Have got a commission to do some of the rewrites of the Life File Helps in the Youth Bible. They are the boxed-out bits every five or ten pages with a story or illustration followed by a way in to the passage and some questions and links to other passages.
If you use the Youth Bible, either personally or with a group of young people, let me know if you like these. If you don't, how could they be improved? Do they hit the target audience of 11-18 or major at one end or the other of it?
Thanks.
5 comments:
I had a youth bible when I was a teenager. I think the translation is good for 11-18s but found I'd well grown out of the "Life Files" by the time I got to 16. Compared to other stuff written for people of that age they were/are incredibly cheesy. "Peter had a fight with Patel" sounds more like a junior school maths textbook (Peter had 10 marbles, Patel had 6...) than yoof material. Perhaps concentrating on the reader and his/her life rather than imaginary people would be a better angle.
On the whole the Youth Bible was great, though - in writing life files you'll get the chance to seriously help out a lot of people like me 10-15 years ago!
I had a Youth Bible too, from about age 14 and I thought it was great. I loved the life files, which are pretty cheesy, but then I used to like cheesy things when I was that age (still do sometimes!) I often checked out a few of them which were related to something I was struggling with/thinking about. I found that after a few years it had served it's purpose though and I switched to an NIV Study Bible. So I reckon your main audience is 11-15ish.
The translation is generally good and accessible but it does come out with some comedy verses - my favourite example is Proverbs 30: 26:-
'Rock badgers are not very powerful,
but they can live among the rocks.'
Yea, agree with above about cheesyness, although some of that cheese has gone as Authentic have been slowly anlicising the files. We recommend and use the youth Bible in theGRID (as you know) although we did find a website that complained about there not being enough 'fornication' in the NCV translation (LOL - Authorised version in joke there).
Personally I would like the life files to interact more with the Bible text but you'd expect that from a Bible student who now works for SU :-)
My experience of the life files is that lots of young people read the story and forget to look at the Bible bit that goes with it, or the 'consider' points so they fail to acheive very much. The youth Bible has a place, but I wouldn't say it was suitable for using in a group. Reason being is that yoof become too easily distracted from what you are doing and start to read the life files and not the Bible. It's a good translation just has too many distractions.
If you can find a way to write the life files so reference to the Bible passage is tigher and more integral that would go some way to adding value.
Hi St. Congrats on the new job by the way.
I have used some of the life files as discussion starters for dorm groups with 11-15 year olds and found that with a bit of creativity and occasional rewriting, it is possible for them to be very helpful. I have rarely found one that can be used straight off the page in this type of setting but that's good because it gets me, the leader, thoroughly in touch with the material I am intending to use. I have also managed to adapt some of them to use with other passages that better emphasise the point I am wanting the group to get hold of.
I haven't used them with any 15+ groups but I don't see why they can't as easily be adapted for use with any age group - even adults.
As one tool amongst many, they have proved helpful but not as stand alones.
Hope this helps.
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