HCSB Second Edition

HCSB Second Edition is apparently available via WordSearch. For now according to them they are the only ones with the electronic copy, at least for now.  Very curious what sort of changes they have made and how soon will they make it available in other programs such as Olive Tree, and biblegateway.com

Update:

I went ahead and purchased the advertised second edition of the HCSB and the verses that I had hope were updated or at least some footnotes added were not changed at all.  That is a major disappointment.  Also I am unable to find any record anywhere of what changes were made.  Thank God I found at least one change so that I know for a fact that it has been updated.  If you have any verses or paragraphs that you would like for me to compare please post them in the comments and I will.

1 Tim 1:1-2 (HCSB) SE

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope2 To Timothy, my true son in the faith.

1 Tim 1:1-2 (HCSB)

Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus, our hope: 2 To Timothy, my true child in the faith.

Review – TNIV Reference Bible Renaissance

Product Details

• Leather Bound: 1408 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (December 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310941261
• ISBN-13: 978-0310941262
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.3 x 1.9 inches

I received this bible as a gift from my wife (Becky).  Thanks for this wonderful bible.

There have been various reviews written about this particular edition of the TNIV bible so I don’t want to be redundant and I am not writing on the pros/cons of this translation.  However there are somethings that I would like to point out mostly positive.  I am also including various photos to help with the descriptions and assist those that my consider purchasing this bible.  At a price tag of $62.99 at Amazon you can’t go wrong.  I also do enjoy collecting fine bibles and this now my 3rd one that I own.

I wanted this bible primarily to read from for the following reasons:

1. Single column
2. Reference
3. Fine Black Supple Leather (not calfskin) very soft and flexible
4. Sewn stitching

This bible is sort of Old World Craftsmanship with New World look to it.  I say that because it does not have the traditional leveled up dividers on the outside of the binding it is perfectly smooth, which now a days are only done for cosmetic purposes anyhow.  There is a proper term for this but I just cannot recall what it is.  Also they went with a sliver edging on the papers and the cover printing is also done with sliver and uses a modern looking font.  The leather cover has a double stitching all around which I am sure adds to the build quality, and it also looks really nice.

I am not sure if I like the choice of font that they have chosen for this bible.  Also it feels a bit small for a bible of this size, and it also feels like the sentences are a bit close together making it a bit difficult to read.  I think/hope over time I will get use to it.  This is the only negative thing that I have encountered so far.

Some pleasant surprises that I found were the Topical Ties that are at the bottom of each page if appropriate.  Also where verses or what appears sections are similar like in the Gospels they added some additional references sort of a harmony of the gospels sort of thing.  I thought this was only found in the Gospels, however I also noticed them in the Psalms.  I suppose that where ever there are similar passages you will see these references.

The other thing that is nice is that it is a Single column (fine) black letter edition bible.  The single column layout that is being used as best as I can tell is the exact same layout that is used in the TNIV The Books of The Bible (TBoTB), with the exception that chapters, verses, and translator headings were added to this edition.  The  books are presented with the literary divisions that their authors have indicated.  The advantage here is, if you ignore the chapters & verses it allows you to read it in the same manner of the TBoTB.   To quote TBoTB “single-column setting that clearly and naturally presents the literary forms of the Bible’s books”

This bible does come with two ribbons, and they are nice and long and seem to be a tad wider than the usual ones.  It also contains a Dictionary of TNIV Terms which may be useful if you come across some words you may not be familiar with such as Asherah Poles, Calamus, or Dugongs.

Additional Scripture References OT

Full Page

Sample Text

Topical Ties

Additional Scripture References NT

Not able to keep you with your comments?

I came across this website that tracks all of the comments you made.  The nice thing about WordPress is that it will track your comments and interactions with other WordPress blogs but that’s it.  If you posted a comment at a blog that uses blogger or some other service you may want to follow up on it but don’t remember which blog it was at.

Well Backtype will do that for you

It does not list all of the interaction but it will list all of the comments you have made including your own blog.  Also if you are wondering what your favorite blogger is up to you can type their name in and read all of their comments as well.

New Book – The Incarnation

For Christmas I was given a $30.00 gift card by a dear friend.  Of course I went and purchased another book.  What else would I do with it?  It will be a while before I get to reading this book, but I don’t just by books to read them right away I am building a personal reference library.  I will get to it eventually.

Incarnation: The Person and Life of Christ (Hardcover)
by Thomas F. Torrance (Author), Robert T. Walker (Editor)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 371 pages
• Publisher: IVP Academic (November 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830828915
• ISBN-13: 978-0830828913
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches

Editorial Reviews

Review
“T. F. Torrance stands as one of the finest English-speaking theologians of modern times. Here we have the nearest thing to the systematic theology he had always hoped to write. Scripturally rooted, philosophically acute and always alert to the theological issues that really matter, this book cannot fail to inspire anyone who cares about constructive Christian thought in our day.” —-Jeremy Begbie, Thomas Langford Research Professor of Theology, Duke University

Review
“Nowhere else in T. F. Torrance’s writings will you find the kind of synthesis of the entire sweep of his dogmatics as you will find in this volume and its companion volume, Atonement. Everyone concerned with constructive systematic theology in general, or with Torrance’s theology in particular, will want to acquire and read these books. They reveal the heart and soul of Torrance’s theological vision.”

All things are better in Koine

If you have learned NT Greek you have to watch…

Bible Translations — Which one?

I was thinking about blogging on this and then I read ElShaddai’s posting on translations and thought why not?  Bible Translations use to be something that was easy to stick with.  I would say growing up you either read the NIV, NKJV, or the NASB.  And your pastor more than likely preached out of one these translations as his primary text.  Today there are many, many new choices.  Since I was 14 years old back in 1980 I started reading the NKJV, and it was also the bible that my pastor preached from.  I read it up until 2001 when I came across the ESV.  It was advertise as being as good as the NASB, but yet more readable.  The NASB was my primary study bible and the one I used to prepare most of my lessons from.  So I took the leap and replaced both the NKJV and the NASB with the ESV.

In 2005 I came across the HCSB and really liked it, there are a few translations choice they made that I don’t care for but overall it is not enough to cause me to not enjoy it.  The problem was that I could not find anyone to endorse it so I still read it but was reluctant to use it as a primary study bible.  I thought that it was literal enough and it was much more readable or smoother than the ESV.  Switching to the ESV was the greatest thing I had ever done as it freed me to consider other translations.  It was through blogging that I came across ElShaddai Edwards’s, and Rick Mansfield’s blog and a few others that they actually had some great things to say about the HCSB.  So for me that was enough to move from the ESV to the HCSB.

My goal for 2009 is to read the TNIV with my nice new Fine Leather Reference Bible that I just got for Christmas.  I am trying to work out a system where one is my primary bible that I use to memorize, read, and study with.  I know that it is going to be either the HCSB, TNIV, or the NLT (I think that all of these are great translations).  Regardless of which one I settle on, these three translations will be part of my normal studies and translations to compare with and teach from.  The other bible that I am going to give a fair shake to is the NET bible which I have not really given a good enough effort on.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!

Our family tradition is to get together with my favorite sister in law Patty, and her husband Albert.  I love to spend Christmas with them and their 5 girls, and 3 grand kids.  Christmas now days is really fun watching the young kids open their gifts and to see the look on their faces is priceless.

This year was a good year for me

My lovely wife got me a new TNIV Renaissances Reference Bible. I’ll post a review later but I really like the feel of this bible, it is well made.

She also got us a Sylvania NB500SL9 1080p Blu-Ray Player, well I knew about it but I had to pretend that I did not know about it because it was suppose to be a surpirse for me and my son.  But we came across this fantistic deal at Costco where we were able to get it for $100.00.  Also my son got me Rainbox Six One, I already had Rainbow Six Two and really liked it so he thought I would also like the first one.  And he also got me the book “The Problem with Evangelical Theology, by Ben Witherington III“.  This is the first time my family has bought me a bible or a book for Christmas.  So for me this was a real treat.  They actually checked out the my Amazon.com wish list!

Putting Christ back into Christmas

Just thought I would share this from Fox News.  The Pastor that is being interviewed from Kansas is a personal friend of mine.  He preaches several times a year at my church, and I have even preached at his church a couple of years ago.  Anyhow, just thought I would share this with all.

Fox News Dressing up like Jesus

I could not figure out how to embed the video, sorry.

Who has influenced you?

I was thinking about this the other day and thought that I would blog on this.

Who has been the most controversial theologian or pastor that has influenced you in one way or another.

For me it has to be none other than Dr. Gene Scott.  I listened to him teach for most of my life on and off up until his death on Feb. 21, 2005.  Wikipedia refers to him as a “highly controversial Bible teacher”.

Sure he did things that I did not agree with and I am not trying to justify his actions, but I understood why.  I think he was one of the best bible teachers behind the pulpit.  Yeah, I know he taught on strange things like the pyramids, and royal linage of the British being of Jewish descent.  Like we don’t have our own quirky views.  His antics were over the top, but that made him all the more interesting to watch.

I even attended his church for about one year (I was grieving the death of my pastor of 16 years).  Attending his church gave me anonimity and I did not have to associate with anyone.  I did not like that at all, but it served it’s purpose for me during this time.  I was going through a lot of changes, but that’s another story.

It was fun attending his church felt like a big classroom.  I use to bring my greek interliner bible because he read so much out of the greek.  Some of the attendees only brought the Greek NT.  It’s where I became very interested in learning more of the Greek language.  He loved God’s word, and never abandonded his Pentecostal heritage.  On more than one occasion I heard him affirm his pentecostal positions.  Also on more than one service I even saw mean old Gene shed some tears as he spoke about Christ.  Yes he did have an influnce on my life, and taught me an all important understanding on the grace of God.

How about you?  Who has been the most controversial theologian or pastor that has influenced you in one way or another.

Book Give Away

The kind bloggers over at Kingdom People are giving away the following books:

#1. THE REASON FOR GOD – Tim Keller
#2. CULTURE MAKING – Andy Crouch
#3. SURPRISED BY HOPE – N.T. Wright
#4. WHY WE’RE NOT EMERGENT – Kevin DeYoung & Ted Kluck
#5. HOW PEOPLE CHANGE – Timothy Lane & Paul David Tripp
#6. THE BIG PICTURE STORY BIBLE -David Helm & Gail Schoonmaker
#7. JESUS MADE IN AMERICA – Stephen Nichols
#8. RESIDENT ALIENS – Stanley Hauerwas & Will Willimon
#9. WORSHIP MATTERS – Bob Kauflin
#10. The Sermon on the Mount through the Centuries – Jeffrey Greenman,

For details on how to participate go to their site and check it out:

Kingdom People Christmas Give Away