The Earliest Gospel Brought Up to Date

Morrisville, NC, February 12, 2008 --(PR.com)-- In the first book of his series on Bible Wisdom, John Howard Reid examined freshly translated selections from the Orthodox Old Testament. In his new book, Reid turns to the Early New Testament, which he defines as that collection of books regarded as authoritative by most Christians until the 5th century.

The centerpiece of this new selection is Mark's Gospel. John Mark was Peter's secretary. In many instances, all Mark did was to change Peter's accounts from the first person to the third person. Unfortunately, subsequent copyists were not happy with some of Peter's remarks and modified them further. This translation restores Peter's narrative so that his words now come across with all the increased power and authority of an actual eye-witness.

Also included in "More Bible Wisdom for Modern Times: Selections from the Early New Testament" is a representative extract from "The Shepherd of Hermas". This book was formerly placed in the New Testament after "Acts". In the 2nd and 3rd centuries, "The Shepherd" was second only to the Gospels themselves in popularity, and was much admired by church leaders. The extracts chosen for this new translation are "The Twelve Great Commandments", together with Hermas's Notes, and "The Question of Fasting".

Other inclusions in Reid's new book are 29 early Christian hymns; a fresh look at The Lord's Prayer as preserved in the oldest section of a book known as "The Didache" or "The Teaching", which was published six or seven years before Mark's Gospel; a short extract from "The Epistle of Barnabas"; and 21 Sayings and Stories by and about Jesus.

Review copies are now available. Please contact johnreid@mail.qango.com

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