Isaiah 43:4 NLT
Others were given in exchange for you.
I traded their lives for yours
because you are precious to me.
You are honored, and I love you.

With most of us living in a modern democracy we may have a tendency to expect God to be fair and democratic to our sensibilities and that He should make complete sense to us. If we always try to reason our way into making God fit into that criteria we will either be frustrated or misguided.

Isaiah 55:8-9
“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Romans 11:33-36
Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!

For who can know the LORD’s thoughts?
Who knows enough to give him advice?
And who has given him so much
that he needs to pay it back?*

For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

Aside from the Gospels, Colossians and Hebrews are my favorites. John Calvin expresses my sentiments better than I could:

There is indeed, no book in Holy Scripture which speaks so clearly of the priesthood of Christ, which so highly exalts the virtue and dignity of that only true sacrifice which He offered by His death, which so abundantly deals with the use of ceremonies as well as their abrogation, and, in a word, so fully explains that Christ is the end of the Law.

Deuteronomy 6:5 TNIV
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

Jeremiah 32:39
I will give them singleness of heart and action, so that they will always fear me and that all will then go well for them and for their children after them.

Psalms 86:11
Teach me your way, Lord,
that I may rely on your faithfulness;
give me an undivided heart,
that I may fear your name.

Matthew 6:24
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Matthew 22:37
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’”

James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Those who doubt should not think they will receive anything from the Lord; 8 they are double-minded and unstable in all they do.

For those who haven’t heard of it yet: Just a heads up that The Bible’s Buried Secrets will be on TV on PBS in the United States on Tuesday November 18th on Nova. I have no idea what the show will be like. I’m just letting you know about it.

It looks like it can be viewed online and the web site has quite a few articles.

The Bible’s Buried Secrets Web Site

Update:
Live Blogging ‘The Bible’s Buried Secrets’ – Dr. Jim West
Thoughts on ‘The Bible’s Buried Secrets’ – Biblia Hebraica

Ryan Burns from Logos Bible Software graciously sent me a review copy of Bible Study Magazine.

If you go to their Preview page you will find some sample pages of the first issue and a video with a rundown of all the articles in the magazine by John Barry, Associate Manager and Project Editor. I’ll try not to repeat what’s already covered there in this review. I also will not be critiquing the content of each article.

This issue is 49 pages long. There aren’t an inordinate amount of ads. The multi-page articles are continuous and not broken up by full page ads or continuation later in the magazine which is nice.

Their statement of faith is the Apostles’ Creed. The magazine doesn’t seem to have a theological bent as far as I can tell at this point.

It’s interesting to see what Josh McDowell is up to these days. The article mentions how he became a Christian, how he got into apologetics and how it’s useful in different situations, how he prepares for speaking engagements and how he uses Logos Bible Software. This article is a generous five pages.

Daniel Wallace writes an article on Bible translations. This is a very short primer for those who may have used only one translation and are curious about what else it out there. Wallace briefly explains the difficulty of translating a language, basic translation philosophies and why translations are different. He seems to prefer formal equivalence over functional equivalence.

A paragraph each is written for the N/KJV, N/RSV, ASV/NASB, NEB/REB, T/NIV, NLT, HCSB, ESV, NET and he pulls no punches on the New World Translation (Jehovah’s Witnesses). He seems to prefer the ESV and NET.

The magazine is sprinkled with links to areas on the Logos web site, like Resources on the Book of Hebrews and outside resources like DeadSeaScrolls.org.

A few of the questions that are answered in this issue are:

• What is the Great Isaiah Scroll?
• What is the Areogapus?
• How do I find out more about the Greek word used for power (dunamis) as it’s used in Luke?
• Who is Cyril of Alexandria?
• Why is John 5:4 absent in many Bible translations?

As you can see, some of these things can be found on the Web. For those who like to read in print, these articles can be good starting points and provide new ideas for subjects to look into further. Other material will tend to be more exclusive, like the interviews, which tend to be the more extensive articles—and multi-issue articles.

I hope I don’t sound like I’m gushing, but I can’t remember the last time I read a magazine where I was interested in nearly every article and read the magazine from cover to cover (although the latter is partly because I’m doing this review).

In these times it’s extremely difficult to launch a magazine and keep it going. I hope this magazine will be helpful in getting people interested in Logos software and be profitable enough for it to be sustained for the long term.

Bible Study Magazine Web Site

1 Timothy 6:17-19 Young’s Literal Translation
Those rich in the present age charge thou not to be high-minded, nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who is giving to us all things richly for enjoyment; — 18 to do good, to be rich in good works, to be ready to impart, willing to communicate, 19 treasuring up to themselves a right foundation for the time to come, that they may lay hold on the life age-during.

Sometimes the more literal, but seemingly more odd to us translation can make a lot of sense to me. I like the passage above.

Sometimes when I read the English translation in a Greek interlinear it really doesn’t sound that awkward. Except for when it does. I’m glad I got a regular interlinear instead of a reverse interlinear.

Thank God for a variety of translations.

That’s all.

I’ve been tagged by Nick with the 123 Book Meme.

The rules state that I must pick up the book closest to me and:

1. turn to page 123
2. count the first five sentences
3. post the following three sentences

As I saw that I was tagged I have my whole bookshelf near me with no one book closest. So I picked the fifth book from the left on a shelf which is Trusting God by Jerry Bridges.

Rather, the story concludes with a conversation between God and Job in which Job acknowledges that through his trials he has come into a new and deeper relationship with God. He said, ‘My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you’ (Job 42:5). We may conclude that this deeper relationship was one (but probably not all) of the results God had in mind all along.

Sometimes afterward we can see some of the beneficial results of adversity in our lives, but we seldom can see it during the time of the adversity.

That worked out well.

I tag Esteban, Bryan and Matthew.

I have been wondering for a while what exactly sound doctrine is comprised of and how far it goes. I suppose this depends on one’s point of reference.

According to Paul in the Pastoral Epistles it looks to be both what conforms to the gospel and right behavior, not just teaching alone.

The quotes below are by Gordon Fee, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus. He uses the NIV which is bold in the commentary.

1 Timothy 1:8-11
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers–and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

Having mentioned behavior that is ‘contrary to sound doctrine,’ Paul concludes by describing the true source and measure for such teaching. It is that which conforms to the . . . gospel of . . . God. The gospel, as God’s good news over against the bad news of humanity’s grotesque sinfulness, is Paul’s favorite word for God’s activity in Christ Jesus on behalf of sinner. ‘Sound doctrine’ accords with the gospel message, both in content and resultant behavior; the ‘diseased’ teaching of the straying elders does not.

Titus 2:1-15
You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. 2 Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. 3 Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers or addicted to much wine, but to teach what is good. 4 Then they can train the younger women to love their husbands and children, 5 to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home, to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands, so that no one will malign the word of God.

6 Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled. 7 In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness 8 and soundness of speech that cannot be condemned, so that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about us.

9 Teach slaves to be subject to their masters in everything, to try to please them, not to talk back to them, 10 and not to steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, 13 while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.

15 These, then, are the things you should teach. Encourage and rebuke with all authority. Do not let anyone despise you.

… what is in accord with sound doctrine has not so much to do with the cognitive side of the gospel as the behavioral.

I need to remember that sound doctrine should always lead to right behavior and not just stop with teaching.

Beyond this there are creeds, catechisms, systematic theology, etc. which may also be sound doctrine.

Are there different types of sound doctrine?

P & R Publishing has a sample chapter for many of their books. When perusing the New Releases, most of the ones I looked at have a sample in PDF format.

Also see: Westminster Books Free Chapters