1 Wartime and Beginnings

The air raid sirens had just sounded their loud wail which signaled yet another wave of German bombers approaching the English capital. South-East London, where young J.B. Phillips lived and worked as a curate, was right in the firing line. His parish took more than a thousand high explosive hits during the period of these terror raids known as the Blitz. J.B. Phillips or ‘Jack’ as he was known to his friends, was walking quickly to the house of some close neighbors with his wife Vera. During these raids, it was their usual practice to take shelter under their friend’s heavy kitchen table. J.B. and Vera always took the most direct route which was straight through two adjoining back gardens. This time though, for the first time, they decided to take the longer route, around the front by the street. As they were walking, the unmistakable whistle of falling bombs drew near. The noise grew louder and louder and it dawned on them that a bomb was about to fall close to where they were. They quickly dropped to the ground to take cover, and just in time. The pavement rose up and hit them violently on the chin such was the force of the explosion. Otherwise though, fortunately, they were unhurt. They paused for a few moments. After deciding the coast was now clear, they continued on their way with adrenaline pumping through their veins. Upon reaching their friend’s house and after their rushed welcome, the couple showed them to their back garden where there was a freshly formed crater, some seven feet deep and twenty feet across. It was right in the path that J.B. and Vera would have normally taken.

For his second curacy, the young Church of England vicar, J.B. Phillips, took his post at St Margaret’s, Lee, in the London borough of Lewisham. Shortly after the declaration of war in 1939, he was asked to run the Church of the Good Shepherd, the sister church to St Margaret’s, which was less than a mile away. Because of the extra duties of war-time, there were certain weeks in the month when he was required to conduct all funerals within the borough, at Hither Green cemetery. This sometimes meant forty or fifty funeral services in a single week. On one such occasion the unmistakable sound of that early terror weapon, the deadly V-1 rocket, quickly grew louder, approaching the funeral gathering at great speed. Jack shouted “down everybody”. They all lay face down in the clay by the graveside bracing for the explosion. The bomb landed in an allotment some fifty yards away, turning cabbages into projectiles. No-one was harmed.

There are other war-time stories like the time a Spitfire and a German fighter were engaged in a dog fight, swooping high around the sky. As J.B. watched in awe, they dipped low towards where he was standing. One of the bullets missed him by a hand’s breadth and landed on the pavement nearby. On another occasion, a German incendiary bomb landed on the Church of the Good Shepherd and burned it to the ground. On a different day, 40 incendiary bombs fell on his street, one lodging itself in the roof of his study. His parish wasn’t the only place of course. One day J.B. took the train to London Bridge station and just as he was stepping out of his carriage onto the platform, a German V2 bomb landed in the concourse and blew him back inside the train.

These were the conditions under which J.B. Phillips’ early ministry took place. It was a period of incredible danger. 20,000 Londoners were killed and a million homes destroyed. Despite the clear and consistent danger, he would talk much of the incredible unity in those days. A bond was formed between many Londoners as neighbors shared long hours under kitchen tables and in shelters, as they faced danger each day from an enemy hell-bent on destroying them.

He met regularly throughout the war with a youth group at his church known as the ‘King’s Own’. They kept themselves busy with various fun activities. At the end of each meeting, J.B. would read scripture to encourage them in their situation, often reading from the letters of St Paul. The conditions under which those early letters were written, though different, were in many ways just as dangerous and therefore seemed particularly appropriate. He read from the King James version, known commonly as the Authorized Version. This was the Bible translation of the time. In truth, it was the only English-speaking Bible translation that was widely available. It was commissioned by the King of England, James I, and completed in 1611. Its influence cannot be overstated, not only to the availability of scripture in English but also to the English language itself.

However, majestic as much of its language is, it was not intelligible to the young folk who attended the King’s Own. It was like a different language. J.B. Phillips came to be disturbed by the blank faces that met his gaze as he read scripture to them and realized that if there was any chance of these young people understanding the holy scriptures, let alone seeing any relevance in them, there would have to be a new, modern translation. Since he had no other option, he started translating himself.

2 Early Life and the Ministry

John Bertram Phillips was born on September 16th 1906 and raised in Barnes, then a lower-middle class suburb of London. He had an older sister, Dot (Dorothy Maud) and a younger brother, Kenneth Charles. His father, Philip William Phillips, had worked his way from humble beginnings to become a respected civil servant and was eventually awarded an O.B.E. J.B.’s beloved mother, Emily Maud, was a post office assistant before her marriage to Philip. She died in 1921 from cancer when J.B. was 15. While his siblings avoided the controlling ambition of their father by playing dumb, J.B. was pushed hard by his father, recognizing his natural intellect. He had a particular aptitude for English, Greek and Latin from a young age and as a result of his father’s pressure, was driven to perfection by an obsessive desire to avoid all forms of criticism, which he thought he could do if he produced flawless work. His almost photographic memory helped in that endeavor, as did his work-ethic and natural inquisitiveness. He was particularly fascinated by how things worked and was always trying to get his hands on the latest invention or gadget so he could take it apart and see how it was built. He became quite able at this. He once built himself an early radio after figuring it out the mechanics and acquiring the necessary parts. Academically J.B. excelled for seven years at Emanuel school in south London, having never found the work too difficult. He then won a place at the prestigious Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he studied English and Classics, earning a bachelor’s degree at the age of 20.

J.B.’s difficult relationship with his father was in sharp contrast to the deep friendship and love he shared with his mother. He was devastated by his mother’s death but was not allowed to properly mourn. His father re-married within a few months of her death. He felt he had lost his dearest friend as well as his sense of home. It was not made better by his new step-mother, who treated him terribly. He now rarely saw his father at all. J.B. was in many ways a sensitive child in both the positive and the negative sense. He wrote of the vivid beauty of wildlife and summer walks as a child – how the colors and smells would move his very soul. Physically, his slight frame was further weakened by two bouts of pneumonia at a young age. As a result, he was not allowed to play rugby at school, though later he would become a competent middle-distance runner at Cambridge in the same era as Harold Abrahams of Chariots of Fire fame.

J.B. would say he always believed in God but childhood experiences of religion and acute early suffering dulled this inherent recognition. After his mother died he became angry at the thought that God could allow such a wonderful person to suffer and die in the gruesome manner that she did. Christianity and church going was a regular part of his life but it had no relevance to him and he had no interest in it. Indeed, by the time he went up to Cambridge he arrived as an avowed atheist. Soon after his arrival he was befriended by members of the Cambridge Inter Collegiate Christian Union (CICCU), and though he continued to find some of their practices and beliefs odd even years later, he could not deny the quality of their character and eventually, through these friendships, came to understand genuine Christianity for himself, committing himself to a life of following Jesus.

After graduating, J.B. taught at a school in Sherborne in Dorset, and though he enjoyed many aspects of teaching, went back to Cambridge after a year to study for ordination in the Church of England, this time at Ridley College. It was here that, intelligent and able as he was, he decided he had no appetite to be scholar. Instead he came to understand himself as someone with a strong desire to communicate the truth of God to ordinary people. This desire became his life-long passion.

After graduating again from Cambridge, as is typical for newly ordained ministers in the Church of England, J.B. Phillips undertook two ‘curacies’, which is a period of usually three or four years shadowing and sharing duties with the head minister of a church. The first curacy was at St. Johns, Penge, in South-East London; the second was at St. Margaret’s, Lee, in Lewisham, also in South-East London.

It was around this time that he had an experience that would remain with him for the rest of his life. He was 26 years old. Just after Christmas, 1932, he felt sharp abdominal pains and was hospitalized with acute appendicitis. There was a point at which it did not look like he would survive. Later he would describe what happened to him while unconscious. It was a “dream or vision so real and convincing that I can never forget it”. In the vision, he was walking down a dusty slope, alone, depressed and vulnerable. Everything around him was a mess, all kinds of rubbish, ruined houses, pools of stagnant water, rusty cans, worn-out tires… But when he looked up, not far away on the other side of the valley was a land of such indescribable beauty that it left him gasping for breath. The smells that wafted towards him and the sounds of birds were of such intense attractiveness that it seemed as though simply being there would fulfill every one of his needs and satisfy his deepest desires, not just in that moment but forever. The excitement was more than he could bare. He started running frantically through the trash and the dirt and towards the bottom of the valley. All that separated him from the other side was a narrow strip of water, and there was a beautiful shining white bridge built across it. Full of excitement and anticipation, he moved to step out onto the bridge. Suddenly a figure in white appeared before him, some personification of absolute authority and supreme gentleness. The figure looked at him, smiling, shook his head gently, and pointed back to the filthy slope from where he had just come. At this point, J.B. recollects “I have never known such bitter disappointment, and although I turned obediently enough I could not help bursting into tears”. It was at that point that he awoke with tears streaming down his face, which confused the attending nurse because he had just survived the night and was going to live! The vision never faded over time, and he would say that words were never enough to explain the power and vividness of what he experienced.

3 Published

J.B. Phillips had written for a number of publications from a young age. While he was a teenager he was paid to write articles on new technologies like early radio sets. During his time at Cambridge he wrote for a number of student papers and youth magazines on all manner of subjects and in various genres. He also discovered a talent for caricatures. Later he would become interested in painting and became a talented artist. A number of his pieces of art are hanging on my wall to this day and I have a collection of letters that he wrote to my mother when she was at boarding school, each one with a watercolor cartoon, perhaps of an elephant with a humorous and apt caption related to the content of the letter inside.

The meetings he led with the King’s Own during the dark days of the war were some of J.B.’s happiest memories. As mentioned earlier, at the end of each meeting he would read something from the scriptures, but these readings were met with polite indifference. Intelligent as they were, the words he read had meant little to these young people. If they could not understand these treasures of scripture, what was the point of all that beautiful old language? He remembers, “all my old passion for making truth comprehensible, and all my desire to do a bit of real translation, urged me to put some relevant New Testament truths into language which these young people could understand.” He started with Paul’s letter to the Colossians. The response was beyond his expectations. These young people heard the words in a way they could understand and quickly came to appreciate that not only could scripture make sense but was also extremely relevant to their lives. It even started to change them. Encouraged by this, in 1943 he wrote to C.S. Lewis, whose work he had long admired. In the letter, he included a copy of his translation of the book of Colossians. Lewis’ response was all the encouragement he needed to begin what would become his life’s work. Lewis wrote back saying, “thank you a hundred times… it was like seeing an old picture after it’s been cleaned”, and encouraged him to carry on, “I hope very much you will carry on your plan of doing all the epistles”. Lewis also warned J.B. that he would face enormous opposition from those who were unswervingly loyal to the King James Version of 1611 and considered it the only true Word of God.

Soon the war would be over and J.B. Phillips was appointed Vicar of the parish of St. John’s, Redhill, in Surrey, just outside of London to the south. Deeply encouraged by Lewis’ letter, he dedicated a morning a week to his task of translating all of the New Testament letters, and set to work, patiently and diligently. By 1946 he had finished all the letters and sent the finished copy to several publishers, all of whom sent it back with a rejection slip.

Eventually, armed with a letter of support from C.S. Lewis, he wrote to Lewis’ publisher, Geoffrey Bles. The letter that secured his meeting with Bles is worth quoting from as it explains succinctly the very foundation of his success and the reason his translation is still revered today:

I am sending you herewith part of a new free translation of the Letters of the New Testament. I am, of course, aware that there are already several modern versions, but to me, at any rate, they nearly always read as palpable translations. They are often so concerned with giving the exact verbal equivalences for Greek words that they lose freshness and spontaneity, and lack the sense of being live letters written to real people…

My aim has been to make these letters both intelligible and readable. The reader may then, his interest being quickened, turn for closer study to the more scholarly translations. I am sure that there is a large number of people who have been “put off” the study of the N.T. epistles by the undeniably beautiful but obscure Authorized Version, and who need something in modern idiom, easily read, to make them see the relevance of the N.T.’s message today.

After meeting together for lunch, Bles agreed to publish his book, especially if C.S. Lewis would write the foreword, which he generously agreed to do. At Lewis’ suggestion, this book was released under the title Letters to Young Churches.

In the first nine months, 1300 copies were sold, not bad for a first book in those days. The publisher was quite pleased. Soon though, word got around about the book from prominent Doctors, Bishops and Professors, and favorable reviews appeared in national papers. This, along with the American public taking notice, led to sales 9 months later in excess 1300 each week. Sales of Letters to Young Churches would eventually total over 4,000,000. His translation hit a nerve, bringing fresh understanding and appreciation of the New Testament letters to many who had previously found them obscure.

Over the next few years, he was asked to translate the Acts of the Apostles (which he called The Young Church in Action), The Book of Revelation, and finally The Gospels. Each subsequent translation was well-received and sold well. A combined volume was released as the New Testament in Modern English in 1958.

4 Opposition and Philosophy

Despite the almost overwhelmingly positive reviews, letters and accolades, the opposition that C.S. Lewis had predicted did indeed come. Any pioneering work will face its share of embittered opponents. Those vocal and passionate critics of anything other than the King James Version showed up and continue to do so to this day. At the time of writing, when searching for J.B. Phillips on Google, there is a website on the first page condemning his translation as heretical (alongside the NIV and any translation other than the KJV). Remarkably, what Phillips did was controversial to a number of people at the time. The success of his pioneering translation would eventually pave the way for all forms of modern translations – the NIV, ESV etc.

Unlike most newer translations that have been written by groups of scholars, the Phillips version is a result of a single translator immersing himself in the language of the original text and at the same time fanatically studying the modern English language of the ordinary man and woman. J.B. Phillips’ perfectionist tendencies and enthusiasm for the task meant that he would stop at nothing to ensure his translations were understood as the original writers meant them to be. His passion to get across the original meaning and emotion was real and took him to extraordinary lengths. He tested every verse with all sorts of ordinary people from his parish and elsewhere, constantly pressing them on their understanding of the words he had chosen, and making adjustments where called for. He translated each verse, on average, 9 times before being satisfied that it conveyed in English the meaning of those early texts. Vera, J.B.’s wife, would say years later, “he did it in a way that the ivory towers and the people high up could never do. They didn’t have the common touch that my Jack had. He talked with the ordinary people in the street. He wanted to know how they thought and talked. He read magazines, and learnt what they were thinking and how they would react to his writings. And he did this throughout his life and the many thousands of letters we have had from all over the world showed he was getting the message to them. He was very careful about his translations. He was very meticulous about getting the right word.” J.B. Phillips was almost obsessed with what he called his passion for communication.

In his foreword to The New Testament in Modern English, Phillips explains his objectives and philosophy of translation. He explains that there are three marks of a successful translation. 1. It doesn’t feel like a translation. 2. The translator’s work succeeds in leaving his own style and personality aside. 3. The translation stimulates in the modern reader the same thoughts and emotions that the original writer produced for his readers.

He was careful not to “commentate” while translating, but, without numerous footnotes, found there would occasionally be the need for what appears to be a paraphrase, without which the original Greek would not make any sense at all. When he did this, he was always careful not to give any slant or flavor of his own, which is why he carefully explained why his translation never falls into “interpretation” in the sense of any personal manipulation of the scripture to fit some private point of view. He did understand though that there must be some “interpretation” in the sense that, after much study and contemplation of the original Greek, there must at times be some shift in language that requires a word or phrase to be something other than a direct translation of the original language. Without that, it would be impossible to transmit the intended meaning of the original writers. J.B. Phillips uses the example of the Greek from Matthew 27.44, where it says those crucified with Jesus decided to “cast the same in his teeth”. This had a meaning equivalent to “hurled abuse at him”, which is the phrase he used. He worked very hard to get into the mind of the first century writers, Paul, John, Peter and others, difficult a task as that is with distance in time and place, to get to the depths of what was being said.

To do all this, the translator must be fully aware of both the language of the original writers, and the contemporary use of words, and act as a solid bridge between the two. He suggests that all too often translators are excellent New Testament scholars but have little understanding of how people communicate today. It is not enough to have an understanding of the Greek; a firm and confident grasp of how English is used in the common language of today is essential to getting the meaning across in a fresh and yet faithful way. J.B. Phillips was able to this extraordinarily difficult task with great success.

Something powerful clearly happened to J.B. over the years of his translation work. He once said he sometimes got the impression that while he was working on the text, the text was actually working on him. Explaining this on a BBC radio broadcast on one occasion, he said, “I got the feeling that the whole thing was alive even while one was translating. Even though one did a dozen versions of a particular passage, it was still living”. He said his translation work was like trying to rewire a house with the mains electricity still on. After translating Acts, released as The Young Church in Action, he wrote, “The fresh air of Heaven blows gustily though these pages”. The quality of the undiluted life of Jesus and the almost tangible energy of his early followers exposed J.B. Phillips directly to the real, unspoiled Good News and led to an unexpected reawakening of his own faith. A fresh impression of Jesus came about during this work, as well as a new confidence in the scriptures, “I felt, and feel, without any shadow of doubt that close contact with the text of the Gospels builds up in the heart and mind a character of awe-inspiring stature and quality… these are not embroidered tales: the material is cut to the bone”. He later said that if he was at first convinced of the truth of the New Testament documents, he was 100 times more convinced after his translation work was complete.

As result of these experiences, J.B. Phillips had a strong desire to convey the living quality of the New Testament documents to others. He wanted others to experience this living, breathing, pulsating Word of God in the same way that he experienced it.

5 In the footsteps of C.S. Lewis

There were many who saw J.B. Phillips as the natural successor to C.S. Lewis. Lewis himself is said to have seen that; perhaps that is why he had agreed so generously to support him in several ways over the years. Such was the pioneering work of the J.B. Phillips New Testament translation that his other works are largely forgotten, aside from his two most popular books, Ring of Truth and Your God is Too Small. Yet, in total, outside of his translation work, he wrote and published 18 books. It is my belief that these books are just as important as his translation. These 18 books are a gold-mine. They are full of explanations, anecdotes and stories that strip back some of the more unhelpful layers of history, tradition and familiarity, and bring a freshness and energy to the message of the New Testament.

J.B. Phillips was saturated to the core with the raw Greek of the New Testament documents during the hours reading, reflecting, contextualizing and praying over the course of many years of translation work. The insights he gained and the beautiful way he expressed these in his non-translation books are worthy of deep attention. Like his translation work, these were written simply yet eloquently for the expressed purpose of entering men’s minds in a way the ‘common’ man could understand. His great friend Edwin Robertson, who was also an author and broadcaster, wrote this in an article called ‘Knowing J.B. Phillips’,

It is his greatest gift that he can master a profound and difficult thought and that he can convey it to the ordinary man. Yet before that common touch can begin to be effective he must master his material, and this he does with as much skill, and perhaps even more care than he communicates to people.

Each of the 18 books were written for specific purposes. Your God is Too Small addressed a narrow view of God which he noticed many Christians held. On my first visit to church as a freshman at Durham University in England I was late and took my seat as the sermon was just beginning. The very first words I heard from the preacher (in a thick Scottish accent) were these, “One of the books that has influenced me most over the years is a book called Your God is Too Small by J.B. Phillips. Now, I’ve never actually read the book, but the title has made me think so much over the years about my view of God”. The book was enormously helpful to many and has since become a classic. Making Men Whole was written to clarify our purpose as Sons and Daughters of God and our new role as ‘ambassadors of reconciliation’. When God Was Man is a beautiful short book about the incredible character, life and mission of ‘God focused’ in the person of Jesus on his visit to our planet. Ring of Truth is his testimony of the ‘alive-ness’ and truth of the New Testament, and contains in it many well-expressed and lovely anecdotes to the continuing power and relevance of the New Testament, not only to challenge the sceptic, but to stir up in the believer a greater appreciation and awe of those ancient texts. This too has become a classic. New Testament Christianity is probably my favorite of his books. There is a beautiful analogy called ‘The Angels Point of View’ within it that people still talk about to this day.

I am in the process of writing a weekly devotional based on some passages from the books but without lengthy quotes or long explanations of those other books not mentioned above, it is difficult to describe the value of these books here. However, there is an overlapping of certain themes across Phillips’ non-translation publications. These themes are a direct result of his close proximity to the original text over several decades. He seemed strongly compelled to communicate what he saw as blind spots in the active life and faith of the Christian, insights that are often obscured by over-familiarity, over-organization or simple apathy [1]. The best way is for people to re-discover these incredible books for themselves, as I did. As a teaser, I have included below a small selection of short passages based on some of the themes he wrote about. Italics are added.

On the power of the Spirit evident in scripture:

What impression is left upon my mind after spending some years in translating these letters? Above all, I think, that men and women are being changed: the timid become brave, the filthy-minded become pure in heart, the mean and selfish become loving and generous. It is quite plain that the writers of these letters took it as a matter of course, as a matter of observed experience, that if men and women were open to the Spirit of God, then they could be and were transformed. The resources of God are not referred to as vague pieties but as readily available spiritual power. Quite clearly a positive torrent of love and wisdom, sanity and courage, has already flooded human life, and is always ready to flow wherever human hearts are open. To my mind we are forced to the conclusion that something is at work here far above and beyond normal human experience, which can only be explained if we accept what the New Testament itself claims; that is, that ordinary men and women had become, through the power of Christ, sons and daughters of God.

On the extraordinary life and character of Jesus:

Steadily there grows in the mind the disquieting conviction that here is much more than man. Here, through the incomplete and sometimes almost naive records, one is in contact with something so tremendous in its significance that at first the mind cannot grasp it, but only as it were gasps incredulously… But now from first-hand acquaintance with these early documents the truth sweeps in afresh, and the indescribable humility of God strikes one with overwhelming awe. This little sphere on which we live and move and have our being is, in fact, a Visited Planet. The Creator of the vast Universe, about Whose Nature we could at the most make intelligent guesses, slipped quietly into the stream of human life in the only way in which that could be possible— by becoming a human being. This is the truth that pulses and vibrates behind the steady prose of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and shines through the more poetic works of John.

On the ‘alive-ness’ of scripture:

It is the sheer spiritual zest and drive of the New Testament which fill one with both wonder and wistfulness. It is as though in these pages there lies the secret of human life. The secret is not a mere theory or ideal, but a fresh quality of living worked out in terms of ordinary human life and circumstance. Above all, the general impression is of something supernatural, of supra-human truth and a supra-human way of living.

On the clarity of our purpose on earth:

To-day we need to purge ourselves of any lingering thoughts that the Christian Gospel (and the spreading of that Gospel) is simply a good idea to be held tenaciously rather as men will hold on to a political theory. It is infinitely more than this; we hold in our hands “the very word of life " (Philippians ii. 16). We share, incredible as it may seem, part of the plan of God Himself; to some extent we are even in His confidence, for we know something of His methods and the vast scope of His purpose

On the true quality and excitement of a life fully committed to following Christ:

The fresh air of Heaven blows gustily through these pages, and the sense that ordinary human life is continually open to the Spirit of God is very marked. There is not yet a dead hand of tradition; there is no over-organization to stifle initiative; there is neither security nor complacency to destroy sensitivity to the living God. The early Church lived dangerously, but never before has such a handful of people exerted such widespread influence. There is a courage to match the vision; there is a flexible willingness to match the divine leadership. And there is that unshakable certainty against which persecution, imprisonment, and death prove quite powerless. To put it shortly and in the common phrase, the lasting excitement which follows the reading of this book is this: the thing works!

The common thread to all his writings is that deep experience of the New Testament led J.B. Phillips to be convinced that it is a living document, and as such totally unique and the truths therein of the highest value to all people. His books contain challenge and encouragement for believers to approach the texts with fresh eyes so they too can experience the life-giving quality of true Christianity.

6 The Price of Success

In 1955, on the advice of trusted friends and colleagues, and after having completed 10 years as vicar of St. Johns, Redhill, J.B. Phillips moved with his family to Swanage, a town tucked away by the sea in a quiet corner of the beautiful county of Dorset. The demands of a huge and varied parish had only allowed him one morning a week for his translation work. Now, with the help of his secretary, who also moved to the area, he could focus all his energies on this task and write other books that he felt were needed. It also gave him the opportunity to accept speaking and broadcasting invitations.

His books sold well whenever a new one was published. On one visit to London he was walking across the river to St Paul’s cathedral. After reaching the other side he saw a bookstore with a huge photograph of his face in the shop window, taken during a publicity shoot not long before. A number of his books were presented beautifully from wall to wall. He had become a household name and was starting to realize this strange new reality for himself.

Broadcasting opportunities arose, as did requests to lecture and speak. Letters came in from across the world. A speaking tour around America was arranged, and he rubbed arms with film stars and had a church service in Hollywood broadcast on Television. He was granted honorary degrees, ecclesiastical titles and accolades by well-known people (his full name and title at the time of his death was The Reverend, Dr, Canon (or Prebendary) J.B. Phillips, MA, DD, D.Litt). He was a regular on BBC radio and on national radio stations around the world. His books continued to sell by the millions. He reflected on this time in his autobiography The Price of Success:

And so, apart from family contentment, here I was with the sea less than 400 yards away, the most delectable countryside all around us, owning my own house and garden and possessed of the most golden prospects, how could I fail to be happy? Christmas came with almost unbearable joy… The joy of Christmas, the simply beauty of a village church, the thankfulness for a year of intense happiness filled me with inexpressible delight.

I was in a state of some excitement throughout the whole of 1955. My work hardly seemed arduous for it was intrinsically exciting. I was tasting the sweets of success to an almost unimaginable degree, my health was excellent; my future prospects for rosier than my wildest dreams could ever suggest; applause, honor and appreciation met me wherever I went. I was well aware of the dangers of sudden wealth and I took some severe measures to make sure that, although comfortable, I should never be rich. I was not nearly so aware of the dangers of success. The subtle corrosion of character, the unconscious changing of values and the secret monstrous growth of a vastly inflated idea of myself seeped slowly into me. Vaguely I was aware of this and, like some frightful parody of St. Augustine I prayed, “Lord, make me humble – but not yet”. I can still savor the sweet and gorgeous taste of it all - the warm admiration, the sense of power, of overwhelming ability, of boundless energy and never ending enthusiasm.

One day J.B. was in a bookshop in Salisbury City Center autographing copies of his newest book. He had done this many times before in various places but this time something felt wrong. He was struck by a sudden and irrational panic at the thought of meeting people he didn’t know. It wasn’t too long before the feeling became so overwhelming that he had to remove himself from the scene and have his wife drive him home.

J.B. Phillips suffered from a deep and enduring illness, what is now known as clinical depression. There were glimpses of it from his early twenties but it didn’t hit its climax until 1961, when it became so severe that he had to cancel all his speaking engagements. In the book Genius, Grief and Grace, Dr Gaius Davis investigates the lives of several Christian figures such as Martin Luther, John Bunyan, C.S. Lewis, dedicating a chapter on each[2]. Dr Davis wrote this book both as a Christian and as a doctor of psychological medicine, to analyze how and why so many great men and women of the faith had been afflicted in different ways psychologically, but often with depression. He says, “The burning questions for Christians are: How did such heroic figures overcome their weaknesses, and what role did their faith, God’s grace and the power of his Spirit play in their achievement? I have selected a number of people who are, to me and others, heroic figures”. There is often a misunderstanding about how men and women who have shaped so many lives could have gone through something like depression. In the J.B. Phillips chapter, he helpfully expounds on some of the likely sources of his illness.

It is clear that J.B.’s father was a major catalyst. A highly driven, self-made man, he noticed his son’s intelligence early and pushed him hard to make the most of it. Young J.B. could not stand any criticism and tried to avoid it by working “130%”. My mother’s cousins tell me that J.B.’s siblings avoided this treatment by putting on a front of stupidity and silliness so their father would leave them alone, but J.B. for some reason was not able to do this. Years later after he had succeeded beyond anyone’s standards, it all came crashing down. It wasn’t until he had everything he dreamed of that he realized he was driven by a perverted desire, triggered by his father’s harsh treatment and his beloved mother’s death as a teenager, to “be so wonderful that I was above any criticism”. He didn’t realize it until later, but his drive had come from a desire to please his father and reach his impossibly perfect standards. He had created in his mind a “God of 130 percent” from his father, and it took years to deconstruct that image.

The manifestations were terrible. There would be good days but the last 40 years of his life were marked by deep and debilitating illness. No doubt he would have benefitted greatly by modern medicine if it were available to him then. A few years ago I met an elderly gentleman, John Walling, at a Christmas day service at St John’s, Redhill, J.B.’s former parish. J.B. had married John and his wife in 1955 while he was still vicar of St John’s. John told me he visited J.B. in Dorset a few years after the wedding and found him in such a dark place that he hardly said a word. It was clear from the look on his face as he was telling me this that it was a shock to him to see his former pastor in such a state.

Naturally then he had to struggle afresh through the issue of suffering and the existence of a good God. He called it the only real challenge to theism, but his faith never wavered for long. During one BBC interview he was asked the following question, “you have experienced a very long, a very serious and a very painful illness. Has this affected your Christian faith at all”. He answered, “No… I think in a sense it’s deepened it, it’s certainly tempered it and I can’t say I’ve enjoyed it. One sometimes feels one’s being hammered into shape and no-body enjoys that process I imagine. But looking back over the last few years, at any rate of my better moments, I can see a purpose in this”. He hints at what this purpose might have been, “after all God isn’t so interested in success as we are. I would have said if you’d asked me this 12 years ago that I didn’t worship success at all. But I have a feeling I did. And now a good many of the things that I used to be able to do so easily have been knocked out of my hands so to speak, it becomes increasingly obvious that I was in fact worshipping success”. He was quite prepared to believe in a God who would allow his children to be hurt because he could see a purpose even in the dark times, but he always insisted that God had would never harm them. This distinction goes some way to his own insight, “whatever suffering we go through, God would never act out of cruelty, and only out of love, even if it is not always obvious.”

C.S. Lewis Vision

In his book Ring of Truth, J.B. Phillips describes another strange experience, one nearer the end of his life when he was in the middle of a great deal of suffering during the heart of his depression. He described it like this:

Let me say at once that I am incredulous by nature, and as unsuperstitious as they come… But from time to time in life strange things occur… Many of us who believe in what is technically known as the Communion of Saints, must have experienced the sense of nearness, for a fairly short time, of those whom we love soon after they have died. This has certainly happened to me several times. But the late C.S. Lewis, whom I did not know very well, and had only seen in the flesh once, but with whom I had corresponded a fair amount, gave me an unusual experience. A few days after his death, while I was watching television, he “appeared” sitting in a chair within a few feet of me, and spoke a few words which were particularly relevant to the difficult circumstances through which I was passing. He was ruddier in complexion than ever, grinning all over his face and, as the old-fashioned saying has it, positively glowing with health. The interesting thing to me was that I had not been thinking about him at all. I was neither alarmed nor surprised…. He was just there — “large as life and twice as natural”! A week later, this time when I was in bed reading before going to sleep, he appeared again, even more rosily radiant than before, and repeated to me the same message, which was very important to me at the time. I was a little puzzled by this, and I mentioned it to a certain saintly Bishop who was then living in retirement here in Dorset. His reply was, “My dear J. . . ., this sort of thing is happening all the time”.

7 Pastoring

Eugene Peterson, author of The Message, calls translating a “pastoral act”. Indeed, it was J.B. Phillips’ desire to pastor the young people of his congregation that fueled his passion for communicating the truth of scripture in comprehensible and fresh ways. This led him on his journey as an author but he was always a pastor at heart. From 1945 – 1955, during his time as vicar of St John’s Redhill, he had written Letters to Young Churches as well as the first five of his non-translation books. He poured himself into the church, about which he writes a good amount in The Price of Success. As a parish priest, his duties were numerous – visiting the sick and dying, being involved in educational decisions, leading services and other church activities, conducting funerals and weddings, encouraging the downhearted, motivating and organizing churchgoers to give themselves to service, planning, administering, and all the other myriad tasks a parish priest undertakes. Because St John’s was a large parish with three widely different demographic areas, this was no small task, and though he had his share of discouragements over the years, he loved the people of that parish and was humble about his work, understanding that the, “small, patient ways of God” must be at work. Though he found the work difficult, he made a number of close friends in Redhill and was grateful for this time there and the people he served with.

His pastor’s heart would continue to grow even after stepping down as a parish priest. J.B. Phillips would continue to serve local churches in various ways consistently over the subsequent years. I have in my possession numerous letters from J.B. to his daughter Jennifer at her boarding school updating her on the various services he led and talks he gave near and far. He was a great support to the clergy in Swanage in particular and greatly helped the school close to his house in an unofficial pastoring role. As well as regular broadcasting, he accepted local speaking engagements, as well as those around the country and in America. He speaks particularly fondly of his jam-packed first United States tour in 1954 in one chapter of The Price of Success.

Correspondence

Even when he himself became very ill and was barely able to work, he found the energy and desire to help his fellow-man whenever it was required. Much of his later life was spent corresponding with people all over the world on all kinds of subjects, some to do with translation, others on theological points and still others on a broader range of issues. Though initially tempted to write back urging them to present their questions to their local pastor, he realized their nearest pastor could be many miles away, so felt it his duty to do all he could to help if at all possible. He wrote back to everyone who wrote to him, many thousands of people over the years. Some who wrote were quietly suffering the agony of depression. Even though he was suffering so much himself, he would always try to help these people through his letters. A number of these replies were included in a biography, The Wounded Healer, written by his wife Vera to encourage Christians who suffer from this illness. In those days it was often difficult for many to understand the reality of their suffering. Many felt guilty that they should feel depressed when the scriptures appear to command joy and preachers speak of untold happiness in Jesus. In his autobiography, The Price of Success, J.B. Phillips was open about his struggles with depression because he wanted his experience and insights to help others. His power of communication was a huge help for many. In many cases they felt that someone could finally explain accurately in words how they felt.

It was his pastor’s heart that rose him from his depression with great zeal in 1967 when he wrote Ring of Truth as a response to the confusion caused by some modern scholars like Bishop John Robinson. Books like Honest to God caused many to question the main tenants of their faith which are grounded in New Testament scripture, including the reality of the resurrection. J.B. Phillips was so angry with these so-called experts and the turmoil they caused (some even committed suicide as a result of these books) that he wrote Ring of Truth in two weeks. To this day it is a classic short treatise of the truth of scripture. It was his testimony as a translator to the ring of truth to the New Testament documents and the incredible power within. He was well placed to write this and it was helpful to many. It is hard for the reader to walk away from it without a fresh perspective on the raw beauty and power of Jesus, the early church, the power of the Spirit and the uniqueness of scripture. The book enjoys favorable reviews on Amazon and other online booksellers to this day.

Later Life

J.B. Phillips was encouraged to venture into the Old Testament, and though he was not as home in the Hebrew as the Greek, he did translate the first part of Isaiah, Amos, Micah and Joel which was released as The Four Prophets. It was well received, his translation of Micah particularly praised. He also took on the huge task of completely revising his New Testament translation for a number of reasons which he explains in the introduction. One of these was the simple desire to correct a number of small errors. Since his first translations were completed, new, more reliable Greek texts were available and he used those to check every word. The more significant changes involved cutting back some of his earlier use of paraphrase. He had come to understand that the “Phillips” was being used as an authoritative version across the world so he felt it necessary to double down on making sure the translation was accurate. He also wanted any change in the English language to be reflected in the revised text, though he found that because he did not include many colloquialisms, which change in use rapidly, few alterations were needed, despite it being 25 years since his first translation. It seems that the use of ordinary English changes slower than he imagined. I have written, in more detail, an article about the difference between the 1958 version and the 1972 version and the reasons why Phillips decided to make the changes he did. This new volume was released in 1972 after two years of hard work.

J.B. was very ill throughout the last years of his life and as a result the writing and broadcasting slowed down considerably, though, with help, he would continue his world-wide ministry through correspondence. He also drafted his autobiography, which was completed and published after his death in 1982.

Tributes

I have written much of the influence of J.B. Phillips already and his impact. There are many tributes that I have collected that I may publish in some future piece. For now, I wanted to include just one, from Guy Brown, who was in charge of Macmillan’s Religious Books Department in New York, one of Phillip’s main U.S. publishers. Mr Brown wrote this public tribute just before his retirement:

I have saved this letter as one of my very last official acts as the director of the religious books department of Macmillan. This has been done deliberately so that I could end my eleven years of service with the greatest tribute that can be paid to any of my authors. No one of my authors has won the affection of the American public as has J.B. Phillips. His publications have without exception won their way into the hearts and lives of countless thousands of Americans. No one dare predict how many lives have been enriched by his published works. Hundreds of letters attest to that fact, and surely there are thousands of his admirers who may not put their sentiments into these letters of appreciation that they most certainly feel. Sufficient evidence is in hand to confirm that J.B. Phillips has brought about a revolutionary change for good in the lives of the countless thousands of his American readers. He has communicated, in a new and vital manner that has had no peer since the early days of C.S. Lewis. Indeed I am firmly convinced that the writings of J.B. Phillips are more significant in the American religious scene than those of any other single British author. Indeed he may very well be the most influential writer of popular religious non-fiction in the English-speaking world today.

8 Afterword – Legacy

I recently watched a video of a group of previously unreached tribesmen gathering to receive the first complete Bible in their language. Several of them looked emotional, but there was one clearly in the shot that had tears of joy streaming down his face!

We are incredibly blessed to have so many good translations in our language today. And yet it can almost feel like there is too much choice. A lot of Christians have strong opinions about the version they use. I personally grew up in the faith using and memorizing verses from the NIV, because that is what my school and my church used. Whether it is the ESV, Living Bible, The Message, NIV, NIV UK edition, NKJV or something else, many Christians remain loyal to ‘their’ version. On occasion, I have even seen this enthusiasm lead to bitter judgment of others regarding the use of different versions. Yet, in so many ways, it is a good thing that we have so many versions today. It is crucial that every translator prayerfully and diligently handles this sacred task with responsibility, taking great care to choose the most appropriate words, but because each version is to some extent an imperfect vehicle of the unerring Word of God, every translation has its strong and its weak spots.

J.B. Phillips was a pioneer in modern Bible translation. His gifts, calling and circumstances were used to leave a tremendous mark on the lives of millions. His version was the first truly popular New Testament translation in modern English. As a result, there are now many versions. The Church Times wrote the following in a review of Four Prophets, “it seems to be Mr. Phillips’s vocation to blaze a trail on which others then walk delicately”. Even with the large number of modern translations that exist today, many still find a great deal of unique value in the Phillips Version, for a number of reasons:

Unfamiliar Version

Some of us grew up in the church and are very familiar with a lot of the passages in scripture. It is not unique to the Phillips version of course, but there can be lot of value to reading unfamiliar versions of scripture for those who read a specific version often. Words and passages can become familiar and lose the punch of the original meaning. Reading a different version can shed light on a familiar passage. I remember reading some of the psalms from The Message, a paraphrase I have not even fully embraced, and coming to see with fresh eyes, the beauty, rawness and relevance of that ancient collection of songs and poems. I have come away from reading the Phillips with fresh appreciation of a familiar passage many times. This has been particularly true for me with his translation of the New Testament letters and Acts of the Apostles.

Doesn’t feel like an ancient document

Phillips, I think in a similar way to C.S. Lewis, had a way of producing language that is eloquent and flowing, and yet simple and easily understandable. It is a rare gift to be able to do produce language of that quality, and as a result, his translations do not feel like ancient documents. They bring the reader to the first century message in its raw form. Even the fact that the translation is not printed two columns to a page, like other ancient documents usually are, reduces any antiquated feel and does something in itself to bring the message to life. The earlier versions do not even include verse numbers and the later editions only have them on the side of the page. J.B. Phillips explained clearly several times that he was not writing for the scholar but for the ordinary person, and for many he succeeded. The Spectator once wrote, “For private reading Canon Phillips has no serious competitors… There is no obscure place which he does not make perfectly intelligible and generally exhilarating. For the gradual recovery of Biblical reading in this country he ought to be accorded a large share of the praise”.

Turns of phrase

I never understood, “weeping and gnashing of teeth” as a phrase to describe some of the realities of hell. Phillips “tears and bitter regret” is more helpful. Famous phrases such as, “the creation is on tiptoe to see the wonderful sight of the sons of God coming into their own” (Rom 8.19) and, “Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its mold” (Rom 12.2) are quoted in books and sermons to this day. These wonderful translations get to the real essence of the message the writers were attempting to originally convey.

Makes it alive

The most consistent feedback from the Phillips version I have heard from others is that he makes the scriptures feel alive. The person of Jesus walks off the pages, the vigor of the young church seems tangible, the eternal dimension we so often miss in the day to day becomes real. He successfully manages to reflect his experience of translating it – the fresh air of heaven does indeed blow gustily through its pages.

Non-translation books

I have already written about J.B. Phillips’ non-translation books, and how many of them are hidden treasure, much needed today. For anyone who wants to know Jesus better, be refreshed in their view of the New Testament, or open themselves to the living power of God, these books are a gold-mine. It can do no harm to many of us in the modern church to keep our vigor and check ourselves against growing fat with apathy or comfort.

The words I wrote when I was 6 in that J.B. Phillips New Testament have far more meaning to me now than they did then. I know that my Grandad did not write the Bible [3]! But I am grateful that he did his work. I know many people, myself included, who need to regularly hear afresh the radical and life-changing nature of New Testament Christianity. If you are like me, you have a longing to fully embed what truly matters into your life, you want to learn how to live from the expert in living, you want to bring fresh perspective to the problems of life, and you desire to be renewed in deep hope and faith, burning brightly with the love of God.