In the obituary-like announcement of the death of Kenneth N. Taylor (1917-2005), the founder of Tyndale House publishing company (1962) and translator of Tyndale's The Living Bible--a popular paraphrased Bible published in 1971 but since reworked and renamed the New Living Translation in 1996--Christianity Today magazine wrote on June 10, 2005,Kenneth, eagerly attending Sunday school [in Beaverton, Oregon], was early impressed with the inestimable value of Scripture. He once saw his father accidentally drop a Bible; and with almost ceremonial gentility, [his father] the Reverend Taylor picked it up from the floor. Kenneth respected the Word, but he wrestled with archaisms in the King James Bible—a certain portent of future editorial tasks. As publisher and writer, he would similarly honor the Bible and its effective communication.
While risking the label of being a Christian legalistic or Bible idolater, I humbly and politely plead with my fellow believers in the Lord Jesus Christ to show greater respect for God's holy, inerrant and eternal Word (Old Testament, New Testament) by not placing it on the floor or ground. If our actions speak louder than words, then this simple and intentional non-action would display for others--and especially those yet outside of "the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3, New Testament), including those from other faiths (false religions)--the respect and honor due to God's sacred Word.
