"I really liked that little Genesis booklet. I read it in three days" - a Mainland  inmate at Lai Chi Kok Detention Center, May 2010

      www.simplebible.info               The Simple Bible           by Fr John Wotherspoon O.M.I.  胡 頌 恆 神 父       ([email protected] )

Over the years in Hong Kong and on the Mainland, I have found that most "non-Christians"  who receive a copy of the Bible,  lose interest in reading it after a short while. I have always encouraged people to start with Luke's Gospel, but few get beyond Luke.

So many things in the Bible are  difficult for first readers:  so many new  concepts, so many conflicting stories, so many "un-Christian" ideas.

The Psalms are a special example of this:   so much "God, please strike down my enemies" language.
e.g. Psalm 137.9: "A blessing on him who takes and dashes your babies against the rock".

This  is why the Breviary Psalms  omit such passages. 
This  is why the Mass lectionary leaves out so many parts of the Bible.

And this is why the idea of a Simple Bible came about:   something in Chinese and English that could be given to "first readers" that would be easy to read.
Hopefully after  reading the Simple Bible, people will be more interested and better prepared to read the whole Bible.

The Simple Bible is intended first of all for the several thousand Mainland prisoners in Hong Kong.  Something to introduce them to Christianity,  something they can take home with them. But hopefully it can also be of use for the hundreds of thousands of Mainland visitors who come to Hong Kong each year, as well as local people who find it useful.

After each chapter of the Simple Bible, there is a little prayer  - to try to apply the chapter to ordinary life.  

The Simple Bible follows the example of Matteo Ricci who strongly believed in "small and simple doses of essentials"  for non-believers   - or  "milk before meat" as St Paul would say.

It is hoped that the whole of the Simple Bible will be on the internet in a year or so.  Most of the Old Testament is already there. So,  after  people receive a  booklet containing one book of the Bible, they can access the rest of the books on the internet.  Each booklet of the Simple Bible is in pocket size, like the monthly Mass readings reflection booklet "Shalom". 

Hopefully, too, Mainland English students will find the Simple Bible useful for improving their English.  As well as comparing the English and Chinese text, students can also listen to the English text by clicking a "listen" link provided with each chapter on the internet.

Mainly Catholic names have been used for the Chinese text, and all Chinese names are in green to make them more recognizable. "God" is translated by 神 to make the work more ecumenical.

Maybe someone someday could use the "simple" approach to produce a "Simple Teaching of the Church", a "Simple Church History", a "Simple Life of the Saints" etc - in Chinese and English.