Bible reading project progress

Over the past few years, I have enjoyed reading through several different versions of the Bible, including
Today's New International Version [TNIV]
The NIV Archaeological Study Bible
The ESV Reformation Study Bible
The New Living Translation, 2nd edition
I am currently about 60% of the way through the Good News Translation, Australian Edition.

It has been a great joy to read each of these. I've found all of them helpful, and often wonder why some people can say such amazingly unhelpful and uninformed things about various versions of the Bible.
But I am looking forward to completing the Good News Translation [which is not a misnomer; I think Zondervan has recently changed its title from Good News Bible to Good News Translation], and reading through The Books of the Bible: a presentation of Todays New International Version.

This Bible removes verses, chapters and headings, places the footnotes at the end of each book as endnotes, and even rearranges the order of the books, partly chronologically and partly by author.
You will find that the first books of The First Testament are in the order you are used to, but that the books of Samuel and Kings have been restored to the original form of one book, not four.
But then The First Testament begins to follow the format of the Hebrew Bible to some degree, by having a section devoted to the prophets [but ordered mainly chronologically, not by book size]and finally a section of poetry, plus Chronicles-Ezra-Nehemiah [restored to a single book] and ending with Daniel, an apocalyptic work.
The New Testament begins with Luke-Acts as one book in two volumes, then has Paul's letters in chronological order, three books written to Jews, Matthew, Hebrews and James, Mark grouped with Peter's letters, and then John's gospel and letters and finally ending, like the First Testament, with Revelation, an apocalyptic book.
I'm finding it easier to read from this Bible when it is my turn to read in church [once I've found my place, as it only has verse locations at the bottom of each page].
The paragraphing is very well done, and I especially like the way it has been arranged in Ephesians 5:21-33. Despite the accusations about the TNIV, this arrangement is so obviously complementarian, I think.
The arrangement of this Bible is greatly superior to our current setup, but I wonder if it will catch on? I'm hopeful that it will, or else that it will encourage others to experiment with the order of the presentation of the books.

Through the Bible, Through the Year

Firstly, I must point out that the title is a misnomer, because the book will give you an overview of the Bible, but there is about one verse per day at the head of each page, with interesting comments by Stott and a Bible passage for further reading cited at the bottom of the page.
Even if you were to read all of the verses cited at the page end, you would have read only a tiny snippet of the Bible's 1189 chapters. But you would have a fair overview of its contents, nonetheless.
Stott's comments are very helpful and nearly always interesting. My wife and I are using the book for daily reading, having read through a good proportion of the New Testament and Psalms over the past few years.
If you follow the author's advice, you will be reading about Christmas and the significiance of the incarnation of Jesus around Christmas time and reading about Christ's trial, suffering, death, burial and resurrection around Easter, and getting an overview of the rest of the Bible at other times.
I think the book will only be worthwhile if you do read the suggested additional reading as the main Bible reading and then read Dr Stott's comments. With this caveat, I am happy to recommend the book as a good daily devotional over the course of a year.
The link reveals that there are shops accessed via Amazon that can sell you this book for $USD4.99 plus postage! My copy was $AUD25!

1001 Classical Recordings You Must Hear Before You Die

This was my Christmas present from my darling wife. I admit, I did drop hints! It is arranged chronologically from Carmina Burana in the Twelfth Century to Julian Anderson's 2004 Book of Hours.
I notice that I have a lot to learn about the early and late stuff: haven't heard of half of these works!
The book gives articles about specific works, information on the composers and recommended recordings.
It is interesting to see where a particular work fits in history and in a composer's output and what others were writing at the same time.
And I've always liked a nice book of lists: ask Joan!

I was amused by an advertisement for this book and the companion CD set being followed by a recording of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. Maybe that work should now be renamed A Thousand and One Stories To Hear Before I Die!

Tom Schreiner

I think Tom Schreiner is a great blessing to the church. We are fortunate that God has gifted him and that he is using these gifts for God's glory.

I have enjoyed his Commentary on Romans, his Pauline Theology, his book on Paul and the Law and especially the book he co-wrote with Ardel Caneday, The Race Set Before Us.

I have also enjoyed his Commentary on Peter's Epistles and Jude.

Music for Relationship Strain?

In reading through Remarriage After Divorce In Today's Church, I was taken by Gordon Wenham's interesting comment about action churches should engage in to help people understand the bible's teaching about divorce and remarriage:

In my experience, evangelical worship tends to be almost entirely praise oriented. But if one looks at the Psalms, the most common category is laments, psalms in which the worshipper pours out his complaint to God and prays for help and healing.
In our congregations there are many who come to worship bearing great pain in their souls, and they need the opportunity to express their woes to God. If the way is not clear for them to do so, they will feel even more excluded and cut off from their fellow worshippers and from God.

I'm enjoying this book, and so far have especially enjoyed Mark Strauss' excellent pastoral introduction and concluding comments, and Gordon Wenham's interesting suggestions for churches which believe they have been too permissive on this issue in the past.

Highly recommended.

The Letter to the Hebrews

I have been busy reading and re-reading Hebrews, because I love it, because I'm trying to memorise it, and because I will be preaching on it at our church for two weeks while our minister takes a well-earned holiday.

I'm now in Hebrews 7 in my memorisation, and am listening to Don Carson's Hebrews talks from the 2002 John Bunyan Conference. If I can squeeze it in, I would also like to listen to Professor Carson's talks on The Use of the Old Testament in Hebrews. You can find these talks and download them for a very cheap price at Christwaymedia.

I hope to speak on The Superiority of Jesus in Hebrews 1:1-2:4 and on Becoming a Mature Christian from Hebrews 5:7-6:20. After choosing these topics and passages, I was interested to see what Raymond Brown says in his introduction to Hebrews in his Bible Speaks Today exposition, Christ Above All. [Raymond Brown, the former principal of Spurgeon College, not Raymond Brown, the eminent Roman Catholic commentator.]

The letter appeals to severely tested believers, some of whom have been physically assaulted, had their homes plundered, been cast into prison and been exposed to fierce persecution, to keep their faith firmly anchored to the moorings of truth, to maintain their steady confidence in Christ and to press on to mature Christian stability.

The author encourages these folk to persevere, to keep going, to take hold of the hope set before them, but before he does this, he firstly tells them to look, not to themselves for inward strength, not to their contemporaries, but to Christ. No believer can cope with adversity unless Christ fills his horizons, sharpens his priorities and dominates his experience.

Please note that the above is a slight rearrangement of Brown's words and not a direct quote.
Brown shows that the writer begins with an exposition of Christ as prophet [1:1-2], priest [1:3] and king [1:8-14]. He sees the book's message as gathered around two themes:

Revelation: the word of God
Redemption: the work of Christ.
The word of God dominates chapters 1-6 and 11-13, whereas the work of Christ has priority of place in the central section, chapters 7-10.

Brown has another way of putting this, which is

a. What God has said to us through human channels, and different historical contexts, and in Christ, God's greatest and final message to us

b. What Christ has done for us, by fulfilling and transcending and making obsolete the priesthood and sacrifices of the Old Testament.

Meeting with the author

Partly in view of my ever-closer meeting with the author, I'm continuing to pursue reading the bible quickly and slowly. Reading the New Living Translation, 2nd edition is continuing to be enjoyable, and I have now read
Genesis
Exeodus
Leviticus
Esther
Job
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Lamentations
Joel
Obadiah
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
and
Malachi
from the Old Testament
and Mark
Romans
Galatians
Philippians
1 and 2 Thessalonians
Titus
Philemon
Hebrews
James
2 and 3 John
and Jude
from the New Testament.

I'm working on Jeremiah, reading through Psalms a few psalms at a time and have nearly completed Matthew.

Reading Jeremiah is being done in conjunction with listening to Philip Ryken's 66 sermons, which I downloaded via Itunes, via Preaching the Bible. I wish Mr Ryken's sermons were preceded by the bible reading each one is based on, but I don't think our minister's are, either!

And, I am now working on the last verses of Hebrews 6, which takes me to only one third of the way through Hebrews, as chapters, 7,9-12 have so many verses. What a huge emphasis on the greatness of Christ and on keeping going as a Christian!

I used to recite the chapters I had been working on when I went for a walk, but now it is colder, I'm using a treadmill for exercise, and find it hard to concentrate on the memorising and using the treadmill.

Reviewing three books

I'm nearly finished writing a review of Dan Korocz's WORSHIP: the revolution is here and today received copies of a new Australian novel by Jo-anne Berthelsen called Helena based on a real life story, and Daniel Mendelsohn's very well regarded The Lost, which is about his search for details on six relatives who died during the holocaust.

I won't say much about these until my reviews are published. The Lost looks great, but it is over 500 pages! I think my review is going to be some time in being completed. I'm good at buying books, starting them, but not so good at finishing. But I do look forward to reading these last two I've mentioned. The Aussie novel is published by the same folk who published the Worship book, but they couldn't be more different.

Books on the Atonement

Reading Pierced for our Transgressions [which I have not yet finished], has inspired me to look at some other books on this subject. Last weekend, we were in Penrith celebrating our grandson Jerome's second birthday and I read a substantial portion of The Nature of the Atonement: four views, which includes an excellent article by Tom Schreiner on penal substitutionary atonement, as well as an article by Greg Boyd on the Christus Victor model and two other articles on the atonement as primarily healing, or kaleidoscopic.

The argument that the central teaching of the bible on this subject is that the death of Jesus was to take our place in suffering God's wrath for our sin still convinces me. I bought John Stott's The Cross of Christ yesterday and have dipped into it a little, having read bits of a library copy before. Stott argues, with Schreiner, that some of the other views are valuable [including the Christus Victor view] and should not be forgotten, but that penal substitutionary atonement is clearly primary.

Atonement debate heats up

I was interested to read Peter Kirk's comment about Steve Chalke's marathon running:

Rev Steve Chalke has reclaimed the world record for the most money raised by running in a marathon, nearly £2 million (or US $4 million)...
Yes, this is the same Steve Chalke who is still being vilified by many Christians for calling a distorted view of the atonement “cosmic child abuse”. The money he raised shows how many people still support him and his ministries. Chalke completed the London marathon in less than four hours, but his atonement marathon has been running for nearly four years, and still looks set to run and run.

Those who love our Lord Jesus Christ and love the bible's message about him dying in our place are understandable upset when this teaching is misrepresented and even ridiculed. Sometimes our own efforts to articulate this teaching have been the cause of its being maligned, because at times evangelicals have used silly illustrations in support of it (as the authors of Pierced for our Transgressions have pointed out at the conclusion of their book).

It is terrific to see Mr Chalke's enthusiasm and success in raising money for his work with the poor and disadvantaged. He is not being called to account for this.

But from what Steve himself has said, he is not arguing against a caricature of the atonement, but against penal substitutionary atonement itself. It seems to me that the bible has more than one image of the atonement, but that the model of Christ dying and taking the punishment for our sins is definitely a key one.


Talk of God as a divine psychopath (Jeffrey John) or a cosmic child-abuser (Steve Chalke) reveals uneasiness over the bible's teaching about the holiness and wrath of God, and a misunderstanding of God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit in perfect harmony and agreement (which later theologians felt constrained to develop into the doctrine of the trinity). I also think that many problems people have with biblical teachings (which penal substitutionary atonement clearly is) can be traced to an unwillingness to accept God's right to be God and to order things in the ways he sees fit.

Pierced for our transgressions

is a well-written book and a skilfully designed website. You can get a good feel for the book from the site, where you can read relevant articles and extracts from the book, download music and talks, and also read news about reactions to the book.

Pierced for our transgressions is a restatement of the bible's message about Jesus' death for our sins. Some people in our world are revolted by the idea of Jesus taking the punishment due to us and are calling it cosmic child abuse. The book's authors deal with objections to this key Christian teaching, and show that it is not a Johnny-come-lately, but has been believed and taught throughout the history of the Christian church.

This may be one of the most important books of the decade. It is comprehensive without being complicated; profound but not pretentious. The authors honestly deal with the issue of Christ's death for us and all that it means.


This is a book for everyone who loves Jesus Christ, and loves the message of his death for us to read and re-read. It is also an excellent starting-point for getting an overview of the main ideas of the Christian message.

Highly recommended.

Genuinely funny and challenging

I enjoy reading the stuff at Tom in the Box news network. Lark news is also very amusing, but sometimes I find it is funny, but not necessarily helpful. [I am still reading it, though with caution.]

The Tom in the Box article about the man who feels called to minister to the extremely wealthy will tickle your funny bone, and I hope make you ponder your own capacity to indulge yourself. It certainly had that effect on me.

And the big bloke who feels called to give up exercise in the light of Paul's words about "bodily exercise profiting little" is also a great story.

Memorising passages

A few of my Christian friends have memorised verses of Scripture, but very few of those I have talked with have worked on passages of Scripture, rather than isolated verses.

It seems to me that the isolated verses do not often mean exactly what we have been told they mean: sometimes they may properly be used to support something more than their original intent, but it could be useful to firstly let them say what they originally said!

For example, as a child I was told that Revelation 3:20, which I learnt in the King James Version as

Behold I stand at the door and knock:
if anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
I will come in to him, and sup with him and he with me.

means that we must ask Jesus into our hearts. In fact that is the way a person becomes a Christian. Because of this, this was the method I used when my mother shared the gospel with me on Christmas Day, 1957.

We were also told that Acts 16:30-31

What must I do to be saved?
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

tells us that to become a Christian all that is required is a simple belief in Christ.

But the Revelation passage is of course speaking about the Laodicean Christians being urged to invite Christ back into their midst, because at the moment, he's on the outside. And Paul seems to require more than a simple belief from the Philippian gaoler, because he then baptises him and his whole family, who had all come to believe in God.

Maybe some of our misapplications might be avoided if we were to learn passages, rather than a verse here and there. During my attempt to memorise Hebrews, I'm discovering that some verses have quite a different flavour in their original surroundings.

One example of this is Hebrews 4:12, which is part of a discussion about Christians entering into the rest promised to Israel in Joshua and other places in the Old Testament:

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; 10 for those who enter God's rest also rest from their own work, just as God did from his. 11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.[TNIV]

It is both fearsome and encouraging, when we read the rest of the passage.

What are you currently memorising? Hebrews may seem overwhelming, but a short psalm such as Psalm 23 or Psalm 1, or a passage such as Romans 8:28-39 is quite approachable to begin with, I think.

Reading quickly and slowly

I'm continuing to enjoy reading the bible through as rapidly as I can, and also at a much slower pace. Since September, 2005, I have read through the whole bible 3 times, using the TNIV, the ESV Reformation Study Bible, and most recently, the Zondervan NIV Archaeological Study Bible.

The study notes do slow you down, but they are also very helpful in both of the books I've mentioned.

My read-through of the 2 study bibles took about 5 months each time, but this time I'm reading the New Living Translation, 2nd edition and am whooshing through and it is really enjoyable so far. I've been musing about why it is going so quickly, and I think it is a combination of:
1. Having the time to read for an hour or so a day, as it is a school holiday period, in which I don't have to go to work.
2. Not using Michael Coley's excellent genre bible reading plan this time, but reading through whole sections, such as reading the first 11 chapters of Genesis, which is like a single unit, reading through Job and not stopping till the end of Job's answers to the first of his friends' comments! Having become somewhat familiar with Hebrews, I read chapters 1 through 6 yesterday, and the rest this morning.
3. It is definitely quicker when you don't use a study bible, valuable as they can be.
4. The NLT invites you to keep going, as it is written in such conversational, contemporary English.

My read-through of the TNIV, NIV and ESV revealed that they are in the same ball-park: the ESV is a little more formal, uses more awkward language at times, but is still within striking distance of the NIV/TNIV, I think. All of these versions use some "functional equivalence" [which used to be called "dynamic equivalence"], thoguh there is a little more in the NIV/TNIV bibles.

But the NLT is really another world. It is quite a bit freer, and is often more interpretive. It is a great bible for helping you to understand the meaning of the bible, but often choices have been taken away from you, due to the translators letting you know not only what the bible says, but also what they think it means. This is a great aid for the reader, but if you are serious about understanding the bible, you will want to use other versions as well, so that you can see there are choices to make in the interptretation of many passages in the bible.

The NLT is so easy to read that my current project may end a month earlier, I think. In the first 4 days, I've been able to knock over 5% of the 1189 chapters.

Reading the bible slowly is also important, and I'm doing this by trying to memorise Hebrews, having been inspired by Ryan Ferguson, who has memorised Ecclesiastes and Hebrews. This project began on 6th December, 2006 and so far I have learnt up to Hebrews 6:11 in the TNIV translation. It is very enjoyable going through what I've been working on currently, and then attempting the whole shebang on my walks to work or around the area where I live. I rarely encounter anybody on my walks, but wonder what people who do pass me by make of this muttering man! It is much easier to rehearse verbally, than silently, I find.

In July I will be preaching at our church for 2 weeks, while our minister takes a break. I'm hoping to use some of what I'm learning in Hebrews in those sermons.

We are greatly blessed to have so many terrific bible versions in English which enable us to get different facets of the eternal truths of God's Word. I'm sorry to see Christians polarised as KJV Only, or ESV Only or contemporary only. Each one of these versions is valauble, though the ones written in the past 50 years are certainly more beneficial than the historic ones for us today.

This weekend I visited my mother and read some of Hebrews to her. Mum has gone to church all of her life until going into an aged care place 3 or 4 years ago. She has read the bible for herself, until no longer able to do so. She always read the KJV, so I read from it to her when I visit. I often read a psalm or part of a gospel. It was a shock reading Hebrews: it is very awkward in the KJV. You would need a week's rehearsal to read it effectively in church to the congregation, I would think.

Reading the Apostolic Fathers

We have begun a group for folk who would like to join in reading through The Apostolic Fathers. I'm very much a beginner, but maybe some other beginners out there would like to join us.

We are commencing with The Didache, and then group members might like to suggest what we read next.

I'm excited by this new venture and hope some folk reading this might like to join us. We will be reading in Greek, but you are very welcome to read in English, if you don't read Greek [yet!]

But I can only read one book!

You would think someone was pretty strange if he claimed to be able to read English, but had only ever read one book. If this sounds silly, is it any sillier than a person who claims to be able to read Greek, but has only ever read bits of the New Testament? And some of these folk, according to J I Packer, are translating the bible for us!

F F Bruce also commented that you can't say you are proficient in Greek if you only read the New Testament [and, I might add, with an analytical lexicon, or program such as BibleWorks, guiding your every step].

So I'm having a crack at reading the Didache, as a way into the Apostolic Fathers. This is a fascinating little book, that may have been written about the time of the last New Testament books, or maybe a little later. You can read the Apostolic Fathers in English from The Christian Classics Ethereal Library, but I'm using Michael Holmes' The Apostolic Fathers: greek texts and english translations.

So far, I can make some sense of it, but occasionally, I wander over to the right-hand page for a translation.

Progress report

This morning I have completed reading through the Old Testament in the Zondervan Archaeological Study Bible. I began this project on 17th October, 2006 which was the day after my birthday, but more importantly, my Aunty Trixie's birthday. Trixie was the first Australian to be sent out as a Leprosy Mission nurse, and served in South India for over 40 years, returning to do more work in her 70s. She died in January, 2006 at the age of 92.

My last chapters were Psalmsc 149 and 150 and the puzzling last 9 chapters of Ezekiel. I find reading through the bible rapidly is very helpful, as it gives an overview of the whole bible. But, passages like Ezekiel 40-48 scream out for a closer look, which I hope to do later.

I now have to read Revelation to be finished the 1189 chapters of the Old and New Testaments.

The Archaeological Study Bible is deservedly the best-selling study bible, I think. Over 250,000 copies were sold in its first year of release, according to The Association for Christian Retail, whose acronym is CBA!

It is a great resource for helping us to understand the background to the bible, and is complemented well by the ESV Reformation Study Bible, which gives important theological information.

I'm also continuing to read the bible slowly, which is enforced by attempting to memorise portions of it. This project, which I began on 6th December, 2006, is slow and I am now half way through Hebrews 6. Every time I go for a walk I attempt to rehearse what I have thought I've memorised so far!

Memorising enables me to meditate on God's Word.At the moment I'm thinking through Hebrews 6:4-6, asking myself why the writer makes such strong threats to those he believes are going to persevere: could it be that the warnings and threats are part of God's means for keeping them on the path?

Moron Memorising Scripture

Whoops! I mean More on Memorising Scripture! [Except I think plenty of people think us memorisers are morons.]

It is popular to learn isolated verses, but I think they often do not say exactly what we were told they say, when you consider their contexts.

For example, in memorising Hebrews, after a couple of months I got to Hebrews 4:12. It is a lot more powerful in its context than only as a verse to motivate you to read the Scripture, as it is often used.

This verse is scary! It comes between powerful warnings about the awesomeness of God and his Word:

11 Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.

12 For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

Then straight after this sobering warning, the writer goes on to urge us to trust in Christ, in the light of God's omnipresence, omnipotence and omniscience:

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 16 Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

Learning a verse here or there makes you miss out on so much! But I don't think I'm ready to take on the whole New Testament, yet Vaughan! [Though some more key passages would be handy!]

Hebrews

I'm continuing to read and re-read Hebrews, in an attempt to follow in Ryan Ferguson's footsteps and memorise the whole book.

He did it in 10 months, but I think it might take me 10 years!

I began on 6th December, and have so far memorised Hebrews 1:1-5:10, which is 77 verses. But there are still more than 200 to go!

I looked at Leon Morris' commentary in the Expositor's Bible Commentary this morning and found this useful chart showing Jesus' superiority to everything in the Jewish religion and way of life. [It isn't formatted as nicely as in the original: sorry!]

Jesus is greater than the prophets 1:1-3
Jesus is greater than the angels 1:4-14; 2:5
Jesus is greater than Moses 3:1-6
Jesus is greater than Joshua 4:6-11
Jesus is greater than the high priest 5:1-10; 7:26-8:2
Jesus is greater than the Levitical priests 6:20-7:25
Jesus as the high priest after Melchizedek is greater than Abraham 7:1-10
Jesus' ministry is greater than the tabernacle ministry 8:3-6; 9:1-28
Jesus' new covenant is greater than the old covenant 8:7-13
Jesus' sacrifice is greater than OT sacrifices 10:1-14
Experiencing Jesus is greater than the experience on Mount Sinai 12:18-24

Which bibles have the best translators?

In the promotional material for the ESV, we are given the impression that its translators were more reliable than those who translated other bible versions. We are told that they used a different method than was used for versions such as the New Living Translation and TNIV.

It is interesting to compare the names of the translators of the ESV with those who translated the NASB, the NIV, the New King James Version, the TNIV, the New English Translation [the NET bible] and the Holman Christian Standard Bible.

Several of those who worked on the ESV also translated versions such as the New Living Translation. According to my calculations, 18 people worked on both the NLT and the ESV. How are we to make sense of this? According to the ESV publicity, the NLT was translated in a less than satisfactory way, as its translators were aiming to help us find out what the bible means. A better translational method, they say, is to tell the reader what the bible says.

Does this mean that translators such as Greg Beale, Daniel Block, Craig Blomberg, Darrell Bock, George Guthrie, Harold Hoehner, Gordon McConville, Robert Mounce, Ray Ortlund, John Oswalt, Moises Silva and Gordon Wenham were less reliable when translating the NLT? Or did they bring some of their dodgy methods with them when they translated the ESV, thus making it an untrustworthy translation?

Which Bibles are the Best?

There is a concerted campaign in the evangelical community to promote so-called literal bible versions over so-called dynamically equivalent versions.

For example, some folk say that the English Standard Version or ESV is more accurate than Today's New International Version or TNIV.

Some say that the ESV is more accurate because it tells us what the bible says, whereas the TNIV tries to tell us what it means. The ESV translates, they say, whereas the TNIV interprets.

Now I have read the whole bible in both versions. All 260 chapters of the New Testament and all 929 chapters of the Old Testament. And what I have discovered is that both versions interpret, and the ESV does it much more than its promoters would like you to believe. I'm not criticising their translation technique, but I am warning that what is said about it is not completely accurate.

I think it may be true to say that the ESV is less interpretive than the TNIV.

We are also led to believe that the TNIV uses gender-inclusive language, whereas the ESV retains the masculine language of the bible. But this is not really exact either. If you compare the RSV [on which the ESV is based] and the NIV [on which the TNIV is based] with their later incarnations, you will see immediately that the main differences between both old versions and their new editions is the use of gender-inclusive language.

For the most part, both new editions have removed the masculine language of the RSV and NIV where there was none in the original. Both versions also have used gender-inclusive language to clarify what the original authors meant.

However the ESV translation is fairly squeamish about translating a Hebrew or Greek masculine word by an inclusive word [or words] in English, even where it is clear that the word was used in an inclusive way.

So in Romans 1:13 where the TNIV has

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that I planned many times to come to you

the ESV says

Romans 1:13 want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you

but has a rather lengthy, clarifying footnote link from the word brothers which says

Or brothers and sisters. The plural Greek word adelphoi (translated "brothers") refers to siblings in a family. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, adelphoi may refer either to men or to both men and women who are siblings (brothers and sisters) in God's family, the church.

Now if the TNIV occasionally uses gender-inclusive language where it is not necessary, it is also true that the ESV's retention of masculine language sometimes obscures the writer's meaning.

I think that if we are to understand a collection of writings that is over 1900 years old, we need all the help we can get. We need to know what the original says, but we also need to know what this means. We are fortunate that excellent translations like the ESV and TNIV have been produced, but it does not help us when one version is promoted in a misleading way which hints that it is the only really reliable version. it is also not honest to say that a version which aims to use less interpretion in its text is essentially literal when it has interpretation on every page.

Which is the best version? I think we need both. We use the TNIV for daily reading, but I often check the ESV rendering for added clarity.

George Whitefield by Arnold Dallimore

I got my copy of Arnold Dallimore's 300 page condensation of his own 2 volume, 1200 page work today from http://www.graceandtruthbooks.com/ and have just completed the first chapter. If the rest is as good as everyone says, it is going to be a great read.

I'll keep you posted.

Did God kill Jesus?

I was interested in Peter Kirk's comment on the article Punished in our place and have been pondering the objection to the blatant assertion that God killed Jesus.

I'm wondering if an understanding of the bible's teaching about the trinity and the sovereignty of God might be helpful on this one. I agree that the bible usually says that God planned for Jesus to die in our place, and does not blatantly use the exact words "God killed Jesus."

But if Father, Son and Holy Spirit planned the atonement in eternity, if Jesus offered his life willingly and if God is in control of everything, it would seem to me to somewhat neutralise objections to this concept.

Sitting in church this morning, the story of Joseph popped into my head and I was reminded that Joseph blatantly says to his brothers who had sold him as a slave

... do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you ... So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. Genesis 45 And in Genesis 50 Joseph says: 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

While the bible may not use the ipsissima verba, the concept would seem to be found there. I think this needs to be nuanced in such a way that we understand that God is using the actions of evil men for his own purposes, it was his grand plan,and I think it would be proper to say to the chief priests and scribes and Herod and the others "It was not you who took Christ and crucified him, but God. You intended to kill the prince of glory, but God intended it for good to accomplish the saving of many lives."


Joseph's statement did not absolve his brothers from being responsible for their evil activity and such a statement to those who took Christ and put him to death would also not free them from being held accountable for killing the Son of God.

I appreciate the comments that have been made on this topic concerning exercising the same restraint which the bible uses, but think that if you consider all of the biblical material on the atonement, some pretty strong statements are made there. We should not go beyond Scripture, but I think the analogy with the story of Joseph is a useful one to ponder.

By Faith Alone

When I downloaded the My Bible program for my new Palm Z22 handheld this morning, I also downloaded three bible translations which I frequently use and By Faith Alone, which is James Galvin's compilation of 365 devotional thoughts by Martin Luther. I've enjoyed the first entry: the program is clever enough to make Day One 19th January, the day I first opened the program.

But I don't think I can copy from the text and download it into a memo and then plonk it in my computer next time I do a hotsync, which is a bummer.

The first reading is called Faith Comes First and is a good representation of Luther's teaching about faith and works. I liked this comment:

Some people value good works so much that they overlook faith in Christ. They preach about and praise their own works instead of God's works.
Faith should be first. After faith is preached, then we should teach about good works. It is faith - without good works and prior to good works - that takes us to heaven. We come to God through faith alone.

What bible versions did I download? The demo version of the program, which I used to try it out included the venerable,but increasingly archaic King James Version. I added the TNIV, the ESV and the NLT. I'm using the TNIV for memorisation, and am pelased to have the other versions available on my organiser [can't bring myself to call it a pda as it sounds too American, if I may say so.

Fast or Slow?

I have been reading the bible through quickly, and have found it to be a great way of seeing the big picture, and also reading it slowly, by memorising a verse or two per day, and then meditating on those verses, as I struggle to remember them!

In my fast read-through, I try to finish a bible book in a few days [except for Psalms and Proverbs, which lend themselves to a slower approach, I think]. This time round I've read:

Old Testament
the first 5 books [known as the Torah, or Pentateuch or Law, whatever you prefer] Chronicles
Job
Proverbs
Isaiah, Jeremiah and several minor prophets

New Testament
Matthew, Mark and Luke [known as the Synoptic Gospels, because you can put them side by side in a parallel setup to observe similarities and differences]
Romans
1 Corinthians
Galatians
1 and 2 Timothy and Titus [known as the Pastoral Epistles]
Philemon
Hebrews
James
1 and 2 Peter
1, 2 and 3 John
and
Jude

So I still have about 30% to do, which I hope to complete by the end of March; maybe earlier

But I'm also memorising Hebrews, following in Ryan Ferguson's footsteps. So far, I'm up to chapter 3, verse 3, having begun on 6th December. I don't know if I'm up to doing the whole shebang, but it has been an exciting adventure, thus far.

It helps to make me concentrate on the details, and also to see little motifs in the first few verses that are developed later in this exhortation. I previously memorised Philemon, 2 John and 1 Peter, chapters 1 and 2, but am sorry to say I have now lost them. But I learnt a lot while I was doing this, and came to appreciate them in a new way. Maybe one day I could review them.

Is there an intermediate state?

What happens when a Christian dies? Do we sleep in the ground until the general resurrection, or do we go to be with Christ immediately? Steve Lehrer has written a thought-provoking article on this topic that is well worth reading. I'm looking forward to the follow-up one, which is already online at In-Depth Studies.

Punished in our Place

In this article, Gary Williams interacts with Steve Chalke's negative view of Penal Substitution. Chalke had expressed the view that the idea of Christ suffering in our place smacks of cosmic child abuse.

Williams clearly shows that Chalke has misunderstood this teaching, has not realised that it was the view of many in the Early Church and that is not a creation of the Reformers. He also points out that the doctrine of the trinity safeguards the bible's teaching on the atonement, because it shows us that Christ's suffering and death were planned by all 3 members of the trinity: it was not imposed on an unwilling victim.

The Zondervan Archaeological Study Bible

A friend got me started on reading through the New Testament, which whetted my appetite for reading through the Old Testament and then the whole bible, which I did first time round using the ESV Reformation Study Bible, a terrific theological resource.

I'm now reading through again using this Zondervan Archaeological Study Bible, and finding it a great help to understanding the world of the bible, the cultures, history and to a lesser extent, geography. [I find it hard to make sense of all those unfamiliar place names, despite the quality maps in the back of this bible.]

Like other reviewers, I'm sorry the editors did not use the TNIV, but the NIV is still an excellent translation, merely needing a little tinkering with here and there, as was done by the TNIV translators.

The only text I find too small is the small font used for identifying verse numbers and footnotes, but the rest of the text is fine, for these eyes.

I think every bible reader would benefit from using this study bible for learning more about the background of the times and places where the biblical books were written, but a theological resource such as the ESV Reformation Study Bible is also a great help for understanding the unifying message of the bible.