I'm fond of the New American Standard, and the New King James. For a study bible, I like the New Geneva Study Bible (NKJ addition). The English Standard Version is good also. I'd stay away from the NIV, ASV, RSV and the paraphrased versions.
A great free resource for Bibles, Commentaries, Dictionaries, etc is http://www.e-sword.net/index.html
You can get everything free but the some of the modern copyrighted versions like NKJ and NIV. They do have the ESV free which is a newer translation - and the new HSCB is not bad either.
And a good ol' King James is always good to have as a cross reference.
Originally posted by DoctorScribblesI think they took too many liberties in their translations. However, I should not have said to avoid it - only that there are better translations. The NIV is fine - but not one I'd use for a serious examination of doctrine.
What's wrong with this one? It's the one I'm most familiar with.
Originally posted by ColettiThe KJV is great if you are interested in decorative phrases and
I'm fond of the New American Standard, and the New King James. For a study bible, I like the New Geneva Study Bible (NKJ addition). The English Standard Version is good also. I'd stay away from the NIV, ASV, RSV and the paraphrased ver ...[text shortened]... good ol' King James is always good to have as a cross reference.
poetry, but it is not useful for a careful study. First, the knowledge
(or even known existence) of ancient sources did not exist in 1611, so
many times, the translations are fundamentally flawed.
But, more importantly, the words themselves connote different
meanings today. The way in which 17th-century people understood
specific words is totally different than the way that 21st-century people
do.
If you really want to study the Bible's nitty-gritty, get a Greek-English
transliteration (United Bible Societies publishes an excellent one).
I agree that the NIV is pretty lousy; the NSRV is somewhat better. I
think the NKJ loses both the artistic flair of the KJV, but does not
capture the scholarship that has transpired since then (I don't know
about the New Geneva Study apparatus, though).
The NAB is the most solid, but I never read just one translation and
whenever I have questions, I turn to the Greek (with transliteration
and concordance).
Nemesio
Edit: the NAS is pretty good, too.
Originally posted by frogstompHeh. The Tao, of course, can't be messed up, because it's the infinite, both formless and untoucheable. But our minds can certainly be obscured in our attempt to grasp the infinite.
Doesn't reading all that mess up the Tao a bit for you?
Deconstructing dogma via historical analysis can be rewarding and revealing, but yes, I'd agree that it is eventually seen to be irrelevant to the deeper spiritual realizations. Ultimately one loses interest in tearing down the church, and one simply walks around it.
Originally posted by NemesioYou're right about how Spong's "Why Christianity Must Change Or Die" is not his last book. It just sounds like a title of a last book, LOL.
Originally posted by Metamorphosis
Regarding critical Bible scholarship, the group often recognized as
I don't know
Fox's works. Do you have a recommended list?
As for Matthew Fox, I've read only two of his works, "The Coming of the Cosmic Christ", and his memoirs, called "Confessions". He's unusual in his attempts to reach out to all other faiths. He recently wrote something titled "Many Streams, One Source" or something like that, which pretty much sums up his approach. Like Alan Watts, he started out a Christian priest, but soon became something more like a cross between Joseph Campbell and Thomas Merton.
Originally posted by NemesioWhat about the NJB?
The KJV is great if you are interested in decorative phrases and
poetry, but it is not useful for a careful study. First, the knowledge
(or even known existence) of ancient sources did not exist in 1611, so
many times, the translations are fundamentally flawed.
But, more importantly, the words themselves connote different
meanings today. The way ...[text shortened]... Greek (with transliteration
and concordance).
Nemesio
Edit: the NAS is pretty good, too.
Originally posted by NemesioI don't think so, but I could be wrong.
The NJB = NAB, I thought. I have the NJB at work and I seem to recall that it is the
same translation (although newer editions have newer corrections).
Nemesio
http://www.bible-researcher.com/new-jerusalem-bible.html
http://www.bible-researcher.com/nab.html
The author of the website, Michael Marlowe, appears to be a Bible literalist.
For those of you who would like to seriously consider discrepancies in the Bible, allow me to offer but a few suggestions. Similarly, those of you who love to point out contradictions, let me give you some ammunition. All that I ask is that you consult a couple explanations (with at least a hint of sincerity and honesty) before you cry "fire!"
Arndt, W. "Does the Bible Contradict Itself." Concordia Publishing House 1955.
Arndt, W. "Bible Difficulties." Concordia Publishing House, 1932.
Haley, John W. "Alleged Discrepancies of the Bible." Whitaker House 1992--This one is particularly extensive in listing contradictions.
Geisler, Norman. "When Critics Ask." Baker, 1992.
These are not Bibles per se, but they are generally arranged in a biblical order, and/or possess an index.
For those of you who are not familiar with koine Greek, but would like some deeper linguistic insights, a new Bible will be available this fall. The ESV is my preferred English translation as far as readability goes. If you'd like the purest translation (closest to the Greek and Hebrew, but least readable) I offer you the NASB--New American Standard Bible.
Below is a link to the Greek/English ESV that will be coming out shortly.
http://www.gnpcb.org/product/158134628X