Casual English Bible® Blog

Theology of Deputy Barney Fife

ONCE UPON A TIME I wrote jokingly that I’d have trouble with the Sermon on the Mount if Jesus had the squeaky voice of Deputy Barney Fife from the “The Andy Griffith Show.” Then an old friend of mine said Barney’s take on the Jesus line “Go and sin no more” might work just fine: “Nip it. Nip it in the bud.” Mayberry’s Bible values Hits and near misses That got me wondering how Barney might react to some of the other teachings in the Bible…or how he might paraphrase them…or what his comeback might be. So I put him …

AI Bible paraphrase vs Casual English Bible®

AI WILL PUT ME OUT OF BUSINESS, someone told me recently. They’ll write better easy-reading Bible background books than my Complete Guide to the Bible. They’ll create a Bible paraphrase that’s more helpful than (TCEB) The Casual English Bible.® They’ll build better 3D-style Bible maps. If AI (Artificial Intelligence) does that, I’m toast. My only option would be to sue Mark Zuckerberg and charge him with shoplifting after he scanned my books, paraphrase, maps, and photos to educate his AI. I wanted to know if I should contact my legal ace—my intellectual property lawyer, also named Stephen. So I decided …

Looking for Sodom and Gomorrah

THERE’S ONE MAP people want to see more than any of the 900 we have so far at The Casual English Bible® (TCEB). Sodom and Gomorrah. Not surprisingly, given human nature, they want what they can’t have. They want to see two towns the Bible says were burned off the planet 3,000 years ago or more. Map caption: HUNTING ERASED CITIES. Bible writers report that God burned Sodom, Gomorrah, and other cities on a plain, leaving nothing but scorched marks on the ground. Curious archaeologists say they may have found the cities—one with scorched ash a foot thick. But people …