SYDNEY, Australia, June 6, 2003 — A new translation into Aussie "Strine" seeks to make some famous Bible stories more accessible to the public Down Under.
If there are any Australians out there who struggle with the often difficult language of some English translations of the Bible, they can rest assured that help is on the way. Believing Australian English to be "a distinct language, with its own colour and feeling", journalist and author, Kel Richards, has set out to provide Australians with a version of the Scriptures in their own vernacular, as might be spoken in any Outback pub or city building site. The end result is "The Aussie Bible (Well, bits of it anyway)", which is due out in August.
| Luke 2.8-14 |
| There were some drovers camped out in a paddock nearby, keeping an eye on their mob of sheep that night. Their eyes shot out on stalks when an angel of the Lord zapped into view, and the glory of the Lord filled the air like a thousand volts of electricity. The angel said: 'Stop looking like a bunch of stunned mullets. Let me give you the drum, the good oil, it's top news for the whole crew -- everyone, everywhere. Today in that little town on the hill a rescuer has been born: he is the Promised One, the King, the Lord.
'And here's how you'll find him: the nipper is wrapped up in a bunny rug, and lying in a food trough.' And before you could say, 'Well, I'll be blowed!' the whole sky was filled with more angels than you could count, all singing away at the top of their lungs (if angels have got lungs, that is): 'God is great! God is bonzer -- and to everyone on this planet who's on God's side: peace and goodwill…”
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- Excerpt: Aussie Bible
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The 90-page volume draws heavily from the New Testament Book of Mark, with some beloved stories from the other Gospel books and the Psalms mixed in. It seeks to make the Bible more accessible in a country with steadily falling Church attendance. According to Richards, the target market for the Aussie-lingo Bible is "anyone who's stopped reading the Bible because they think it's dull".
Richards' text uses a wide variety of Australian colloquialisms along with a casual writing style that might not appeal to everyone. "It's slightly cheeky, I suppose, but certainly not meant to be irreverent", says Martin Johnson of the Bible Society in New South Wales, which will do an initial print run of 30,000 copies, "(but) it's done with a large amount of care." So much care, in fact, that it has been given the blessing of the Anglican Church, and includes a foreword by the Archbishop of Sydney, Peter Jensen, as well as the Deputy Prime Minister, John Anderson.
The Aussie Bible joins the ranks of the Surfers' Bible, and the Beyond the Edge New Testament (both published by the Bible Society in Australia) in a growing list of Scriptural literature aimed at promoting the Bible's relevance in today's world.
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