Let me suggest that the best text for this sort of familiarization read is not a standard Bible, but rather a consolidated version of the gospels – something that takes the four accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and edits them together into a single narrative in chronological order. Such a book would present the core story of Christianity, the most important part of the Bible for Christians, but would do so in a format that is easier for most parishioners to follow.

That’s exactly what’s needed in a reach for improved familiarity.
The underlying goal of bible literacy is desirable for all the reasons given. It would be good for Christians to be more familiar with the moral teachings and the theology of their faith. It would also be good for the general public – believers and secular people alike – to reconnect with a shared cultural work of literature and philosophy. This would allow people to enjoy hundreds of years of great art done on religious themes (say, the penitent Magdalene) that modern viewers may not recognize. It would also give us all a set of shared references, analogies, and examples, which is bound to elevate the tone of public discourse.

Given this goal, most people’s first reaction is to reach for some standard edition of the Bible, and to read from that. That may not be the best approach however.

The Bible actually has qualities that most readers find daunting. In some translations the text is archaic and hard to follow; in others it is so contemporary that it does not hold the imagination as scripture. Most fundamentally, the most important part of the Bible for most Americans – the gospel – is divided into four accounts that must be simultaneously held in mind and mentally assembled.

This complexity may be meat and drink to professional theologians, but it is a problem for ordinary churchgoers.

What’s needed is a new arrangement of the gospels that is specifically designed for the purposes of reading and familiarization.

This would be a fully consolidated text. Such a text would use all the words and only the words of the four accounts, but would present this material in a fully integrated form. It should weave together the texts at the level of individual phrases or even individual words when the accounts overlap sufficiently. This genre is sometimes referred to as a “radical harmony” of the gospels.

Some traditional shortcuts should be avoided. We don’t want to select just one gospel’s description of each particular event, because that would leave out too much. Nor do we want to present the four gospels in separate parallel columns, because that would still impose too much of the burden of integration on the reader.

A properly consolidated linear text should be easy reading. The annunciation to the shepherds and the visit of the magi will then follow one another in a natural order. Other events become more understandable by having all their details brought together in one place. This is especially useful with complex stories such as Jesus’ climactic interview with Pilate, or the crucifixion, both of which are covered in all four accounts.

A good teaching version of the gospels will also come in a new translation. This will be someplace in the King James family, because one of the purposes is to place the Bible in its context in Western civilization. However, the wording should be inconspicuously updated, not so much to maximize the accuracy of the translation, as to maximize its self-explanatory qualities. The reader should know immediately what is being said and should not be distracted by mechanics.

This process leaves some room for editorial choice. I have prepared my own consolidated gospel, called The Single Gospel (Wipf and Stock), and in it I made a further choice to trace the cultural influence of the Bible. Such a translation will make a special effort to identify familiar turns of phrase — from the original King James, or from common idioms — and to be sure that those are present in the traditional wording.

So, for example, a culturally-sensitive translation will retain the traditional Christmas greeting of “peace on earth, good will to men,” rather than the current literal translation of “peace to men on whom his favor rests.” Similarly, some current idioms are slightly misremembered phrases from standard editions, but can still be legitimately used as the basis for alternative translations. In this category are the classic “turn the other cheek” or “cast the first stone.”

A consolidated gospel has its limitations, of course. For one thing, a consolidated gospel is not scripture. The authoritative texts are still the four individual gospels, and the consolidated text is a companion or study guide to them.
Nonetheless, a consolidated text provides a sort of ideal platonic form of the gospels – the Bible story as everyone thinks they have remembered it all along, and as it lives in our contemporary culture.