Well-Used Bibles

[Fish and Bread]

Have any of you noticed that after a bible has been used a while, it tends to automatically fall open to some well read pages? The first bible I bought a few years ago now tends to fall open to the Book of Tobit and the Gospel of Mark the majority of the time, sometimes to the Psalms. :) Which books, gospels, and epistles do your most used bibles tend to open to?

[TomUK]

Hebrews and Psalms

[AngCath]

i picked up my Bible on my desk and Ecclesiasticus was the book it plopped open to :)

[PaladinValer]

Genesis, Isaiah, Tobit, Prayer of Manasseh, St. Matthew, Romans, St. James, and, believe it or not, Revelation.

[karen freeinchristman]

Which books, gospels, and epistles do your most used bibles tend to open to?


:doh:
You mean you're supposed to open those things?

[Fish and Bread]

:doh:
You mean you're supposed to open those things?

Well, unless it's one of those really nice leather bound ones, in which case it's optimal use is to make a book shelf look nicer. ;)

[Fish and Bread]

Or, if it's "The Message", it's optimal use is as a doorstop. ;)

No offense is intended toward the people who like that translation, I'm only joking. :)

[Filia Mariae]

Psalms, John, Romans, Philippians.:)

[Febe]

Have any of you noticed that after a bible has been used a while, it tends to automatically fall open to some well read pages? The first bible I bought a few years ago now tends to fall open to the Book of Tobit and the Gospel of Mark the majority of the time, sometimes to the Psalms. :) Which books, gospels, and epistles do your most used bibles tend to open to?


John! And a lot of others, also, but most John...:thumbsup:

[TomUK]

Or, if it's "The Message", it's optimal use is as a doorstop. ;)

No offense is intended toward the people who like that translation, I'm only joking. :)

Please, offend away. it's awful!

[Fish and Bread]

One of the things that surprised me is that my bible doesn't fall open to Ruth, which is a book I really like a lot. Maybe since it's such a short book, the odds are just statistically lower of it being randomly open, even if one has read it a few times.

[pjw]

mine always opens to wherever my bookmarks are. ;)

[PaladinValer]

Please, offend away. it's awful!

I second this motion!

[Naomi4Christ]

Or, if it's "The Message", it's optimal use is as a doorstop. ;)


That's the job of my 1979 Ecusa BCP, funnily enough!

[Fish and Bread]

That's the job of my 1979 Ecusa BCP, funnily enough!

Now, Naomi, everyone knows you wouldn't keep a 1979 ECUSA BCP in your home even if Paladin offered to airmail you one for free. ;) You're not fooling me for one instant. ;) What do you *really* use as a doorstop? "Illustrated Lives of the Saints"? ;)

[Naomi4Christ]

Now, Naomi, everyone knows you wouldn't keep a 1979 ECUSA BCP in your home even if Paladin offered to airmail you one for free. ;) You're not fooling me for one instant. ;) What do you *really* use as a doorstop? "Illustrated Lives of the Saints"? ;)

No, I really do have one. It seems to have slipped into my possession from my time in the US, and is stamped as being "property of Church of xxx, xxx Ohio".

[pjw]

i have a copy of the 1662 BCP, it's much too small to use a door-stop, it's about the size of a pocket New Testament, a little bit thicker, but that's just because it includes "hymns ancient and modern" as well. but it has everything in it, including the normal morning & evening prayer, the litany, collects, epistles and psalms, the communion service, baptism and confirmation services, ordination services, visitation of the sick, churching of women, the 39 articles, all the creeds, and everything else that's meant to be in a BCP. it's got a nice cream coloured leather cover, it's fantastic! maybe one day i'll get to use it. ;)

[Evangelica]

Songs of solomon because of the relationship of it to Jesus and His individual believers

[SirTimothy]

Please, offend away. it's awful!

Yes, but it's a useful WMD against bible-only Protestants at bible studies when they're all using the blasted NIV. Also the NEB is nearly as good.

Timothy

[Anij]

if it's "The Message", it's optimal use is as a doorstop.
I second this motion!

:sigh: I completely agree !! - It is perhaps the ONLY version that I never intend to grace my bookshelves. I've read parts of it online ... and :scratch: I just can't bare to read it.

I much prefer my KJV or NIV anyday:thumbsup:

[higgs2]

I think "The Message" is wonderful.

[SirTimothy]

The Message is flaky. Parts of it are absolutely superb (see Romans 6), and parts of it are dire and very denominationally-biased.

Timothy

[karen freeinchristman]

Yes, I'm beginning to find that it is inconsistant, sometimes making Scripture easier to read and digest and other times just plain sounding cheesy! :sick:

[TomUK]

I think part of the problem was when they did that whole remix thing, so that each 'verse' of the bible was represented while still maintaining the flow. They tried to have their cake it eat it too.

[SirTimothy]

Probably. But Romans 6 in the Message is fantastic.

Timothy

[Naomi4Christ]

No one is forcing anyone to read The Message, any more than they are forcing them to read the Authorised Version.

If a particular version speaks to you - fantastic! The important thing is to actually read the bible regularly and not just pretend to be holier than thou about preferred versions. As I've said before, there are only two versions of the bible - your own, and everyone else's.

I would say that my experience of The Message is that it is useful for individual verses. It can add to understanding in difficult passages. I have a parallel NIV/The Message, with each page having a column of NIV and a column of The Message. I find it hard to follow The Message without the verse numbers (even though that's the way the original scripture was written).

I tend to use The Message in the kind of bible study when you listen to readings from 3 different versions (often Authorised, NIV, The Message) and it does speak to you in a meaningful way. You get something out of it that the other versions don't give you.

What I really love about different bible versions is that I can go to biblegateway.com and read the same verse in about 30 different versions. Wow! What a way to add depth! Let's stop knocking the different versions and use them to our advantage.

[Anij]

Naomi4Christ

:blush: You are of course entirely correct ... I apologize. Though "The Message" isn't 'my Bible', as is the case with ALL versions - it's how we each personally are able to identify with it which is important.

For myself, I value the 'old' style of writing and find a sense of comfort in what I grew up using ( KJV & NIV) - though I DO love being able to use places like BibleGateWay to be able to compare the versions.

I 100% agree - I'd rather people pick up ANY version and READ, than have a certain version ( because they're 'suppose to' ) but never opened it because it was too indimidating.

Thank you for reminding me to find value in ALL things ... forgive me :groupray:

p.s. Most of my Bibles fall open to John. or Psalms - I guess Jonah is just too short ?

[Naomi4Christ]

Naomi4Christ

:blush: You are of course entirely correct ... I apologize. Though "The Message" isn't 'my Bible', as is the case with ALL versions - it's how we each personally are able to identify with it which is important.

For myself, I value the 'old' style of writing and find a sense of comfort in what I grew up using ( KJV & NIV) - though I DO love being able to use places like BibleGateWay to be able to compare the versions.

I 100% agree - I'd rather people pick up ANY version and READ, than have a certain version ( because they're 'suppose to' ) but never opened it because it was too indimidating.

Thank you for reminding me to find value in ALL things ... forgive me :groupray:

p.s. Most of my Bibles fall open to John. or Psalms - I guess Jonah is just too short ?
Welcome to CF and STR, Anij :)

[higgs2]

The Message is flaky. Parts of it are absolutely superb (see Romans 6), and parts of it are dire and very denominationally-biased.

Timothy
Hmmm. You could be right, but that has not been my experience. You know it was translated from the Greek and Hebrew by Eugene Peterson, correct? I'm not seeing how it would be "denominationally based", although he is a Presbyterian minister. I know that the NT was meant to give the modern day feel for what Koine Greek was like as a language; more of a slangy street language, even crude in some parts. THe KJV language is beautiful but in reality does not reflect how those books were actually written. "Pretties them up" a bit and introduces the thees and thous etc.

I think the Message is fresh and exciting to read. I like Naomi's idea of an interlinear message, I wish they had one with the NRsV. It's a way to look at scripture from a different viewpoint, which, since all we have are translations (except for the Greek and Hebrew Scholars among us) is a good think to enhance our understanding.

I find Peterson theologically sound; I trust him. I know him to some degree and that helps too I suppose.

I guess If I were to need a doorstop, I would either use the Kenneth Taylor living bible, or perhaps a schofield reference bible. but not the Message, it is too useful in it's primary role of illumination and making accessible God's word.

[SirTimothy]

higgs2 primarily I would say it's got a charismaniac/pentecostal slant to it. I don't object to that per say, but I don't think it's true to the greek.

Timothy

[Evangelica]

What does everyone think about the NIV
They "cleaned up" many verses out of it.?

[Naomi4Christ]

What does everyone think about the NIV
They "cleaned up" many verses out of it.?

The NIV is our church bible, and it tends to be the one that most of us use for bible study. I think it is fine.

[TomUK]

A lot of people come down quite hard on the NIV, but i don't mind it that much. It serves its purpose well.

It does pale in comparrison to more 'liturgical' bibles however.

[AngCath]

NIV is fine... just not up to the likes of the NRSV or the REB in my humble opinion.

[SirTimothy]

I'm with you AngCath. In fact I used the NIV for many years before moving on fairly recently to the ESV as translation of choice. My NIV is still the bible I can find loved verses quicker in.

Timothy

[gtsecc]

Unexpurgated versions that I am aware of:
REB
NEB
KJV
NJB
JB
RSV
NRSV
GoodNews
Douay Rheims
NAB

[AngCath]

Unexpurgated versions that I am aware of:
REB
NEB
KJV
NJB
JB
RSV
NRSV
GoodNews
Douay Rheims
NAB

and here I was thinking I was the only Anglican here who even considered the Douay Rheims!

[Naomi4Christ]

A lot of people come down quite hard on the NIV,

Only to be 'holy' though, IMHO...

[TomUK]

Unexpurgated versions that I am aware of:
REB
NEB
KJV
NJB
JB
RSV
NRSV
GoodNews
Douay Rheims
NAB

Just in case anyone else is as ignorant as me. :D

Unexpurgated

adj : not having material deleted; "volumes of the best plays, unexpurgated"- Havelock Ellis

PS: Maybe the good news has translated the deutrocanon but it's left so much out of the translation itself that it can hardly be described as unexpurgated ( :P ), in my opinion.

[TomUK]

Only to be 'holy' though, IMHO...

Maybe to some extent, but it is a more deficient translation when compared to others.