The Bible in Limerick Verse - Christopher Goodwins

After seeing The New Testament In Limerick Verse - many people suggested that the Old Testament and The Apocrypha should also be published in the same sort of format.

This part of the bible took me three weeks to "translate" into limericks, between the 23rd of July 2001, and the 15th of August. So far as I can see, it does still include the major themes of The Old Testament, and also those of The Apocrypha.

There were real problems with some of the names of people and places, but it is hoped that, for reading out aloud, it is possible to make the limericks scan correctly, with a little practice.

Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Chronicles posed enormous problems, with their sheer quantity of detail and repetition, and hence these books have been deliberately condensed.

By contrast, however, there is one limerick for each of the Psalms, and for the 119th Psalm, there is one for each section.

The resulting book is by no means perfect, but it does attempt to include the major themes and personalities of the Old Testament, and The Apocrypha.

It has the same aim - to encourage people to read the real thing. If not - and if this is the only work that people ever read - then at least they will have gleaned a flavour of what the Old Testament and The Apocrypha are about.

I can visualise people waiting in hotels or aiport lounges for a connexion in about three hours’ time, having nothing to occupy their minds. If they were to see this book, I reckon that they would read it very easily - from cover to cover!

I can see it being really helpful to teachers, faced with a fourth-year class taking RE as the last period on a Friday afternoon in the heat of summer.

I can envisage it lying around in doctors’ and dentists’ waiting rooms.

This book could be of enormous help to clergy, in Confirmation preparation, or to people who have shied away from church, simply because some worship seems to be so dauntingly complicated and wordy.

The good thing about it is that much of The Old Testament provided the Scriptures which helped to form the mind of Jesus. And, as St. Paul said, "Have this mind be in you, which was also In Christ Jesus!" (Phil.2:5) - and this is the motivation behind the work.

Yes - I know that some of the rhymes have been stretched to the limits, and that it has been necessary occasionally to áccent a syllable, in order that it should be easier to make the rhythm fit better - but, as nobody has ever done this exercise before, then hopefully it’s better than nothing!

I would like to thank Peter Wright, priest, for his encouragement and constructive criticism. He was the only person at my Theological College who had the ability to inspire me to get excited about The Bible!

Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Doreen, for putting up with my single-mindedness, in getting the work completed, and for her patience in checking it, over and over again!

I hope it encourages you to read the real thing!

Christopher Goodwins
Isleham
August 2001

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Last updated December 09, 2006
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