Taylor created this paraphrase as a help for those who wanted to read the Bible to children without having to stop and explain many things. Presumably the committee consisted of Taylor and members of his editorial staff at Tyndale House Publishers, who at one stage in their work solicited comments from people whom they regarded as experts in the original languages. Their many suggestions have been largely followed, though none of those consulted feels entirely satisfied with the present result.” The names of those comprising the advisory “team of Greek and Hebrew experts” are not given, nor are the names of those who served on the 1971 Revision Committee.

The preface of the complete Living Bible (1971) states that the work “has undergone several major manuscript revisions and has been under the careful scrutiny of a team of Greek and Hebrew experts to check content, and of English critics for style. The 1967 preface does not mention that Taylor is the author of the version it mentions only a “Paraphrase Revision Committee,” but the members of this committee are not named. The preface of the New Testament published in 1967 states that the paraphrase is based upon the American Standard Version (1901), and this agrees with Taylor’s statement in a 1973 interview 1 that the ASV was in front of him as he worked on the paraphrase. He used English versions as the basis of his paraphrase. Although he had some theological training (at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary) he was not proficient in Hebrew and Greek. Taylor (1917-2005) was a Baptist layman employed by Moody Press, the publishing house of the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

This version is Kenneth Taylor’s interpretive paraphrase of the Bible. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1971. Review of the Living Bible (1971) Bible Research > English Versions > 20th Century > Living Bible

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