[Freedom]

There are a lot of questions that have been in the back of my mind about the RcV. I can vaguely remember seeing old-timers with NT RcV 'booklets' for various books of the NT. I seem to remember hearing that these were produced in conjunction with the Life-Studies. I was once told, and I have no idea if it's true, that the original 1985 RcV was essentially just throwing together all these booklets produced and printing it as a NT Bible. John Ingalls' testimony would certain support that, especially because he readily admits that they (the original translators) produced something sub-par that needed extensive revision. So it makes me wonder if a printed NT Bible was ever the original intended goal or not. Is that what WL initially tasked them with producing, or was it more something along the lines of a study aide for his Life-Studies?

If WL did indeed want to add footnotes (condensed Life-Studies excerpts) to a Bible such as the ASV/NASV, then the RcV text was just his reaction to being told 'no'. Knowing Lee's temperament, he probably asked for something quick and dirty to be produced at a whim and that's what was produced. I haven't read the original 1985 text and compared it to the later text, but I couldn't imagine it being too much different. Even if Kerry made substantial improvements, it's ironic to think about all the politics at play: 1) the motivation behind the translation, 2) the purging of the original translators, and 3) the final 'spin' placed on the translation, that it's the 'consummation' of the past 2000 years of understanding among Christians. And who claims to have this understanding? The editorial section. I bet most people who get a free Bible from BFA wonder who the editorial section is. I wonder too.