Exodus 15:3
“The Lord is a warrior; Yahweh is his name.”

Speaking of translations, Better Bibles Blog informs us that a sample of the book Matthew in the Common English Bible is available.

Please leave any comments there.

Certainly this must have been mentioned on other blogs but I haven’t seen anything about it yet. There is a New Testament translation called The Bible as Poetry. Information and a sample chapter of Matthew can be found at BibleasPoetry.com.

The translation was done by Phil Ward. The format is unique. There is a gutter to the left which has verse numbers so they aren’t in the way of the text. The text is formatted as poetry. Since obviously not all of the Bible is poetry, I’m not sure how I feel about this, but the formatting can highlight certain relationships between phrases. The translation is somewhat on the literal side but without archaic language which is really nice. To the right of the translation are the footnotes so that you don’t have to look at the bottom of the page.

See the site for other details on the features it has.

Since there is only one translator, including for the footnotes, care needs to be taken in reading. But I find that this translation is interesting enough to be enjoyable to read and when I find something I want to verify, it gives me ideas for things to look into further.

I was given a pre-release sample of the whole New Testament. Here is a sample passage without the formatting. I like the translation.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 Bible as Poetry
27 But God chose the world‘s fools
to shame the wise.
God chose the world‘s weak
to shame the strong.
28 And God chose the world‘s lowly
and despised
(those without status) –
to eliminate status.
29 So no one can boast

I’d like to know what your comments are based on the sample of Matthew.

BibleasPoetry.com

The Mosaic blog is now active. You can find it here:
http://www.holybiblemosaic.com/blog
RSS Feed

This may offend some people but I cringe when I hear that the Bible is our owner’s manual for life. I believe the Bible is infinitely more than an owner’s manual. Let me give you some reasons why:

• It’s written by our Creator and helps us to know Him and become more like Him. “Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” (Col. 3:10)
• It speaks to us personally and shows us things about ourself. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” (Heb. 4:12)
• Although the Bible does have rules and instructions like an owner’s manual does, these instructions are perfect and can affect our countenance. “The commandments of the LORD are right, bringing joy to the heart.” (Ps. 19:8)
• The instructions can not only show us how to live, but they go beyond that, making us wise. “The decrees of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.” (Ps. 19:7)
• They lead us to Christ and to salvation. “You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 3:15)

Anything else?

Do not forget that the Bible is not for our information but for our transformation.

–David Garland, Interview at BROADCAST DEPTH Blog

As much as I’m tired of the hoopla surrounding Calvin, I liked these first two quotes.

I’m not up for a debate right now but wanted to post these. I will say that regarding the third quote, I realize there is some room for leeway and some people believe in an older earth not necessarily just because of science (I hope). You can still comment if you’d like but I won’t be able to respond to this post.

——

‘Lamenting that many churches today have lost confidence in the truthfulness and authority of the Bible, Julius Kim, associate professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Seminary in California, called Christians to heed Calvin’s voice.

“In many of our churches the Bible has been functionally rejected in place of what we could gain from some sort of rational exercise on the one hand or some sort of emotional experience on the other,” Kim said at the national conference, hosted by Desiring God Ministries, on Friday.

“We need to hear Calvin’s voice once again calling us back to the Scriptures as our only source of truth and life,” he emphasized.’

Evangelicals Urged to Heed Calvin’s Voice

——

So long as your mind entertains any misgivings as to the certainty of the word, its authority will be weak and dubious, or rather it will have no authority at all. Nor is it sufficient to believe that God is true, and cannot lie or deceive, unless you feel firmly persuaded that every word which proceeds form him is sacred, inviolable truth.

–John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 2008) 359 (3.2.6).

HT: Michael Metts

——

Question: Why would any Christian want to take man’s fallible dating methods and use them to impose an idea on the infallible Word of God? Christians who accept billions of years are in essence saying that man’s word is infallible, but God’s Word is fallible!

This is the crux of the issue. When Christians have agreed with the world that they can accept man’s fallible dating methods to interpret God’s Word, they have agreed with the world that the Bible can’t be trusted. They have essentially sent out the message that man, by himself, independent of revelation, can determine truth and impose this on God’s Word. Once this ‘door’ has been opened regarding Genesis, ultimately it can happen with the rest of the Bible.

A young Earth—it’s not the issue!

Matthew 9:32 REB
They were on their way out when a man was brought to him, who was dumb and possessed by a demon;

I’m not usually into being especially politically correct but I’m glad that the word dumb, used for people who can’t speak, has been replaced with the word mute, here in the USA.

I was reading R.T. France’s commentary on Matthew and he uses the word dumb with no comment at all which was surprising to me. Every modern US translation uses unable to speak, mute or couldn’t talk. The latest one I could find was the 1977 NASB which they changed to mute in the 1995 revision.

So I was wondering if it’s still in use in the UK. I looked up deaf dumb in Google News and found that it’s used across the ocean from us here in the US. I looked at R.T. France’s bio and saw that he is from the land of tea, warm beer, mist and fog also. I then looked at the REB which is the Revised English Bible, as in England, and it uses the word dumb also (as seen above).

I’m not sure of the etymology of the word for this usage but it certainly has a negative connotation to us here in the US in contemporary language.

So I thought I’d mention that if you see the word dumb being used, it’s common in some areas outside the US.

Has there been any discussion on this over there or is it seen in a different light than we do here? I’m not making any judgments, I’m just asking.

Jason Staples at Outside the Building has a series on Misinterpreted Bible Passages. I learn a lot from these.

I like the “Judge not, lest you be judged” post. When people say this, I call it “playing the Judge Not card”. (As in “playing the race card”.) I hear Christians and non-Christians alike using it all the time. This is a good rebuttal. I’d like to condense it sometime and post it so that I can point people to it.

Joel at The Church of Jesus Christ is offering a chance to win an NLT Mosaic Bible.

The rules are simple:

• Write a blog post for me to use on the 22nd.
• It could be anything from a blog post you have already done (in which I will post a link and the first paragraph or so) to your favorite NLT passage to your thoughts about issues concerning the NLT (this means, you don’t have to be a blogger. Just email me your thoughts.)
• It must be NLT centered

It would be nice if you had an Amazon wishlist (if you don’t you can get one for free. Once you have it, put the Mosaic on your wishlist.) THIS IS NOT A REQUIREMENT.

Tyndale has sent me a certificate (which saves shipping costs!) for a free NLT Mosaic.

• You have a a shot at two entries here – comment on this post and give me a reason why you want it and/or mention this post on your blog.

See his blog for more details.

Matthew 4:19 NIV
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 4:19 France
He said to them, “Come and follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.”

This famous verse is one of the most difficult in the NT to translate satisfactorily in a way which reflects modern sensitivity to the ‘exclusive’ effect of a generic masculine. Not only has the traditional masculine phrase ‘fishers of men’ become firmly entrenched in Christian usage, but any nonmasculine rendering also loses the echo (in English, not in Greek) of the preceding clause, ‘for they were fishermen.’ Nevertheless, the attempt must be made if we are to avoid the sort of misunderstanding which reputedly caused Fishing for Men (a paperback on evangelism) to be listed among recent publications in the Angling Times, while a young woman of my acquaintance was disappointed to discover that the same paperback was not a guide to dating. Simply to add ‘and women’ invites the response, ‘What about children?’ I adopt the TNIV rendering as the least unsatisfactory.

–R.T. France, Matthew, footnote on pg 144

Matthew 5:22-24 TNIV
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca, ‘ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
23 “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you,
24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to that person; then come and offer your gift.

The ‘brother or sister’ (adelphos) of vv. 22-24 is probably to be understood as a fellow disciple rather than a literal family member, a similar concern with good relationships among fellow disciples will be the theme of the fourth discource in ch. 18, where the term adelphos will recur in Matthew 18:15, 21, 35; cf. Matthew 12:46-50 for the concept of Jesus’ ‘family’ of disciples. It would, however, be pedantic to suggest that Jesus’ ruling applies only to relations with fellow disciples and not to people in general; Matthew 5:44-47 suggest otherwise.

–R.T. France, Matthew, pg 200

I found a web site with the Good News Bible. This is an often neglected  translation. Gordon Fee referred to it fairly often as is “other” go to translation as did F.F. Bruce with the NEB.

For looking up passages I find it easiest to browse using the left column. This site has book introductions, cross references where you see the arrow and a note where you see a star (*). Plus it’s formatted as it would be in a paper version. I would like to get a paper version of this translation since BibleWorks doesn’t have it. Not that I need another Bible.

If you’re unfamiliar, the GNB is also often referred to as the GNT (Good News Translation) and was formerly the TEV.

“In 1992 the ABS issued a revision of the Good News Bible with gender neutral language, and in 1995 it published the Contemporary English Version, a very similar version which is apparently meant to replace the Good News Bible.”
http://www.bible-researcher.com/tev.html

I’m not familiar with this system. I’m passing along the links to the explanation of the system and a two part interview with a couple of guys named Tom and Rick who are friends of a guy named Brett. Even if you aren’t serious about using the plan, the posts are very interesting.

• Professor Horner’s Bible Reading Plan
• Professor Horner’s Bible Reading System: Interview with Tom Shelton and Rick Doctor, pt. 1
• Professor Horner’s Bible Reading System: Interview with Tom Shelton and Rick Doctor, pt. 2

HT: Cal.vini.st

TNIV – the bad boy Bible. Hated by Piper, Sproul and MacArthur enough for them to mention it in their sermons!

TNIV – not your father’s Bible

TNIV – we like chicks

TNIV – the best Bible you’ve never heard of

TNIV – Christianity’s best kept secret

TNIV – we catch the flack so the NLT doesn’t have to

The NIV is yesterday’s Bible; use the TNIV

TNIV marketing: work smarter, not harder

Any others?

Deuteronomy 6:5
And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.

Matthew 22:37-38
Jesus replied, ” ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

How seriously do we take this? I know there are a lot of people who say that we love God by doing things for others etc. which is obviously important. But why does it seem to be easier for some people to “do things” than it is to get to know God better? How can we really love God without knowing Him? How can we know Him without knowing the Bible? We are in a seriously Bible illiterate Christian culture. Just the the other day I was thinking about how I sometimes get Esther and Ruth mixed up. That’s pretty embarrassing.

Here is yet another quote by D.A. Carson from A Call to Spiritual Reformation, Priorities from Paul and His Prayers:

When it comes to knowing God, we are a culture of the spiritually stunted. So much of our religion is packaged to address our felt needs–and these are almost uniformly anchored in our pursuit of our own happiness and fulfillment. God simply becomes the Great Being who, potentially at least, meets our needs and fulfills our aspirations. We think rather little of what he is like, what he expects of us, what he seeks in us. We are not captured by his holiness and his love; his thoughts and words capture too little of our imagination, too little of our discourse, too few of our priorities.

This isn’t to lay a guilt trip on myself or others. Those familiar with this blog know I’m not into that. This is to spur us on to know Him better so that we can do what we were created to do which is truly fulfilling and pleasing to God so that we can live in the reality of His Kingdom instead of the veneer of this world.

(This post was prepared before I was sick. Proverbs 30:25)

If you search for “Random Verse” at Biblia Hebraica (which I’ve done for you in the link) you will find some random verses illustrating how you usually can’t just use a single verse from the OT as a platitude (or something like that). If you haven’t seen it, go over there and you might find it as interesting as I did.

If you haven’t been subscribed to the NLT blog since they’ve been quiet, Mark D. Taylor will be doing a series called Differences Between Translations.

I’m beginning here an occasional series of posts in which I’ll explore some of the differences between the NLT and other translations. Specifically, I’ll look at underlying differences between dynamic equivalence (DE) translations and formal equivalence (FE) translations, which are also called ‘word-for-word’ or ‘essentially literal’ translations.

I decided that the HCSB Illustrated Study Bible is going to be my main Bible. (See a previous post on this.) It’s not as much of a study Bible as most study Bibles. There are photographs and illustrations (obviously) and there are some inserts here and there, some of which are actually quite helpful, but the inserts are pretty sparse. There isn’t any commentary other than the usual footnotes.

Other than the translation I like it because it’s:

• hardcover
• single column text
• perfect font size

I used the NIV for about 20 years and then the NRSV for about three. I did a comparison of longer passages I have memorized just to make sure and I definitely like how the HCSB reads compared to the NRSV. There isn’t a whole lot of difference other than less archaisms in the HCSB which makes it more comfortable for me to read. I also looked at the Mounce/Mounce Greek and English Interlinear for all these passages. Not that I know much of anything about Greek, but with the Mounce translation I can make out some things here and there.

As an example, I like how the HCSB translates ὅτι (hoti) as because in the beatitudes instead of for. It’s a minor example but it’s things like these that cause me to like it.

Matthew 5:3 HCSB
Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.

I also like how they are willing to break from tradition and translate things in correct modern English:

John 3:16 HCSB
For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.

The NLT is a very close second even though it’s quite different. I still use it a lot. NRSV is my third choice and TNIV fourth, but TNIV is first for the Psalms for some reason.

The only disadvantage to the HCSB Illustrated is it isn’t a Holy Bible like most others.

I hate to even mention it because fasting should be done in secret. But I’d like some feedback from people so I hope I don’t get struck by lightning or anything.

I will have a day by myself in September and would like to fast for a day. However, the main thing I will be fasting from, if that’s the right way to put it, is electronics.

A food fast could have consequences for days afterwords for me for various health reasons. Also, I’m not that into food. Eating is more of a chore for me. I’d be happy just eating one or two meals a day. I eat six small ones partly for health reasons. So lack of food isn’t that big of a deal but I’m considering a food fast of some sort.

Lack of internet, computer, TV however is a different story. So I would like to do without these things for a day. Yikes.

I basically want a day concentrating on God by various obvious means. I’m not looking for direction, a revelation from God, an experience etc. I want to let God enjoy having someone pay more attention to Him for a day and enjoy me enjoying Him.

Since I’m not experienced with fasting I’m asking for any suggestions you have. Are there certain portions of the Bible that you benefit from when fasting? Anything you do to take a break from the concentrated reading and praying? Or anything else.

Do you long for a closer connection to God?
To talk to Him and hear His voice?
To follow His instructions, if only you knew what He was saying?

[I]t really is possible to hear from God. In fact, God longs to talk to us. He loves us and wants to communicate with us, just as we desire to communicate with those we love.

Praise God for giving us His written word, the Bible. Anytime we wish, we can read the words of God and hear Him speak to us.

Psalm 19:7-9 HCSB
The instruction of the LORD is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy,
making the inexperienced wise.
8 The precepts of the LORD are right,
making the heart glad;
the commandment of the LORD is radiant,
making the eyes light up.
9 The fear of the LORD is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the LORD are reliable
and altogether righteous.

You can also read this book. “He is always as close as your thoughts.” It’s scary what people are teaching and how people are eating it up.