I can remember, as a young boy, reading a story about George Washington chopping down a cherry tree. It was a noble story about how he took the blame for the missing tree. The trouble was, that I found out not much later that the story was not true. It was just one publisher’s view of Washington’s life. I am sure I have read at least a dozen different books on George since that time.  Each one gave me a little more knowledge about the man who is known as the father of our country.

Some books about Washington were very idealized, but many of them, at least the ones who came after the Civil Rights Era, dealt with his being a proud slave owner. They also mention his fathering children by raping his slaves.  While that might have been acceptable 200+ years ago, it is a dark history today. It is a good thing that periodically, throughout history, one publisher or another tells us a different story about the events that make up our past.

I wonder what it would have been like if another publisher had printed a second publication of the Christian Bible? I know many of my Evangelical Christian friends, if I still have any, would say that is impossible, as their version of the Bible is the “Word of God” and is literally true because it says it is.

I spent several years in some pretty in-depth study of the history of Christianity, and became aware of how the Bible was made. About 400 years after Jesus left this earth that a Roman emperor, who was trying to firm up control of his empire, got a council to assemble what we currently know as the Bible. To think that God has given us nothing else on how to live by in the past 1700 years is at best foolhardy. So, why hasn’t another version been published?

I call myself a “follower of the teaching of Jesus” but don’t call myself a Christian anymore. If I were to join a religious organization again, it would likely be the Quaker version. They value the Christian Bible as it has stories about Jesus. They treat the Bible as stories by various authors, not as direct words from God that are literally true in all aspects. They also think that God continues to give directions for living.

It is interesting to note that most of Judaism treat their sacred documents (the Torah) as a collection of stories by multiple authors containing lessons to live by, not absolute truth.

Getting back to the original question of 2nd, 3rd, 4th editions of the Bible. Indeed, there are several prominent people throughout history who have been publishers of other versions of the Bible. The most notable of these are perhaps, Jefferson, and Tolstoy. Their versions of the Bible are almost exclusively based on the teachings of Jesus. They don’t contain the Old Testament or any of the epistles of Paul. Those are treated as adjunct documents that are of value, but have no place in the “Bible”.