Front cover of Clarence Jordan's Cotton Patch Gospel: The Complete Collection, featuring a blue sky, cotton field, and an introduction by Jimmy Carter, displayed against a rustic wooden plank background.

Before it was a book, The Cotton Patch Gospel was a conversation.

The Cotton Patch Gospel grew out of decades of Clarence Jordan's preaching, teaching, and translation of the New Testament from its original Greek.

When he spoke in churches, conferences, and community gatherings, he rarely carried an English Bible. Instead, he translated directly from the Greek text, bringing Scripture into the language and setting of the people sitting before him.

Over time, those translations became The Cotton Patch Gospel.

Rather than treating the Gospel as a story from another place and time, Clarence relocated it into the modern South, helping readers encounter familiar passages with fresh ears. His goal was never to modernize the Bible, but to translate the ideas. He wanted people to wrestle with its meaning, feel its challenge, and discover what following Jesus might look like in their own time and place.

This complete collection brings together Clarence's Cotton Patch translations: Matthew and Mark, Luke and Acts, Paul's letters, and the portions of John he completed before his death.

For many readers, The Cotton Patch Gospel has been their first introduction to Clarence Jordan. For others, it remains the work that best captures his wit, scholarship, courage, and conviction that the Gospel belongs in the middle of everyday life.

Includes an introduction by President Jimmy Carter, a foreword by Will Campbell, and an afterword by Tony Campolo.

Details

  • Hardcover
  • 433 pages
  • Introduction by President Jimmy Carter
  • Foreword by Will Campbell
  • Afterword by Tony Campolo
  • Published by Smyth & Helwys Books

Cotton Patch Gospel: The Complete Collection

Smyth and Helwys
$29.00
  • 5 stars: 4 (100%)
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J
Joan
Cotton Patch Gospel

Though I have only begun to read the volume, it’s appealing to consider the biblical material set in America, in the Southern U.S.

C
Craig L Nessan
Contextualize the New Testament

This is a classic version of the New Testament that locates in the rural South and prophetically challenges racial segregation. I have used selections in my seminary teaching. Recommended for expanding your horizons.

M
Marjorie Gray
Down-to-Earth New Testament

From President Carter’s Introduction and Will Campbell’s Foreword to Tony Campolo’s Afterword—from Clarence Jordan’s poignant paraphrase of Matthew through his version of Jude (A Letter from Joe)— this book shines with Holy Spirit wisdom, truth, justice and mercy that can bless and challenge each Christ Follower, Church Member, Seeker and Doubter.

j
jerry sterchi
The Cotton Patch Gospel The Complete Collection

The cotton patch gospel is a unique effort to present the word of God, the gospel in an updated language that is understood by many, which was the original aim and intent of the gospel message.