God as grandfather

Have you checked out the First Nations Version of the New Testament yet? You should. I love it!

As they describe on their website:

The FNV is a dynamic equivalence translation that captures the simplicity, clarity, and beauty of Native storytellers in English, while remaining faithful to the original language of the New Testament. Whether you are Native or not, you will experience the Scriptures in a fresh and new way.

Now they have released the First Nations Version of Psalms and Proverbs... and I love it even more!

It makes me want to be a better person...

Richard Beck shares in THIS POST (it's short, read it) how they came to designate the Hebrew word for God as... 'Grandfather.' I'm not sure where he got this quote, but it explains it:

For the FNV Psalms and Proverbs, we followed the Jewish tradition of replacing YHWH with another name. We considered a First Nations name that would be meaningful, honoring, intimate, and intertribal. We needed a unique name we had not used in the New Testament since the New Testament Greek does not translate the name for YHWH.

The title Grandfather was proposed...This title carries the relational weight of the name. This name meets the criteria of intertribal and is often used at powwows and other First Nations gatherings. In all Native cultures, grandfathers and grandmothers are highly honored. Grandfather is a name of honor, dignity, intimacy, and loving authority.

Fathers and grandfathers are not generally depicted as honorable figures in most white American culture (think TV sitcoms where we're the doofus and butt of jokes). And, in some cases, rightfully so. It's not just the depictors fault, but sometimes the fault of us dads and grandfathers.

Wouldn't it be great if we could live up to the honor, dignity, intimacy, and loving authority of Native cultures though? I'd like to give it a try, at least...