We live in a fast-paced world. It seems there are always ten things to do at once—and at least two are urgent. So we plan and schedule in an attempt to fit (most) everything in. It’s easy to approach God that way when we pray and read the Bible: plan and schedule, squeeze it in, […]
There are two approaches to take when reading the Bible: quantity and quality. Quantity In the past I’ve read the entire Bible through in a year, many times. Other times I’ve opted to read the Old Testament in a year and many more times, the New Testament in a year. The pace is a bit […]
In my post “Translation Confusion,” I pointed out that the Bible has word-for-word translations, thought-for-thought translations, and paraphrases (more technically known as “functional equivalence”). These all exist on a continuum, so the lines of distinction between them are blurry. Here is how Ministry Today magazine recently broke them down: Word-for-word Translations Popular word-for-word translations are […]
Many people love reading the psalms in the Bible. They connect with the beauty and the flow of the words; they resonate with the pains, passions, and praises of the writers; it is their “go-to” place to find, express, and reveal their emotion of the moment as it emotes from daily living. I am not […]
In continuing our discussion on Bible translations, let’s pretend I’m translating an ancient text. In doing a strict word-for-word translation, I come up with: “She hit him, I never said.” Even with punctuation inserted—which is a requirement—it is confusing (and sounds a bit like Yoda). Somewhat modifying a strict word-for-word methodology might result in: “I […]
In the FAQ section of A-Bible-A-Day, one question is “Which version or translation of the Bible should I use?” The short answer is to pick whatever version you will actually read. Unfortunately, there is much vociferous, albeit unwarranted, debate about this issue. With what seems like a countless list of versions to pick from, they […]
While some may have been distracted—or irritated—by my series of posts about adding to or taking away from the Bible, I feel it is an important question to consider. Here is a list of the relevant posts on this subject—in the order presented—in case you want to reread them or catch one that you might […]
In this series of posts on what should rightly be included in the Bible, several examples were given of items that, while not in all Bibles are in some. Given that there has been historical and/or significant acceptance for these texts, I feel there’s reasonable justification for their inclusion in the Bible; I think that […]
Some people read the Bible like a textbook—to amass knowledge. Other people read the Bible like a book of law—looking for precedent and loopholes to justify themselves, ideas, and behavior. Still, others read the Bible like a “how to” book—noting the things that they should do and the things that they shouldn’t. However, all of […]
When you read the Bible, do you wear glasses? I mean metaphorically. Seriously, do you? Communication experts tell us that we take in and process information through filters—or lenses. Often this selective process is helpful, removing the minutia of life so that important and relevant information can be observed, remembered, and contemplated. Sometimes, however, this […]