How many different bibles are there?
Two of the versions that Catholics use are the Douay-Rheims and the American Standard (with maybe 3 or so other authorized versions, too.) There are probably over a dozen other versions throughout the rest of Christendom. Most of them vary by reading level. ("What does 'deign' mean?")
I discovered an amusing 'escaped' variation called 'The Heliand.' Remember the game of 'telephone,' when you tell something to someone, and pass it on, then check it about 15 people down the line?
Well, around the 5th century some early Christian missionaries spread the Word into Gothic lands (the real Goths, Visigoths, Swabes, Wends, Jutes, etc...)
... and about 500 years later (1066AD,) this one Germanic guy tries to 'witness' to someone who's already a monk. The monk, Adam of Bremen, immediately recognizes the Tale of Christ, and offered to write it down, to the joy of the man who had memorized it as it had been told to him, handed down word of mouth. Adam was probably thinking to himself: "Dude this is RICH, I gotta write down your version!"
The result reads something like the Gospel According to Beowulf. What's most interesting is that despite the change in settings and details, terms, and other scenes, basic Christian theology remains intact: sin, repentance, and salvation are there, as is the Sermon of the Mount.
But other details are hilariously morphed into The High Adventure of Mighty Christ and his Armed Retainers. Everybody's boats and ships are the high-prowed build common to Northern Europe. Peter is kind of a Boromir/Berserk character and a great guy to be on *your side* in any RPG-type tavern brawl. In the Wedding Feast at Hill-Fort Cana, everybody is there to get thoroughly blotto. Christ's 40 days in the desert (typical Goth: "What's a desert?") became 40 days of single combat with the devil: swords, shields, helms, armor and all. The Temptations are exchanged between blows. CLANK! THUD!
Very fun reading.
