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not
incorporate the newest research into textural
accuracy. Maintains a separate paragraph for each
verse. A good version for those who love "the
King's English" and the original KJV but have
difficulty with the archaic words.
The
Revised English Bible (REB). A revision
of The New English Bible printed in its
final form in 1970. Published by Oxford and Cambridge
University presses, the translation scholars did
a verse-by-verse comparison with the original
Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic writings. Its style
reflects English usage in the United Kingdom.
All verses are noted and text is divided into
paragraphs. Available with or without Apocrypha
and makes a good Bible for the person looking
for a non-U.S. translation.
New
Revised Standard Version (NRSV). Third
generation translation (ASV and Revised Standard
Version [RSV] its predecessors) that uses gender
neutral language for humanity and masculine pronouns
for Deity. Sponsored by the National Council of
Churches, it reflects current English usage in
the U.S. Verse notations do not intrude on text
that is divided into paragraphs. Useful for study
and devotion.
— Lynda L. Graybeal
GOING
DEEPER
The
Message: Psalms. In the original Hebrew,
the Psalms are rough, raw expressions of passionate
feeling—anger, joy, grief, praise, remorse—straight
from the heart. Eugene Peterson's translation/paraphrase,
The Message: Psalms, recaptures these emotions
and invites us to experience the original power
of the songs.
Peterson writes that the Psalms are "the prayers
of men and women passionate for God." He helps
us understand their message by using the idioms
and language of the streets—rich, lyrical, alive,
colorful—indigenous to U.S. culture. Once
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we
understand their meaning, we can move beyond the
words and into prayer. "Peterson's Psalms
seethes with anger and shimmers with joy. You
cannot just read it; you are compelled to pray
it and live it" (Brock and Bodie Thoene, authors
of The Zion Chronicles).
Discipleship.
This book distills and preserves the spiritual
insights of a community of Christians known as
the Hutterian Brethren that arose in central Germany
in the early part of this century. Seeking "to
live in full community of goods on the basis of
Acts 2 and 4 and the Sermon on the Mount" they
continue to this day with six of their communities
in the United States.
The
book itself is simply selections from the letters,
sermons, and papers of J. Heinrich Arnold grouped
around various themes such as discipleship, forgiveness,
world suffering, and more. But do not let the
simplicity of this format fool you, for as Henri
Nouwen says in the foreword, "Discipleship
is a tough book. As I began reading it, (the)
words touched me as a double-edged sword, calling
me to choose between truth and lies, salvation
and sin, selflessness and selfishness, light and
darkness, God and demon."
The
editors clearly distinguish Discipleship
from the majority of pulp devotional writings
in our day when they say, "This is not a collection
of devotions or meditations, not a 'feel-good'
journal about walking with God, and not a guide
for self-improvement or personal spiritual growth.
It is, very simply, a book about discipleship—about
following Christ humbly, obediently, and with
an open heart."
I
close with one sample of Arnold's openings onto
truth, "The main thing for you should be to recognize
the greatness of God and to live for him. . .
. Then you will see how very small the search
for personal happiness is."
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