The Bible is a gift that all Christians share. This is the first-of-its kind Anabaptist Bible that includes the Contemporary English Bible translation of the Bible alongside contributions from Anabaptists embedded as marginal notes, book introductions, and more. The Anabaptist Community Bible is an effort to help readers understand what it means to read Scripture through the distinctive “Jesus-centered” lens of the Anabaptist tradition. While drawing on the work of scholars, the Anabaptist Bible is unique in the trust it places in the collective wisdom of nearly 600 lay study groups in a broad spectrum of Anabaptist faith communities who share their perspectives, insights, and questions in the margins of the text. A crucial feature of the Anabaptist Community Bible is the conviction that in Jesus, “the Word became flesh” (John 1:1). As the author of Hebrews puts it, God “spoke to us through a Son. . . . The Son is the light of God’s glory and the imprint of God’s being” (1:2–3). Every page of Scripture points to Jesus and is illuminated by his light. He is the Word by which all other words are interpreted.
The Anabaptist Community Bible is in English. Bible study groups were welcome to submit their Bible study notes in Spanish, French or Bahasa Indonesian.
A copy of our complete Editorial Guidelines is available here.
- The CEB is a scholarly translation based on the work of over 120 scholars from 24 faith traditions in American, African, Asian, European, and Latino communities. Since its appearance in 2011, it has been widely praised for its accuracy and clarity.
- The CEB is written in clear, simple language, making it easy to understand and to read in public. A key goal of the CEB translation project was to make the Bible accessible to a broad range of people, including those for whom English is not their first language. According to the publisher, the translators’ goal was to produce a rendering of the Bible at a seventh-grade level—roughly the same reading level as the USA Today newspaper—while preserving the accuracy and poetry of the original texts.
- The CEB’s identity as a “people’s Bible” is fully consistent with the qualities one might expect in an Anabaptist Bible. Central to the vision of the Anabaptist movement in the 16th century was a conviction that the Bible was intended to be read, interpreted, and engaged by ordinary people in the vernacular language of the day. The Froschauer translation, for example, was especially appreciated by the Swiss Brethren because it retained a Swiss form of German that was missing from Martin Luther’s more famous translation. Early Anabaptists also believed that the meaning of Scripture was not hidden or mysterious; and they rejected the idea that the Bible should be accessible only to trained scholars. Since many of the annotations in the Anabaptist Community Bible are contributed by laypeople, we think that a translation intended for broad readability is consistent with the type of Bible we are producing.
- The CEB is more accessible to young people. We know that there are lots of reasons why fewer young people are attending church or interested in the Bible. But at least some of this is because of a sense that the language of Scripture—and the language of church—is not relevant to their world or experience. Providing a translation that is designed for ease of reading will, we hope, make the Anabaptist Community Bible more attractive to young people (and more attractive as a gift for young people), and may encourage reading the text with renewed interest.
- The CEB is more accessible to members of immigrant Anabaptist churches for whom English is not their first language. These groups represent the fastest growing segment of the Anabaptist-Mennonite church in North America. Using the CEB for the Anabaptist Community Bible signals a desire by the Anabaptism at 500 project to embrace immigrant and English-as-a-new-language churches and individuals as a crucial part of the Anabaptist-Mennonite fellowship.
- A 2022 survey of MennoMedia constituents conducted by Credence & Co. suggested that there is strong support for the CEB, despite the CEB’s reduced visibility compared to other translations. The survey offered a brief description of the CEB translation alongside the NRSV, followed by three comparative biblical passages. Over 40% of the 437 survey respondents selected the CEB as their top choice.
- Because most people in MennoMedia’s primary markets likely already own an NRSV or NIV translation but may not yet have purchased a CEB translation, we think this translation adds to the sense of the Anabaptist Community Bible as something “special”—something not yet represented for most people in the existing bookshelf of Bibles. This feature helps set the Anabaptist Community Bible apart from other options, further enhancing its distinctive appeal.
We know that the Bible speaks to us in various ways: through the literal words in the text, through the insights of siblings in Christ who earnestly seek to discern God’s will, and through the mysterious movement of the Holy Spirit. Regardless of translation, we are confident that the Anabaptist Community Bible has the potential to inspire a fresh reading of the biblical text—and with it, a fresh movement of the Spirit.
For many Christians today, the Bible has either become a battlefield or is regarded as irrelevant. Yet the central story of Scripture—that God has been revealed to the world in the person of Jesus Christ—is truly good news! Amid the confusion and anxiety over Scripture today, we need to be reminded that the Bible always puts us in relationship with a living person. The saving message of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection echoes throughout all of Scripture. The gift of this transformative story far exceeds our debates over specific verses, and it still has the power to transform lives today.
The vision behind the Anabaptist Community Bible is not unique to our tradition. Lutherans, Catholics, Methodists, Baptists, and other groups have also created study Bibles designed to help readers understand Scripture in light of their theological traditions. In late 2021, MennoMedia, the publishing agency of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada, launched Anabaptism at 500 as a way of inviting a wide spectrum of Anabaptist groups to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Anabaptist beginnings in 1525. Early in that planning process, MennoMedia became convinced that the Anabaptist Community Bible would be a crucial component of that commemoration, especially in light of the central role that Scripture played in the emergence of the Anabaptist tradition in the 16th century and its development since then. Nevertheless, even though this project is central to the Anabaptism at 500 initiative, the Anabaptist Community Bible itself belongs to the whole church.
The introductions to each book of the Bible, along with the Biblical Context notes and several essays, were assigned to Anabaptist biblical scholars who brought particular gifts to those tasks. Historians read through the biblical commentary of early Anabaptist leaders to generate the Early Anabaptist Witness notes. But the truly unique content of the Anabaptist Community Bible is the questions and commentary generated by nearly 600 Bible study groups from Anabaptist faith communities that represent a diverse spectrum of contemporary Anabaptists. The instructional materials were available in English, French, Spanish, and Bahasa Indonesian. We assumed that participants in the Bible study groups were earnest Christians ready to engage their assigned texts in thoughtful conversation with each other through the lens of an Anabaptist hermeneutic. But we did not expect participants to have seminary degrees or to possess unique gifts in biblical interpretation. Some congregations participated with more than one Bible study group. In the end, these Bible study groups covered the entirety of Scripture twice, which meant that only a portion of the commentary we received will appear in the Bible.
We hope so. Moving from print to digital format has proven to be more complicated than we originally anticipated. But we continue to actively pursue this goal, probably in cooperation with an established Bible software company.
Presales for the Anabaptist Community Bible began in May 2024, with the discounted presale offer running through October 15, 2024. The Anabaptist Community Bible will be available for shipping in January 2025, with the official launch scheduled for January 21, 2025, at College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana.
The simple answer to this question is no. The concept for Anabaptism at 500 emerged as a vision of MennoMedia, the publishing arm of Mennonite Church USA and Mennonite Church Canada. Leadership for the project, including the advisory group, reflects ethnic, gender, and denominational diversity, but are all from North America. We did, however, reach out in a focused way to immigrant congregations in North America, and we translated the Bible study participant’s guide into Spanish, French, German, and Bahasa Indonesian. In the end, 18 Anabaptist faith communities are represented in the project, along with individuals in 15 countries outside of the United States and Canada. But even as we welcomed participation from groups outside North America, the project does not claim to reflect the full diversity of the global Anabaptist church.
There are many ways that you can participate. For a host of ideas and planning materials—including program suggestions, worship liturgies, short dramas, art images, intergenerational activities, and key historical texts—check out the Anabaptism at 500 Tool Kit (available in mid-September 2024, both in hard copy and online).
October 15, 2024
Yes, many academic conferences have already been announced, and several other public events are also emerging. MennoMedia will host an official release of the Anabaptist Community Bible on Tuesday evening, January 21, 2025, at College Mennonite Church in Goshen, Indiana. Mennonite World Conference has also announced a major daylong commemorative event (The Courage to Love: Anabaptism@500) that will take place in Zurich, Switzerland, on May 29, 2025. We hope that many local congregations, church conferences, historical societies, and schools will also find ways to participate in the commemorations.
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