This is backwards on both counts. What we need is a Bible with an elegant surface simplicity that will open up for us the inherent and immensely interesting good complexity that lies deep within.”
We need a Bible that allows to focus on what the Bible is, not how to use the Bible as most Bibles are today.
A Centuries Overdue Extreme Bible Makeover. We need to declutter the Bible so it can be read for what it is.
- Chapter and Verse Numbers. Both chapter and verse markings are not placed well. Verses especially are bad because they divide up the Bible into sections that can be quoted out of context. Just getting rid of them and not referring to them would be a good start.
- Section Headings.These can be taken as part of the text.
- Cross References. These are equivalent of hyperlinks in electronic texts. They encourage the reader to jump around and are not conducive to immersive reading.
- Study Bibles. Add chaff to the text, not grain.
- Page Layout. Two column layouts make every part of the Bible look the same (poetry, songs, text, etc.)
Reintroducing the Holy Scriptures. We need to get back to the original structure of the Bible, not what it has become culturally. "Bible publishers should consider taking the Hippocratic oath and applying it to the sacred writings in their care: first, do no harm.” Order has varied over the years and is somewhat arbitrary. For example, the prophets and Paul’s letters are ordered by their length.
Reclaiming Simplicity. "Overall, the vision of the Elegant Bible is a vision for recovering the smart simplicity of the Bible itself. The Elegant Bible has no desire to be precise, punctual, calculable, standard, bureaucratic, rigid, invariant, finely coordinated and routine. The Bible was not born in modernity and was not written by moderns. It speaks to modernity as it speaks to every age, but we have allowed our current historical period to transform our Bible into something it is not."
Quotes from Paauw, Glenn R. (2016-04-21). Saving the Bible from Ourselves: Learning to Read and Live the Bible Well (Kindle Locations 658-662). InterVarsity Press. Kindle Edition.