January 13, 2014
The New Catholic Answer Bible
Whether in a Protestant or Roman Catholic Bible study group, someone inevitably asks, “Why do Catholics ____?” In The New Catholic Answer Bible, Our Sunday Visitor provides intelligent, biblical answers to the questions most likely to fill in that blank.
For example, the page insert entitled “Does the Church Teach Evolution?” includes these responses:
“The entire universe, including the human race, is not the result of chance, but of God’s purposeful, loving design (see Gn 1:1, 31).”
and
“Human beings are not simply more advanced animals; they bear the image of God in a unique way (see Gn 1:26-27).”
For another example, the page for “What Is Original Sin?” says: “Unlike personal sin, resulting from the wrong choices of individuals, original sin does not result from our own doing. It is contracted, not committed; we are conceived with it (see Ps 51:7)” because of the Fall in the Garden of Eden where our original parents used free will to disobey God. However, “The sacrament of Baptism cleanses us from original sin. It restores us to original righteousness and fellowship with God (see Acts 2:38, 22:16).”
Throughout this edition, you’ll find an abundant supply of Bible references, relating to each colorful page insert. Many of the key questions relate specifically to the Catholic Church, such as “Why Does the Church Have Religious Orders?” or “Why Do Catholics Pray for the Dead?” but others address questions people ask in general, such as “Why Does God Allow Evil?”
The biblical response to that big question required more space, but to give you an idea of the thoughtful answers, “God allows evil in part because it is a necessary risk of creating sons and daughters who are free to love or not to love…. At the same time, no matter how terrible the evil caused by sin, God is great enough and wise enough, to bring out through that evil, an even greater good (see Gn 50:20, Roman 8:28). The resurrection of Christ is in fact a glorious example of how God can create joy from sorrow, beauty from horror, victory from defeat, and life from death.”
In addition to question-answer page inserts and insightful footnotes throughout the book, this edition includes articles on the divine revelation and history of the Bible in the front matter and a three-year reading plan in the back pages. If you want to learn more about the Catholic faith and doctrine to deepen your life as a parishioner or to broaden your understanding of a Christian perspective outside your denomination, The New Catholic Answer Bible will answer those needs and more.
©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler, Bible reviewer
The New Catholic Answer Bible, paperback
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January 10, 2014
Let There Be Light
Earlier this week, I began thinking about the importance of a children’s picture book of the creation story, and so I started writing down thoughts of poetry and the perfect mind of Love and the potential for exquisite artwork wrought of color and light to show the beauty and diversity inherent in all the wonders God creates. And then the book arrived from BookSneeze – even lovelier and more poetic than anything I’d envisioned.
That’s not surprising, of course, as the loving man, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the highly gifted artist, Nancy Tillman, joined talents in giving us the creation story, Let There Be Light.
Each page bursts with color, light, and love, ending those first days in time with this timeless word:
“God looked at everything that he had made and clapped his hands together in delight. ‘Isn’t it wonderful!’ “
Yes, it is!
©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler
Let There Be Light, hardcover, children's picture book
Let There Be Light, Kindle edition
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That’s not surprising, of course, as the loving man, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and the highly gifted artist, Nancy Tillman, joined talents in giving us the creation story, Let There Be Light.
Each page bursts with color, light, and love, ending those first days in time with this timeless word:
“God looked at everything that he had made and clapped his hands together in delight. ‘Isn’t it wonderful!’ “
Yes, it is!
©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler
Let There Be Light, hardcover, children's picture book
Let There Be Light, Kindle edition
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January 4, 2014
African Heritage Study Bible
The Original African Heritage Study Bible, published by Judson Press, answers questions I’ve had ever since I began to wonder why few people mention that Egypt sits on the continent of Africa or why artistic renderings of Jesus most often show a Jewish man, Who’s as pale-skinned and blonde as I am.
In the beginning, God made us, male and female, in the image of God, but from the moment we left the Garden of Eden, we’ve been attempting to remake God in our image. Therefore, when I first heard of the Black Madonna, I only saw a remaking at work without considering how those oldest renderings of Jesus’ mother Mary might actually be the most accurate portrayal of a young Jewish woman of Afro-Asian descent.
One might expect something written from an African heritage perspective to want us to consider that thought, but the scholarly articles introducing the King James Version (KJV) go far beyond an Africentric view. Through extensive research of Bible places, names, and cultures, the introductory articles clearly show how the beginnings of civilization and beginnings of our ongoing relationship with God had their genesis in Africa, known then as “Akebu-Lan,” which means “Mother of Mankind” or “Garden of Eden.”
From the beginning, that name remained in usage until ancient Romans renamed it “Africa,” but even then, the country was known to encompass the “Middle East,” a term that didn’t exist prior to the 20th century. I did not know this, and so I read with great interest the footnotes to shaded text that alert readers to “passages, places, names, and information relating to the Edenic/African presence.” What I found even more interesting, though, is that peoples of Africa have retained many of the customs and attentiveness to God as first expressed in Bible cultures.
This rich heritages belongs to all of us, so I hope Christians from every background will get a copy of this excellent study edition that Judson Press kindly gave me to review. Although African-Americans who have experienced any form of oppression will especially receive healing from these pages, the matter-of-fact articles also call for reconciliation between people within the One Body of Christ – a theme that’s been important to me as long as I can remember.
In addition to information highlighting peoples of African descent such as St. Augustine or other saints and popes born in Africa, this edition offers unique features I haven’t found in any other study Bible. For example, the front matter includes a typical listing of the books of the Bible but atypically adds the meaning of each book’s name. For instance, “Judges” evokes thoughts of courtroom scenes, but more accurately, the notes define them as “Deliverers who had to exercise the Judgment of God (intelligence of God) to rule the children of Israel and defeat their enemies.” Or, for the book of Galatians, we learn the meaning of the title as “Gallaic, Greece, Land of the Gauls or simplicity of truth.”
After a listing of the books comes a section entitled, “A Key To The Correct Syllabication of the Scripture Proper Names and Their Meanings,” which tells us, for example that “Aaron” means “light,” “Cush” means “black,” “Zebah” means “sacrifice,” and “Zipporah” is the “Egyptian wife of Moses.”
Numerous articles and color photographs help the text to come alive throughout the book, and at the back, colorful maps clearly show where biblical tribes and places can be located. I also enjoyed reading about “African Edenic Women and the Scriptures,” where we're reminded that “Egypt produced queens as well as Pharaohs,” and “The Candaces of Ethiopia were strong successful women who were instrumental in charting the destiny of ancient Christian Africa.” Indeed, “It is because of the Candace that Ethiopia was one of the first countries to become a Christian nation.”
Throughout the African diaspora, Bible verses rekindled faith for countless people, and so “101 Favorite Bible Verses” have been included as well as a section of hymns. Having heard and loved many “spirituals” since childhood, I passed along those faith lyrics, singing them to my sleepy children while my rocking chair kept time and timeless comfort.
As an Anglo-American whose ancestors survived the first terrible winter at Jamestown and eventually worked alongside African-Americans to build our own blessed nation, I want to thank Editor Cain Hope Felder and Judson Press for this long-needed study Bible. May this highly recommended edition bring respect and reconciliation among all Christians and help us to heal and up-build the church Body of Christ in Jesus’ Name.
©2014, Mary Harwell Sayler
The Original African Heritage Study Bible, large print, paperback
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January 2, 2014
Catholic Women’s Bible
The word “catholic” means universal, which aptly describes the Catholic Women’s Bible with its timeless, universal appeal to women everywhere. As stated in the introduction by Woodeene Koenig-Bricker (one of my favorite contemporary devotional writers): “We have tried to highlight some of the women without whom God’s plan for humanity would not have unfolded as it has…. Their situations and circumstances may be different from ours, but the longings and dreams haven’t changed.” With colorful inserts to acquaint us with women throughout the Bible, we “come to realize that these women are not just figures out of a distant past. They are our sisters.”
In addition to these unique features, the visually-appealing cover speaks of light and levity and seems to draw the reader to look up and into the pages of scripture.
Published by Our Sunday Visitor, those scriptures comes to us in the revised New American Bible, which includes deuterocanonical books often referred to by Bible publishers as “apocryphal.” Also, other Christian publishers often place deuterocanonical books between the two testaments or after Revelation, whereas a Catholic edition interweaves the books according to their primary category.
At the beginning of this Bible, for example, “The Names and Order of the Books of the Bible” lists “Biblical Novellas” (Tobit, Judith, Esther, and I and II Maccabees) as located between the books of history and books of wisdom. Then, besides Job , Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs), “The Wisdom Books” include The Book of Wisdom and The Wisdom of Ben Sira (aka Sirach), whose inspired words continue to inspire those of us who read them.
In referring to the deuterocanonical or apocryphal books, we’re talking, of course, of the Hebrew Bible aka Old Testament. In any New Testament Bible published by any publisher, you will find the same books in the same order with the same devotion among Christians – male or female – in any church anywhere. However, Christian women who want to relate to the women of the Bible will welcome this lovely edition where we meet such interesting but often overlooked people as “Mrs. Noah: Standing by Her Man” or Asenath “Joseph’s Egyptian Wife” or the prophetess Anna with her “intuitive nature” or “Mrs. Peter: The Woman Behind The Man,” each of whom helps us to learn more about ourselves and one another and, ultimately, the “Bride of Christ: The Church.”
©2014, review by Mary Harwell Sayler
Catholic Women’s Bible, paperback
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In addition to these unique features, the visually-appealing cover speaks of light and levity and seems to draw the reader to look up and into the pages of scripture.
Published by Our Sunday Visitor, those scriptures comes to us in the revised New American Bible, which includes deuterocanonical books often referred to by Bible publishers as “apocryphal.” Also, other Christian publishers often place deuterocanonical books between the two testaments or after Revelation, whereas a Catholic edition interweaves the books according to their primary category.
At the beginning of this Bible, for example, “The Names and Order of the Books of the Bible” lists “Biblical Novellas” (Tobit, Judith, Esther, and I and II Maccabees) as located between the books of history and books of wisdom. Then, besides Job , Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon (or Song of Songs), “The Wisdom Books” include The Book of Wisdom and The Wisdom of Ben Sira (aka Sirach), whose inspired words continue to inspire those of us who read them.
In referring to the deuterocanonical or apocryphal books, we’re talking, of course, of the Hebrew Bible aka Old Testament. In any New Testament Bible published by any publisher, you will find the same books in the same order with the same devotion among Christians – male or female – in any church anywhere. However, Christian women who want to relate to the women of the Bible will welcome this lovely edition where we meet such interesting but often overlooked people as “Mrs. Noah: Standing by Her Man” or Asenath “Joseph’s Egyptian Wife” or the prophetess Anna with her “intuitive nature” or “Mrs. Peter: The Woman Behind The Man,” each of whom helps us to learn more about ourselves and one another and, ultimately, the “Bride of Christ: The Church.”
©2014, review by Mary Harwell Sayler
Catholic Women’s Bible, paperback
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December 30, 2013
Talking with the Bible
Most of us make New Year’s resolutions with hopes of starting fresh or doing what we meant to do last year. For many Christians, each year’s clean slate begins with a resolve to read the Bible all the way through, but distractions occur or we get discouraged when we reach chapters that seem too heavy or hard or, well, boring, and so we never get pass those passages.
Instead of getting caught up in that guilt trip, try these suggestions:
. Prayerfully read previous posts on the Bible Reviewer and find a translation that speaks to you.
. Read Talking with the Bible by Donn Morgan and get to know the many inspired voices that speak to us as One Voice from the pages of Holy Scripture.
As the author explains: “To have real conversations with the Bible, we must be able to recognize the voices of scripture, to know what they sound like and what they want to tell us.”
Besides being communal expressions of faith collected in the Bible canon, “Biblical voices come from prophets, seers, apostles, cultic leaders, storytellers, poets, and many more. These voices are expressed in individual prayers, as stories about patriarchs, as epiphanies, as letters, as records of one variety or another, as oracles, and much more [laws, letters, visions.]”
As we read what God says to us through these voices, scripture begins to shape how we see the world. For example, “The Bible as storyteller exposes us to values, character traits, salvation events, sacred spaces, foreigners, threats to unity, God’s purposes for the people, and more.”
Since I enjoy reading and writing poems, the chapter on “Talking with the Bible as Singer and Pray-er” especially spoke to me. Often expressed through poetry, “The voice of singer and pray-er is also a voice of consciousness-raising, prompting us to recall the things we need to complain about or praise God for.” In addition, “This voice can function as a spiritual director, encouraging us to adopt a rule of life filled with regular prayer and reflection, integrating faith and practice in the midst of difficult times and challenges.”
Bible prophets often spoke through poetry, too, but rather than focusing on the personal or lyrical, “cries for social justice abound” with such attention-getting words as “Woe” or “Behold!”
Those inspired to write books of history usually chose less dramatic language as they wrote genealogies or episodes intended to give a larger view of the ongoing relationship between God and God’s people. However, to hear the voice of the historian clearly, we must “listen to it and hear it on its own terms.”
As we listen carefully to these many voices expressing the voice of God, we separate the sounds of poetry and history and biblical truths in story, noticing, perhaps, how “the visionary voice of scripture thinks and speaks in polarities.” Similarly, the voice of the sage might come across as judgmental at times, but “wisdom is often a topic of discussion, with the sage reflecting on experience to enlighten us.”
When troubles arise, however, and no clear answers exist, the voice of the lamenter or skeptic may be heard, riddling God with questions and trying to make sense of things that challenge our faith in order to return to a position of praise.
And, isn’t that how it is for us? Don’t we also moan and groan and sing and pray and praise? Don’t we tell our family histories and give our children sage advice? Don’t we also hold dear our clearest visions – of Christ’s return or the Spirit of Love reconnecting the Body of Christ?
Through the Bible, God speaks for us! The Bible also speaks to us and with us through a diversity of inspired voices who encourage us to keep on reading, believing, and Talking with the Bible every day.
As we apply these insights to our own lives, we might also ask what stories we have to tell as we write fiction, nonfiction, and poetry – or as we spread the Good News of God’s good gifts and the mercy we have received.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
Talking with the Bible, paperback
Talking with the Bible, Kindle e-book edition
Instead of getting caught up in that guilt trip, try these suggestions:
. Prayerfully read previous posts on the Bible Reviewer and find a translation that speaks to you.
. Read Talking with the Bible by Donn Morgan and get to know the many inspired voices that speak to us as One Voice from the pages of Holy Scripture.
As the author explains: “To have real conversations with the Bible, we must be able to recognize the voices of scripture, to know what they sound like and what they want to tell us.”
Besides being communal expressions of faith collected in the Bible canon, “Biblical voices come from prophets, seers, apostles, cultic leaders, storytellers, poets, and many more. These voices are expressed in individual prayers, as stories about patriarchs, as epiphanies, as letters, as records of one variety or another, as oracles, and much more [laws, letters, visions.]”
As we read what God says to us through these voices, scripture begins to shape how we see the world. For example, “The Bible as storyteller exposes us to values, character traits, salvation events, sacred spaces, foreigners, threats to unity, God’s purposes for the people, and more.”
Since I enjoy reading and writing poems, the chapter on “Talking with the Bible as Singer and Pray-er” especially spoke to me. Often expressed through poetry, “The voice of singer and pray-er is also a voice of consciousness-raising, prompting us to recall the things we need to complain about or praise God for.” In addition, “This voice can function as a spiritual director, encouraging us to adopt a rule of life filled with regular prayer and reflection, integrating faith and practice in the midst of difficult times and challenges.”
Bible prophets often spoke through poetry, too, but rather than focusing on the personal or lyrical, “cries for social justice abound” with such attention-getting words as “Woe” or “Behold!”
Those inspired to write books of history usually chose less dramatic language as they wrote genealogies or episodes intended to give a larger view of the ongoing relationship between God and God’s people. However, to hear the voice of the historian clearly, we must “listen to it and hear it on its own terms.”
As we listen carefully to these many voices expressing the voice of God, we separate the sounds of poetry and history and biblical truths in story, noticing, perhaps, how “the visionary voice of scripture thinks and speaks in polarities.” Similarly, the voice of the sage might come across as judgmental at times, but “wisdom is often a topic of discussion, with the sage reflecting on experience to enlighten us.”
When troubles arise, however, and no clear answers exist, the voice of the lamenter or skeptic may be heard, riddling God with questions and trying to make sense of things that challenge our faith in order to return to a position of praise.
And, isn’t that how it is for us? Don’t we also moan and groan and sing and pray and praise? Don’t we tell our family histories and give our children sage advice? Don’t we also hold dear our clearest visions – of Christ’s return or the Spirit of Love reconnecting the Body of Christ?
Through the Bible, God speaks for us! The Bible also speaks to us and with us through a diversity of inspired voices who encourage us to keep on reading, believing, and Talking with the Bible every day.
As we apply these insights to our own lives, we might also ask what stories we have to tell as we write fiction, nonfiction, and poetry – or as we spread the Good News of God’s good gifts and the mercy we have received.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
Talking with the Bible, paperback
Talking with the Bible, Kindle e-book edition
December 26, 2013
A Bible for the New Year
Many editions of the Bible now include a one-year reading plan to encourage you to read the Bible in a year, but My Daily Catholic Bible does more! This edition published by Our Sunday Visitor gives you the revised New American Bible (NAB,RE) divided into daily readings that take about 20 minutes each day.
Each reading also includes a saintly word in keeping with the day. For example, a quote from St. Paul of the Cross prefaces the scriptures for December 25 with this word:
“Celebrate the Feast of Christmas every day, even every moment in the interior temple of your spirit, remaining like a baby in the bosom of the Heavenly Father, where you will be reborn each moment in the Divine Word, Jesus Christ.”
Amen! Although you might not have been aware of this timeless Bible in time to add a copy to this year’s Christmas list, the book gives you a timely way to read the Bible with ease throughout the coming year.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
My Daily Catholic Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, paperback
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December 24, 2013
NIV Essentials Study Bible
For many years Christians from almost every denomination have lauded the ecumenically-minded NIV Study Bible for its well-balanced notes, comments, and study aids, and some, like me, have dug into the Archaeological Study Bible with its “finds” and “tells” uncovered by archaeologists, who gave us deeper insights into Bible places, times, cultures, and events. Also, new Christians seem to appreciate especially the NIV Quest Study Bible with questions from over 1,000 readers and responses from biblical scholars who provide no easy answers but fair-minded feedback and multiple perspectives whenever additional views exists.
Zondervan has produced other fine study Bibles, too, so when I requested a review copy of the new NIV Essentials Study Bible from BookSneeze, I mainly wanted to know what this edition might have that all the others didn’t. Well, I won’t keep you waiting! The answer is – nothing and everything!
As the name implies, the NIV Essentials Study Bible contains the essentials, the highlights, and, dare I say, the best of the sidebars, footnotes, and study aids from each of the other NIV offerings from Zondervan.
Besides my preference for the most recent 2011 revision of the NIV (New International Version), I like the lighter weight of this hardback edition and the easier-to-read font with a bit more ink than the text and footnotes often have in other Zondervan Bibles. I also like the blue headings inserted into the text as a visual reminder of the primary topics for each chapter or passage.
Maybe that medium shade of blue ink helped. I don’t know. I just know I’m somewhat dyslexic, so if a page's format has too much going on, my eyes are apt to blip out in an effort to quieten the chaos. But this Bible evoked none of that! Despite the wealth of notes and information packed onto almost every page, I found the format reader-friendly, visually pleasing, and easy to use.
My only lament, therefore, is a wish – that the NIV Essentials Study Bible will be released in a leather cover as genuine and long-lasting as this essential book.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
NIV Essentials Study Bible, hardback
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Zondervan has produced other fine study Bibles, too, so when I requested a review copy of the new NIV Essentials Study Bible from BookSneeze, I mainly wanted to know what this edition might have that all the others didn’t. Well, I won’t keep you waiting! The answer is – nothing and everything!
As the name implies, the NIV Essentials Study Bible contains the essentials, the highlights, and, dare I say, the best of the sidebars, footnotes, and study aids from each of the other NIV offerings from Zondervan.
Besides my preference for the most recent 2011 revision of the NIV (New International Version), I like the lighter weight of this hardback edition and the easier-to-read font with a bit more ink than the text and footnotes often have in other Zondervan Bibles. I also like the blue headings inserted into the text as a visual reminder of the primary topics for each chapter or passage.
Maybe that medium shade of blue ink helped. I don’t know. I just know I’m somewhat dyslexic, so if a page's format has too much going on, my eyes are apt to blip out in an effort to quieten the chaos. But this Bible evoked none of that! Despite the wealth of notes and information packed onto almost every page, I found the format reader-friendly, visually pleasing, and easy to use.
My only lament, therefore, is a wish – that the NIV Essentials Study Bible will be released in a leather cover as genuine and long-lasting as this essential book.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
NIV Essentials Study Bible, hardback
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December 20, 2013
The Catholic Teen Bible
When Our Sunday Visitor (OSV) kindly sent me review copies of their recently published editions of the newly revised New American Bible (NAB), I picked up The Catholic Teen Bible, intending to leaf through quickly until I had more time to study each of the books. However, the pages opened to one of the many colorful inserts, generously supplied throughout the edition, and I was hooked.
Here’s what I read:
Who is Jesus?
Son of God. Savior. Messiah. Lord. Master
These are all ways to describe Jesus. But what do they mean? And why does Jesus matter?
Obviously, important questions, right? When you have important questions, it’s vital that you go to the right place to get your answers. When we’re talking about Jesus, the place to start isn’t in movies, television specials, or novels.
The place to start is in the gospels. That’s right. If you’re really serious about wanting to know more about Jesus, don’t waste your time anywhere else. Read a gospel – or two! – from beginning to end. Reflect, think, and pray.
That example gives you a glimpse of the honest, down-to-earth tone and practical, teen-friendly wisdom from the author and high school teacher of religion, Amy Welborn. For another example, I'll again use the OSV format with teen appeal:
What is prayer?
Prayer is talking to God, but it’s more than that. It’s even more than listening to God.
Prayer is being tuned in to God and responding to his presence in your life.
That can mean talking, listening, or just being. It can mean singing, drawing, or writing. It can happen alone or with others. It can be joyful, grateful, hopeful, and even angry.
The spiritual insights in these inserts will help Christians from any denomination, but you’ll find “Catholic specific” information too. A good example comes with a turn of the page as the above insert goes on to explain something people in general often wonder:
Why pray to saints?
Catholics believe that death is just the beginning – it’s the beginning of new life with God. So that means that the people who have died and gone to heaven are still around – they are part of the Church, or the Communion of Saints.
So Catholic prayer to saints is absolutely no different than asking your next-door neighbor to pray for you. When we pray to saints, we don’t worship them. The word “prayer,” in its origins, just means “ask.” If you actually read the prayers to saints that Catholics pray, you will see that’s what they’re all about – asking these holy men and women to pray for us, just as we ask our friends on earth to pray for us as well.
In the next few weeks, Lord willing, we’ll discuss the other review copies OSV sent, but giving them a quick peek now, I see that a clearer font and nice quality white paper has been used for the other editions, whereas The Catholic Teen Bible has pages similar to newsprint. However, the price for this book is much less than for the others, so I suspect OSV wanted to provide a very affordable Bible for teens who will be grown up before we know it. With this Bible, they’ll be growing spiritually too.
©2013, Mary Sayler
The Catholic Teen Bible, paperback
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December 19, 2013
Unusual e-book edition of the KJV
The Choice Study Bible published on Kindle as an e-book by Robert P. Holland opens with the editor’s personal witness of faith then tells how he began to color-code scripture. Seeing four basic categories or biblical themes in his studies, the now-retired minister used color-coding to highlight contrasts between the categories of Wisdom and Foolishness, Promise and Curse.
Besides this unique feature found in the review copy I received, Rev. Holland provides a helpful clarification of covenant-making. As he explains in the opening section: “The Bible is a composition of several covenants which the Lord initiated with Adam, Noah, Abraham , Moses (Old Covenant), David, and Christians (New Covenant). Each of the covenants contains the choices of life and death, righteousness and sin, wisdom and foolishness, and blessing and cursing. A covenant contains both wisdom and the Lord’s promises.” Obedience becomes the responsibility of God’s people, of course, but the "promises are never earned by fulfilling the responsibilities. The promises are grace— gifts to the people in covenant with the Lord.”
In this unusual presentation of the King James Version of the Bible (KJV), the e-book also includes a Table of Contents with hotlinks to each book and chapter to help you find the passages you want.
©2013, Mary Sayler
The Choice Study Bible, Kindle e-book
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Besides this unique feature found in the review copy I received, Rev. Holland provides a helpful clarification of covenant-making. As he explains in the opening section: “The Bible is a composition of several covenants which the Lord initiated with Adam, Noah, Abraham , Moses (Old Covenant), David, and Christians (New Covenant). Each of the covenants contains the choices of life and death, righteousness and sin, wisdom and foolishness, and blessing and cursing. A covenant contains both wisdom and the Lord’s promises.” Obedience becomes the responsibility of God’s people, of course, but the "promises are never earned by fulfilling the responsibilities. The promises are grace— gifts to the people in covenant with the Lord.”
In this unusual presentation of the King James Version of the Bible (KJV), the e-book also includes a Table of Contents with hotlinks to each book and chapter to help you find the passages you want.
©2013, Mary Sayler
The Choice Study Bible, Kindle e-book
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December 17, 2013
Common English Bible (CEB) with Apocrypha
The more I get to know the CEB Study Bible, which I recently reviewed, the more I appreciate the fresh footnotes and study helps, but I’m also grateful for a new review copy of a reader edition of the Common English Bible (CEB) that includes the Apocrypha.
With or without study aids, the contemporary text and ecumenical input of scholars from most of the major denominations make this Bible ideal for easy reading alone or aloud in church worship.
The review copy of CEB I recently received from Church Publishing would make an excellent Christmas gift for teens and young adults but also an inexpensive pew Bible for church members who might want to present a memorable gift to their congregation or parish. I’ll include an Amazon ad below, as I do with each review for readers who might want to order. Thanks to the online help of Bible Gateway, the following excerpts from the CEB may be helpful, too, in giving you a feel for the reader-friendly text:
From the NT book, James 5:13-16
If any of you are suffering, they should pray. If any of you are happy, they should sing. If any of you are sick, they should call for the elders of the church, and the elders should pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. For this reason, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.
From the apocryphal book, Judith 15:13-14
I will sing to my God a new song.
Lord, you are great and glorious, marvelous in strength
never to be outdone.
May all of your creation serve you;
you spoke,
and they came into being.
You sent forth your spirit
and it shaped them;
there is no one
who can resist your voice.
From the apocryphal book, Sirach 2:1-6
My child, if you come to serve the Lord,
prepare yourself for testing.
Set your heart straight, be steadfast,
and don’t act hastily in a time of distress.
Hold fast to God
and don’t keep your distance from him,
so that you may find strength
at your end.
Accept whatever happens to you,
and be patient
when you suffer humiliation,
because gold is tested with fire,
and acceptable people are tested
in the furnace of humiliation.
Trust him, and he will help you;
make your ways straight,
and hope in him.
Amen.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
Common English Bible with Apocrypha, paperback
Common English Bible – Pew Bible with Apocrypha, hardback
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With or without study aids, the contemporary text and ecumenical input of scholars from most of the major denominations make this Bible ideal for easy reading alone or aloud in church worship.
The review copy of CEB I recently received from Church Publishing would make an excellent Christmas gift for teens and young adults but also an inexpensive pew Bible for church members who might want to present a memorable gift to their congregation or parish. I’ll include an Amazon ad below, as I do with each review for readers who might want to order. Thanks to the online help of Bible Gateway, the following excerpts from the CEB may be helpful, too, in giving you a feel for the reader-friendly text:
From the NT book, James 5:13-16
If any of you are suffering, they should pray. If any of you are happy, they should sing. If any of you are sick, they should call for the elders of the church, and the elders should pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. For this reason, confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.
From the apocryphal book, Judith 15:13-14
I will sing to my God a new song.
Lord, you are great and glorious, marvelous in strength
never to be outdone.
May all of your creation serve you;
you spoke,
and they came into being.
You sent forth your spirit
and it shaped them;
there is no one
who can resist your voice.
From the apocryphal book, Sirach 2:1-6
My child, if you come to serve the Lord,
prepare yourself for testing.
Set your heart straight, be steadfast,
and don’t act hastily in a time of distress.
Hold fast to God
and don’t keep your distance from him,
so that you may find strength
at your end.
Accept whatever happens to you,
and be patient
when you suffer humiliation,
because gold is tested with fire,
and acceptable people are tested
in the furnace of humiliation.
Trust him, and he will help you;
make your ways straight,
and hope in him.
Amen.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
Common English Bible with Apocrypha, paperback
Common English Bible – Pew Bible with Apocrypha, hardback
…
December 14, 2013
The Baker Illustrated Guide to Everyday Life in Bible Times
While waiting for review copies of new editions and study Bibles to arrive, I received an A to Z (or, rather A to Y) resource book from Baker entitled Everyday Life in Bible Times. Since I don’t make a habit of reading reference guides cover to cover, I picked up the book, intending to look through enough pages to get an idea of the quality and thoroughness of content, but that’s not what happened.
Before I’d gotten beyond the “Preface,” the warm, informal style and interesting questions intrigued me. For example, “What did an armor-bearer do?” or “How did people hunt?” Then the first entry “Anoint” hooked my interest immediately in a discussion of olive oil, which rates highest on my list as a healthful cooking oil and skin softener too. Mixed with other oils in a specific biblical recipe “At God’s direction, the special oil was poured on the head of a person to mark him or her for special service, whether as a member of Israel’s clergy, as a political leader, or as a prophet.”
We probably knew that, but the book goes on to say, “Those anointed in this way had their lives change in three important ways. First, the one ‘anointed by the Lord’ stood out from the general population as a leader…. Second, the anointed one was not autonomous but was always subject to the will and desires of a superior. The ‘Lord’s anointed’ was a middle manager answering to a divine CEO. Third, anointing meant special protection was extended to these special leaders – protection that was unmitigated by circumstances. For example, David considered it unthinkable to harm Saul, the Lord’s anointed….”
The next entry, “Armor-Bearer,” didn’t sound as interesting to me, but it was! For example, the future King David could not trust King Saul to stop trying to kill him, and yet Saul totally trusted his life to David. Later, when severely wounded in battle, King Saul asked his current armor-bearer to finish him off – the very opposite of what the job entailed.
Throughout the book, color photographs give visual appeal to each slick page, silken to the touch, drawing me from page to page with the pleasure of leafing through a high-quality picture book for adults. I thought I’d just read the photo captions as I went along, but the content of the text proved too enticing to ignore. Not only does the author, John A. Beck, present interesting information, he shows its relevance to scripture, explaining the significance of metaphors, biblical images, and connotations of words we might otherwise miss.
For example, the childhood story most of us heard of David’s bringing down the giant Goliath often gave the impression of a little boy with a slingshot, rather than a young man with a sling that “added distance and power to the throw because centrifugal force was added to arm strength.” Because a slung stone could go a far greater distance than a spear, David actually had a physical advantage, but, more importantly, he had behind him the spiritual power of God.
As this beautifully done book continued to draw me, I read every entry, including the one for “Stiff-Necked,” which most likely began, not as an indictment against God’s people, but as a reference to draft animals who just would not do what was needed to get their master’s job done. “Strong neck muscles allow animals such as the camel, donkey, and ox to resist the guidance of their handlers,” who described those stubborn creatures as stiff-necked.
The last entry, however, reminds readers of how a yoke can link “two entities together in a close relationship – the kind Jesus calls us to have when He asks us to “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
Everyday Life in Bible Times, hardback
Before I’d gotten beyond the “Preface,” the warm, informal style and interesting questions intrigued me. For example, “What did an armor-bearer do?” or “How did people hunt?” Then the first entry “Anoint” hooked my interest immediately in a discussion of olive oil, which rates highest on my list as a healthful cooking oil and skin softener too. Mixed with other oils in a specific biblical recipe “At God’s direction, the special oil was poured on the head of a person to mark him or her for special service, whether as a member of Israel’s clergy, as a political leader, or as a prophet.”
We probably knew that, but the book goes on to say, “Those anointed in this way had their lives change in three important ways. First, the one ‘anointed by the Lord’ stood out from the general population as a leader…. Second, the anointed one was not autonomous but was always subject to the will and desires of a superior. The ‘Lord’s anointed’ was a middle manager answering to a divine CEO. Third, anointing meant special protection was extended to these special leaders – protection that was unmitigated by circumstances. For example, David considered it unthinkable to harm Saul, the Lord’s anointed….”
The next entry, “Armor-Bearer,” didn’t sound as interesting to me, but it was! For example, the future King David could not trust King Saul to stop trying to kill him, and yet Saul totally trusted his life to David. Later, when severely wounded in battle, King Saul asked his current armor-bearer to finish him off – the very opposite of what the job entailed.
Throughout the book, color photographs give visual appeal to each slick page, silken to the touch, drawing me from page to page with the pleasure of leafing through a high-quality picture book for adults. I thought I’d just read the photo captions as I went along, but the content of the text proved too enticing to ignore. Not only does the author, John A. Beck, present interesting information, he shows its relevance to scripture, explaining the significance of metaphors, biblical images, and connotations of words we might otherwise miss.
For example, the childhood story most of us heard of David’s bringing down the giant Goliath often gave the impression of a little boy with a slingshot, rather than a young man with a sling that “added distance and power to the throw because centrifugal force was added to arm strength.” Because a slung stone could go a far greater distance than a spear, David actually had a physical advantage, but, more importantly, he had behind him the spiritual power of God.
As this beautifully done book continued to draw me, I read every entry, including the one for “Stiff-Necked,” which most likely began, not as an indictment against God’s people, but as a reference to draft animals who just would not do what was needed to get their master’s job done. “Strong neck muscles allow animals such as the camel, donkey, and ox to resist the guidance of their handlers,” who described those stubborn creatures as stiff-necked.
The last entry, however, reminds readers of how a yoke can link “two entities together in a close relationship – the kind Jesus calls us to have when He asks us to “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
Everyday Life in Bible Times, hardback
December 5, 2013
Chronological Life Application Study Bible, NLT
What a Bible for Bible lovers! If you’re looking for a Christmas gift for your pastor, Bible teacher, biblical writer, or a Bible student who already has a study Bible or readers’ edition, the Chronological Life Application Study Bible in the New Living Translation (NLT) from Tyndale House Publishers makes an excellent choice. Having another Bible first matters only because the books in this edition have been arranged chronologically, rather than by traditional groupings, so if you want to look up a passage quickly, say, during a discussion in your study group, you’d need to know the book of Job most likely occurred before the time of Moses in order to find its placement. The easier way, though, is to look up the scripture you want in the “Canonical Table of Contents” in the opening pages, where you might find Haggai and Zechariah interacting with the book of Ezra and the Gospel stories intermingled.
Despite the confusion some have when flipping pages can't be done efficiently, the chronological arrangement clearly shows how books in the same time period relate to one another. For example, after fleeing from King Saul (I Samuel 22), David wrote Psalm 57, which places those passages together in this edition.
As portions of scripture weave together in time, the introductions and overviews of each book needed to be gathered in one section entitled “The Bible, Book-by-Book.” Also, in the back pages, you’ll find a “Master Index,” concordance, and maps, along with other features you might expect in any good study edition.
Throughout this edition, you’ll find the type of footnotes and “Personality Profiles” that made the Life Application Study Bible a popular choice, but the unique features of the Chronological Life Application Study Bible come as a clock or calendar.
For example, the article “A Chronological Study of the Bible” in the opening pages provides a brief but helpful overview of biblical history from creation to the first century church. However, the feature I especially love is the “Complete Biblical Timeline” that lets me know the Egyptians built the pyramids not very long after the flood, which makes me wonder if the design occurred as an attempt to get above water level!
Also, in Egypt, papyrus and ink were invented for writing and horses domesticated long before the birth of Abraham. About the time his grandsons, Jacob and Esau, were born, Stonehenge appeared in England, and within a couple years of the birth of Jacob’s son, Joseph, someone invented the wheel.
In Babylon, Hammurabi wrote his code of law around 300 years before the laws came through Moses. About 50 years after Moses’ death, King Tut entered his famous tomb, and, about ten years before a whale swallowed Jonah, Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. Such interesting information continues for several pages, and then a brief timeline tops each page of scripture, keeping us connected to the world context in which the Bible lives on and on as the living Word of God.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.
Chronological Life Application Study Bible, hardback
Chronological Life Application Study Bible, Kindle, e-book
…
Despite the confusion some have when flipping pages can't be done efficiently, the chronological arrangement clearly shows how books in the same time period relate to one another. For example, after fleeing from King Saul (I Samuel 22), David wrote Psalm 57, which places those passages together in this edition.
As portions of scripture weave together in time, the introductions and overviews of each book needed to be gathered in one section entitled “The Bible, Book-by-Book.” Also, in the back pages, you’ll find a “Master Index,” concordance, and maps, along with other features you might expect in any good study edition.
Throughout this edition, you’ll find the type of footnotes and “Personality Profiles” that made the Life Application Study Bible a popular choice, but the unique features of the Chronological Life Application Study Bible come as a clock or calendar.
For example, the article “A Chronological Study of the Bible” in the opening pages provides a brief but helpful overview of biblical history from creation to the first century church. However, the feature I especially love is the “Complete Biblical Timeline” that lets me know the Egyptians built the pyramids not very long after the flood, which makes me wonder if the design occurred as an attempt to get above water level!
Also, in Egypt, papyrus and ink were invented for writing and horses domesticated long before the birth of Abraham. About the time his grandsons, Jacob and Esau, were born, Stonehenge appeared in England, and within a couple years of the birth of Jacob’s son, Joseph, someone invented the wheel.
In Babylon, Hammurabi wrote his code of law around 300 years before the laws came through Moses. About 50 years after Moses’ death, King Tut entered his famous tomb, and, about ten years before a whale swallowed Jonah, Homer wrote the Iliad and the Odyssey. Such interesting information continues for several pages, and then a brief timeline tops each page of scripture, keeping us connected to the world context in which the Bible lives on and on as the living Word of God.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.
Chronological Life Application Study Bible, hardback
Chronological Life Application Study Bible, Kindle, e-book
…
November 30, 2013
The CEB Study Bible
Four hundred years after scholars poetically translated the King James Version of the Bible (KJV) into English in 1611, a team of 120 biblical scholars from 20 faith communities studied a wide range of sources to translate the Bible with accuracy, clarity, and easy comprehension for contemporary readers. Having met those goals in the Common English Bible, the CEB provides a good choice for new Christians of all ages, readers who speak English as a second language, and children ready to read the Bible rather than relying on Bible storybooks. In addition, the CEB provides an ecumenically-minded choice for churches ready to update or order pew Bibles since this translation has been approved for public reading during worship services in most church denominations.
As occurs with the original KJV, the CEB and The CEB Study Bible come with or without the Apocrypha. Although not secret or mythical as the word implies, the apocryphal books provide insights into biblical times such as the years between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament (NT.) However, these books, which may or may not be included in the first testament, often confuse Bible buyers about which books are part of canonical scripture and which are not.
Since the answer depends on one’s denominational perspective or understanding of the biblical canon, The CEB Study Bible includes a section entitled “The Canons of Scripture” with five tables listing the books accepted by the Jewish canon, Protestant OT, Roman Catholic OT canon, Orthodox OT, and Anglican Apocrypha. All Christian denominations, however, accept the entire NT canon.
Finding areas of agreement aid an ecumenical scope. In The CEB Study Bible, for instance, study articles on “The Bible’s Unity” help us to see our unity too, whereas “How We Got The Bible” removes mystery and confusion by matter-of-factly explaining how and why the various canons came to the conclusions that they did. This is not for the purpose of argument, of course, nor to sway readers from one opinion to another but to help us to understand diverse perspectives among the peoples of God.
The CEB Study Bible contains additional articles, a concordance, and maps of key biblical locations, but a more distinctive feature is the use of sidebars throughout the text. To help readers find these brief but interesting discussions right away, the front matter of this edition includes a list of sidebar articles, grouped first by book and then alphabetically.
For example, the heading for “Exodus” lists the titles for each of the sidebars in that book with “The Reed Sea or the Red Sea?” found on page 99. Having heard it both ways, I turned to that discussion and read, “The Hebrew phrase yam sup means ‘Reed Sea’ and may best be understood as a general term for a body of water full of reeds or rushes rather than as a name for a specific lake or sea.” That phrase occurs 20 times in the Hebrew Bible, but that said, a Red Sea also exists further to the south.
For a NT example, the heading for Revelation shows a sidebar on “Symbolic Colors,” which depicts white as representing a victory, red as symbolizing bloodshed, pale green as signifying death, and purple as indicating royalty.
In addition to these sidebars, The CEB Study Bible occasionally includes photographs such as “The island called Patmos” at the introduction to Revelation. Each book begins similarly with an introductory page or two and continues the goal of clarification by adding explanatory footnotes to the bottom of almost every page.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.
The CEB Study Bible, hardcover
The CEB Study Bible with Apocrypha, hardcover
After posting this review, my husband gave me a CEB Study Bible in bonded leather - nice!
…
As occurs with the original KJV, the CEB and The CEB Study Bible come with or without the Apocrypha. Although not secret or mythical as the word implies, the apocryphal books provide insights into biblical times such as the years between the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament (NT.) However, these books, which may or may not be included in the first testament, often confuse Bible buyers about which books are part of canonical scripture and which are not.
Since the answer depends on one’s denominational perspective or understanding of the biblical canon, The CEB Study Bible includes a section entitled “The Canons of Scripture” with five tables listing the books accepted by the Jewish canon, Protestant OT, Roman Catholic OT canon, Orthodox OT, and Anglican Apocrypha. All Christian denominations, however, accept the entire NT canon.
Finding areas of agreement aid an ecumenical scope. In The CEB Study Bible, for instance, study articles on “The Bible’s Unity” help us to see our unity too, whereas “How We Got The Bible” removes mystery and confusion by matter-of-factly explaining how and why the various canons came to the conclusions that they did. This is not for the purpose of argument, of course, nor to sway readers from one opinion to another but to help us to understand diverse perspectives among the peoples of God.
The CEB Study Bible contains additional articles, a concordance, and maps of key biblical locations, but a more distinctive feature is the use of sidebars throughout the text. To help readers find these brief but interesting discussions right away, the front matter of this edition includes a list of sidebar articles, grouped first by book and then alphabetically.
For example, the heading for “Exodus” lists the titles for each of the sidebars in that book with “The Reed Sea or the Red Sea?” found on page 99. Having heard it both ways, I turned to that discussion and read, “The Hebrew phrase yam sup means ‘Reed Sea’ and may best be understood as a general term for a body of water full of reeds or rushes rather than as a name for a specific lake or sea.” That phrase occurs 20 times in the Hebrew Bible, but that said, a Red Sea also exists further to the south.
For a NT example, the heading for Revelation shows a sidebar on “Symbolic Colors,” which depicts white as representing a victory, red as symbolizing bloodshed, pale green as signifying death, and purple as indicating royalty.
In addition to these sidebars, The CEB Study Bible occasionally includes photographs such as “The island called Patmos” at the introduction to Revelation. Each book begins similarly with an introductory page or two and continues the goal of clarification by adding explanatory footnotes to the bottom of almost every page.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.
The CEB Study Bible, hardcover
The CEB Study Bible with Apocrypha, hardcover
After posting this review, my husband gave me a CEB Study Bible in bonded leather - nice!
…
November 25, 2013
What is Biblical Theology?
Waiting for new study editions of the Bible to arrive, I received a review copy of the newly released book, What Is Biblical Theology? published by Crossway. Author James M. Hamilton, Jr. teaches on this topic at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, but I encourage Christians from every church background to pick up this slender volume and read it straight through.
As our denominational preferences connect to one another in the Body of Christ, the stories in the Bible connect to one another, too, coming together in one body of stories about the same story – The Story – of God’s redemptive love.
Often, though, we view Bible stories from our own 21st century perspective, which means we might miss what the original writers intended to convey. Dr. Hamilton addresses this throughout the book, explaining, for example, in Part I, “If we can see what the biblical authors assumed about story, symbol, and church, we will glimpse the world as they saw it.”
That glimpse is what this book enables us to see. Divided into “Part I. The Bible’s Big Story,” “Part 2. The Bible’s Symbolic Universe,” and “Part 3. The Bible’s Love Story,” the book shows us how to “adopt the perspective of the biblical authors” so we can “read the world from the Bible’s perspective, rather than reading the Bible from the world’s.”
As part of the “Big Story,” the chapter entitled “The Narrative” discusses the setting, characterization, and plot found in any well-written story, which shows us, for example, that “the Bible’s plot can be summarized in four words: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration,” culminating in the return of Jesus. Meanwhile, an understanding of biblical conflicts, episodes, and themes helps us to recognize the overall plot of this ongoing story of our relationship with God.
In Part 2, we see how symbols, imagery, and patterns use the known to help us envision the unknown. From the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden to the tree in Revelation whose leaves will be for the healing of the nations, we get an image of the well-rooted, fruitful life God intends us to have. As Dr. Hamilton explains: “These symbols are given to us to shape our understanding of ourselves. They show us who we are. They give us our identity. They tell the story of our lives in the real world.”
In community and in our common union, that story continues in Part 3 where we see the identify, setting, plot tension, and resolution of the church, biblically and metaphorically drawn as the “Sheep of the Shepherd,” “Bride of Christ,” “Body of Christ,” “The Adopted Family of God,” and “The Temple of the Holy Spirit” – images that cause us to reflect on such questions as: “What part does the church play in the Bible story? Who is she? What is her setting? What creates the tension in her part of the plot as the wider narrative develops? How is that tension resolved?”
With the Bible as the primary resource for such crucial questions, Dr. Hamilton helps readers to see that “Biblical theology is not just an interesting topic. It informs who we are and how we live.”
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.
What Is Biblical Theology? paperback
What Is Biblical Theology? e-book
…
As our denominational preferences connect to one another in the Body of Christ, the stories in the Bible connect to one another, too, coming together in one body of stories about the same story – The Story – of God’s redemptive love.
Often, though, we view Bible stories from our own 21st century perspective, which means we might miss what the original writers intended to convey. Dr. Hamilton addresses this throughout the book, explaining, for example, in Part I, “If we can see what the biblical authors assumed about story, symbol, and church, we will glimpse the world as they saw it.”
That glimpse is what this book enables us to see. Divided into “Part I. The Bible’s Big Story,” “Part 2. The Bible’s Symbolic Universe,” and “Part 3. The Bible’s Love Story,” the book shows us how to “adopt the perspective of the biblical authors” so we can “read the world from the Bible’s perspective, rather than reading the Bible from the world’s.”
As part of the “Big Story,” the chapter entitled “The Narrative” discusses the setting, characterization, and plot found in any well-written story, which shows us, for example, that “the Bible’s plot can be summarized in four words: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration,” culminating in the return of Jesus. Meanwhile, an understanding of biblical conflicts, episodes, and themes helps us to recognize the overall plot of this ongoing story of our relationship with God.
In Part 2, we see how symbols, imagery, and patterns use the known to help us envision the unknown. From the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden to the tree in Revelation whose leaves will be for the healing of the nations, we get an image of the well-rooted, fruitful life God intends us to have. As Dr. Hamilton explains: “These symbols are given to us to shape our understanding of ourselves. They show us who we are. They give us our identity. They tell the story of our lives in the real world.”
In community and in our common union, that story continues in Part 3 where we see the identify, setting, plot tension, and resolution of the church, biblically and metaphorically drawn as the “Sheep of the Shepherd,” “Bride of Christ,” “Body of Christ,” “The Adopted Family of God,” and “The Temple of the Holy Spirit” – images that cause us to reflect on such questions as: “What part does the church play in the Bible story? Who is she? What is her setting? What creates the tension in her part of the plot as the wider narrative develops? How is that tension resolved?”
With the Bible as the primary resource for such crucial questions, Dr. Hamilton helps readers to see that “Biblical theology is not just an interesting topic. It informs who we are and how we live.”
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler, all rights reserved.
What Is Biblical Theology? paperback
What Is Biblical Theology? e-book
…
November 14, 2013
NIV Ragamuffin Bible
When I first heard of the new NIV Ragamuffin Bible, the word “ragamuffin” intrigued me as its meaning ranges from urchin to brat to child – descriptions that undoubtedly fit all of us at one time or another. As children of God, we’re bereft when we shut ourselves off from our Heavenly Father and when we get bratty or disobey! We’re also reminded that the Word of God really is for the people of God through the subtitle, “Meditations For The Bedraggled, Beat-up & Brokenhearted.”
Those meditations come to us through the “Lifetime Work from Brennan Manning 1934-2013,” a former Marine, American author, priest, and public speaker with whom I wasn’t familiar until now even though his well-known works include such interesting titles as The Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba’s Child, Ruthless Trust, and his memoir, All is Grace.
In addition to the complete text of the latest edition of the New International Version (NIV), the NIV Ragamuffin Bible includes 104 devotions, 250 reflections, and 150 quotes from Fr. Manning’s wise words, which come to us as golden tidbits tested by fire. For example, “Element of Delight” offers a reflection on Genesis 2, which says, in part, “The Father gave you as a gift to himself. You are a response to the vast delight of God.”
After “The Great Deception” comes this honest insight, “We find it uncomfortable, if not intolerable, to confront our true selves; and so… we either flee our own reality or manufacture a false self – mostly admirable, mildly prepossessing, and superficially happy. Defense mechanisms become useful allies here.”
If you’ve ever wondered what would have happened if Adam and Eve had simply confessed their wrongdoing to God, you’ll connect with this quote by Fr. Manning on page 8: “Perhaps the main reason that we are such poor practitioners of the art of being human, why we so often teeter on a tight-rope between self-hatred and despair, is that we don’t pray.”
As the reflection on “Encountering God” expresses it: “Religion is a matter not of learning how to think about God but of actually encountering him.” And that encounter might not be easy! In “Testing” (page 25), for example, Fr. Manning boldly asks: “Have you grappled with the core question of your faith, which is not ‘Is Jesus God-like?’ but ‘Is God Jesus-like?’”
Besides encouraging us to soak ourselves in the type of prayer that Fr. Manning calls “Son bathing,” his insights and reflections, quoted above from Genesis, continue to spotlight spiritual thoughts throughout the biblical text, nearing the end in this reflection in Revelation: “Nothing can harm you permanently, no suffering is irrevocable, no loss is lasting, no defeat is more than transitory, no disappointment is conclusive. Jesus did not deny the reality of suffering, discouragement, disappointment, frustration and death; he simply stated that the kingdom of God would conquer all of these horrors, that the Father’s love is so prodigal that no evil could possibly resist it.”
Such uplifting words give this edition a deep place in readers who want to get closer to God or whose faith has lessened or who know someone who needs this Bible to keep going or who just want a nice quality, hardback reader edition of the newest NIV. Regardless of your reasons for reading – and regardless of how many times you’ve read the Bible or these reflective words, this reader edition comes highly recommended and highly inspired.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
NIV Ragamuffin Bible, hardcover
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com® book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
NIV Ragamuffin Bible, Kindle edition, is also available.
…
Those meditations come to us through the “Lifetime Work from Brennan Manning 1934-2013,” a former Marine, American author, priest, and public speaker with whom I wasn’t familiar until now even though his well-known works include such interesting titles as The Ragamuffin Gospel, Abba’s Child, Ruthless Trust, and his memoir, All is Grace.
In addition to the complete text of the latest edition of the New International Version (NIV), the NIV Ragamuffin Bible includes 104 devotions, 250 reflections, and 150 quotes from Fr. Manning’s wise words, which come to us as golden tidbits tested by fire. For example, “Element of Delight” offers a reflection on Genesis 2, which says, in part, “The Father gave you as a gift to himself. You are a response to the vast delight of God.”
After “The Great Deception” comes this honest insight, “We find it uncomfortable, if not intolerable, to confront our true selves; and so… we either flee our own reality or manufacture a false self – mostly admirable, mildly prepossessing, and superficially happy. Defense mechanisms become useful allies here.”
If you’ve ever wondered what would have happened if Adam and Eve had simply confessed their wrongdoing to God, you’ll connect with this quote by Fr. Manning on page 8: “Perhaps the main reason that we are such poor practitioners of the art of being human, why we so often teeter on a tight-rope between self-hatred and despair, is that we don’t pray.”
As the reflection on “Encountering God” expresses it: “Religion is a matter not of learning how to think about God but of actually encountering him.” And that encounter might not be easy! In “Testing” (page 25), for example, Fr. Manning boldly asks: “Have you grappled with the core question of your faith, which is not ‘Is Jesus God-like?’ but ‘Is God Jesus-like?’”
Besides encouraging us to soak ourselves in the type of prayer that Fr. Manning calls “Son bathing,” his insights and reflections, quoted above from Genesis, continue to spotlight spiritual thoughts throughout the biblical text, nearing the end in this reflection in Revelation: “Nothing can harm you permanently, no suffering is irrevocable, no loss is lasting, no defeat is more than transitory, no disappointment is conclusive. Jesus did not deny the reality of suffering, discouragement, disappointment, frustration and death; he simply stated that the kingdom of God would conquer all of these horrors, that the Father’s love is so prodigal that no evil could possibly resist it.”
Such uplifting words give this edition a deep place in readers who want to get closer to God or whose faith has lessened or who know someone who needs this Bible to keep going or who just want a nice quality, hardback reader edition of the newest NIV. Regardless of your reasons for reading – and regardless of how many times you’ve read the Bible or these reflective words, this reader edition comes highly recommended and highly inspired.
©2013, Mary Harwell Sayler
NIV Ragamuffin Bible, hardcover
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookSneeze.com®
NIV Ragamuffin Bible, Kindle edition, is also available.
…
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