This version was edited and translated from the Greekby the Jewish historian of Christian beginnings, Hugh J. Schonfield. Thepublisher describes it as "a radical translation and reinterpretation."The term "Original" in the title is intended to convey that itaims at giving back the contents of the New Testament documents to themodern world in the meaning intended by the writers and at the same timeto represent as closely as possible the original structures.

It was felt to be desirable not to use familiar ecclesiasticalterms where they could be avoided since in doing so would give the impressionthat they were particularly Christian. Some examples are as follows: "baptism"(immersion), "church" (community), "apostle" (envoy),"bishop" (supervisor), and "deacon" (administrator).

The Old English has been kept only for the language ofprayer and occasionally to retain the flavor of an orientalism. As a rule,proper names are in their most familiar form, thus "Isaiah" and"Elijah", not "Esais" and "Elias."

What we have been accustomed to reading in the variousversions is largely an idealised interpretation created by the variousschools of Christian faith and piety. Set beside these hallowed versionsthe Original New Testament is an Epstein among the Old Masters, which mayshock and even antagonise traditionalists before it comes to be understoodand appreciated. The translator has sought to approach these records objectively,as if they had recently been recovered from a cave in the Holy Land orbeneath the sands in Egypt.

Harper and Row (1985)

[Tyndale House, Cambridge, UnitedKingdom]

Comparisons which include this version:

God So Loved the World
The Lord's Day in the Book of Revelation
Those Who Work Iniquity
Words with Heathen Origins in the Scriptures