By Felan Parker
“And when he-happened twelve years, having-gone-up them according-to the custom of-the feast;” To the average reader, the preceding sentence likely makes very little sense. But to Carleton University religion professor Zeba Crook, it represents a new way of studying the Bible.
For the past eight years, Crook has been working on An English Reader’s Synopsis . A synopsis is a book that parallels and compares the New Testament Gospels side-by-side. Traditionally, English synopses use an interpreted translation, meaning the translator paraphrases the text to make it coherent in English.
An English Reader’s Synopsis features a word-for-word, literal translation of the original Greek, avoiding interpretation wherever possible. This means that, as indicated in the opening sentence, it doesn’t always make sense at first glance, but important differences between the Gospels become apparent. The manuscript, which is nearing completion, has been already been used and praised by many academics.
What’s next for Crook once this valuable reference tool finally goes to print? His next project is an analysis of fictional novels about Jesus. “There’s hundreds of these things,” Crook says, but very little has been written about them. As he has done with his Synopsis, Crook hopes to once again make a unique and important contribution to the study of religion.
Parallel Gospels: A Synopsis of Early Christian Writing, published by Oxford University Press, can be purchased here.