Soon after this book came out, it climbed to the top of the bestselling list at a large major bookstores. Two days after being released, the publisher had more copied printed bring the total to 56,000.
It consists of paraphrased excerpts from the Bible that have been worded in a way that will draw Japanese people to the Bible.
This paraphrasing focuses on making the meaning clear and contemporary, rather than adhering to a literal translation of the original text.
Discover 21, which is a well-known Japanese publisher that specializes in business and self-help material, has created a niche in the market with books that are paraphrases of well-known works. "Words from Nietzsche" was published first. It has sold over 1,000,000 copies and continues to be a popular book. Following this book, they published "Words from Buddha", and it has sold over 200,000 copies. Most recently, Discover 21 sought to publish a paraphrased version of the Bible, which they asked Marre to write.
As a pastor, Marre was initially hesitant about rewriting the Bible. However, once he came to understand the publisher's desire to make the Bible easy to understand for first time readers, he agreed to do it. From the initial planning to the publishing, one year passed. While Marre sought to be true to the original text, at times he elaborated and provided further explanation to make the excerpts clearer. He also paraphrased the text in light of contemporary Japanese culture. With the majority of the Japanese populous being non Christian, this book can be read even as a source of self-help.
The first day this book came out, there arose a need for more copies to be printed. This book has appeared on the bestseller list at a large secular bookstore in Tokyo. It was also ranked as the number two must-read book on a popular TV show. Needless to say, all of this has come about by God's grace, and it shows us that the Japanese people have a desire for wisdom and truth that we all know can only be found in the Bible.
We hope that the people of Japan will grow interested in the Bible through this book and ultimately come to know the Lord.
Please pray that this book will be used to help evangelize Japan and especially as a tool to reach out to those who would not otherwise read the Bible. |
 
 
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