Cotton Patch Version of Matthew and John

by Clarence Jordan

Book Overview

The Cotton Patch Gospel, by Koinonia Farm founder Clarence Jordan, recasts the stories of Jesus and the letters of Paul and Peter into the language and culture of the mid-20th century South. Born out... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0832910627
• ISBN13: 9780832910623
• Release Date: January 1970
• Publisher: New Win Publishing
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Great condition, quick delivery

The book was delivered quickly and in excellent condition. I bought it as a gift for friends who moved to Valdosta,GA.

Is there room for racism in the Church?

I would like to start off by saying that I know precious little about Clarence Jordan. I found his "Cotton Patch" translation of the New Testament at my university library about 8 years ago, and the book made a definite impression on me. I don't know if Rev. Jordan would be happy with my understanding of his work, but I love it, and am happy to own a copy, and am happy to share with you the thoughts inspired in me by this amazing work.I don't think that the point of the Cotton Patch translation was to provide yet-another translation of the New Testament. Rev. Jordan was a scholar of NT Greek, and undoubtedly, he knew a lot about the NT. Rather, this work is a photomontage or imposition of images from the New Testament re-created and re-enacted in Gainesville, Georgia, where Governor Herod is seeking to kill the Baby Jesus; Where John the Baptist, "dressed in blue jeans and a leather jacket", "living on corn bread and collard greens" is baptizing Protestants and Catholics in the waters of the Chattahoochee river... You can't help but smile. But what is this place? Where is this place? What is happening here? In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us "For instance, when you make a gift to charity, don't make a lot of noise about it, like the phonies do at church and at civic clubs... The truth is, such praise is all they'll get out of it." Fair enough, but "Church and civic clubs" ?? This isn't even close to being a translation! That a scholar of NT Greek should translate the Sermon on the Mount like that is proof positive that he had something in mind other than providing a translation.And the Gospel unfolds, and there is no mystery to it, except the mystery of how we could all be so blind: [John, chapter 8] "But we are blue-blooded white folks, and have never been anybody's slave. Why then are you telling us, 'You'll be liberated'?" Jesus answered, "Everyone who is addicted to sin is sin's slave." ... "Our father was the original white man," they retorted. "If indeed you are sons of the original white man, you would act like it. But here you are trying to lynch me, a man who has told you the truth that I got from the Father. A really good white man would never stoop to that. Yes, you're behaving like your father's children all right."And now the mystery is revealed, if there ever was any mystery in the first place: The Cotton Patch books are about racism and Christianity, and by extension, racism and religion: Is there room for racism in the Church? Can racists be considered "the children of God" ? I think that to most people living today, the question must seem trivial, but "back then," when the book was written, some time in the 1950's, there were many white seperatists that were comfortable with and saw no contradiction between their racism and with their religion. The Cotton Patch "translations" are Rev. Jordan's way of arguing that there is no room for racism within the Church. Rev. Jordan's argument isn't a theological one, probably becaus