Impact of Bible 2000 assessed

UPPSALA, Sweden — The Swedish Bible Society has always been determined that its Bible 2000 project, the launch of a new translation of the Bible into Swedish at the end of 1999, would have a long-term impact. The project is intended not simply to make the Bible more widely known among ordinary people, but also to encourage more people to actually use it.

From the beginning of Bible 2000 in 1994, the Society adopted an innovative approach to making people aware of the ongoing work on the new translation and emphasising its relevance to modern society. Sample translations were published in advance of the launch of the full Bible (see World Report 313/24), for example, while Radio Sweden also broadcast readings by well-known actors from parts of the new translation (see World Report 336/14). Other initiatives included distributing Luke’s Gospel in newspaper format (see World Report 341/9) and making Translation in Progress, a documentary detailing the 30-year task of producing a modern translation (see World Report 332/7).

Having prepared the ground so thoroughly for the actual launch at the Swedish Parliament in November 1999 (see World Report 348/14), the Society wanted to secure the long-term success of Bible 2000, not merely in terms of the number of copies sold but also in developing and increasing the use of the Bible in Sweden. Follow-up research indicates that 1.1 million people, or 15 per cent of the population, have purchased or received a copy of Bible 2000, with 600,000 reading the Bible ‘very often’ or ‘quite often’.

‘Indirect’ Bible usage

However, actually reading the Bible was found to rank only fourth among ways in which people come into contact with the Bible, behind radio and television, attending church and reading other literature. This finding confirms a rise in ‘indirect’ Bible usage and, for Hans Bergström, Secretary of the Bible 2000 project, emphasises the need to “make the Bible available … through [new] media, fairs and human contacts and strive to make sure that the old messages in the Bible are packaged in such a modern way that people can take them in.”

It is the Bible Society’s ongoing desire to “help an increasing number of people in Sweden and other countries encounter the happy message in the Bible” in ways relevant to their own lives that is the driving force behind Bible 2000-related follow-up initiatives, such as the launch of Bibeln. This magazine-style publication uses the text of the new translation of Luke’s Gospel illustrated with unusual and, in some cases, controversial images (see World Report 366/3).