Ranting to /dev/null

Mind if I join you?

Not at all. Misery loves company after all.

I actually saw a Revolve in a Christian bookstore in Colorado Springs, and I read quite a bit of the litte sidebars. I was, at first, disgusted, but I have to tell you that it was much better than the first impression.

One of the objections raised in the article you linked, Ryan, was that the sidebar "Didja Know"- and "Top Ten"- type things influence the way the Scripture is interpreted, but, you know what, the Student Bible and plenty other Bible versions you can buy have commentary, and there hasn't really been a kaffloffel about that. Even the New Geneva Study Bible has commentary! The only way you are going to get away from any "extra interpretation or influence" is to learn Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic and read the original text for yourself. And then there is the problem of your Biblical Languages teacher influencing the way you interpret the foreign words. AND the problem of choosing WHICH piece of papyrus you will believe is the most correct one. Sigh. I just don't think that the 'sidebar problem' is entirely valid.

Another objection is that it is too commercial. Well, that is part of American culture right now. Girls have glossy magazines of every sort (Seventeen, Cosmo Girl!, Teen, YM) in their backpacks, and their moms have glossy mags too--Ladies' Home Journal and Redbook come to mind, as do Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living. And then there's Woman's World. Glossy magazines are cool, and they are fun to read. I read one on the plane each time I travel! It's a plane-trip indulgence for me, a treat. So reading glossies is part of being a suburban American, and to have a Bible printed on glossy pages and bound as a magazine instead of as a book is a great idea. Who knows? Maybe some girl will be reading in in the high school cafeteria, and some unchurched girl will want to know what she has. What a great open door for the gospel!

(And there are metal-bound Bibles that seem to appeal to boys. That hasn't been a problem...all of a sudden here is a Bible marketed to girls and POOF! an issue pops up! "We'd better get those girls nice and submissive to the cultural patterns we adult men are used to" really seems like the response I am seeing, compared to the response to the marketed-to-boys metal Bibles.)

And the third problem seems to be that it's just different. Sorry, but that is just selfish. So what if you are not used to it? Jesus himself taught things that were countercultural: "It's ok to heal on the Sabbath," "Love the unlovable," "If you are a whore or a tax collector, I will go out of my way to pursue your heart," "Who condemns this adulteress? Who here has not committed a sin? Neither do I condemn you; don't screw anyone else anymore."

So where is your problem with the WORD of GOD getting read and studied and applied to girls' hearts? Why are you unwilling for the WORD of GOD to go out? Are you unwilling to allow GOD'S WORD to speak for itself? Are you afraid the the Word of God is dead and inactive if it's printed on glossy pages? That's against Scripture! He says about Himself, "The Word of God is living and active"! He will work however he can, and as far as I am concerned, the more the Word gets read, the more it can break into girls' hearts and help them grow into strong women of Godly faith and power.

No, actually, I object to the whole chain of events that leads to the debacle that is "Resolve". I hate audience-specific study Bibles, and I'm even ambivalent about the good old New Geneva Study Bible. Sure, I agree with the notes most of the time, but I'm afraid that people will substitute the commentary for the text.

What I really, really want in a Bible is a leather-bound edition without chapter or verse divisions. I'd even be okay with only rough paragraph breaks when it's really obvious that something else is happening. I just want the text.

God can use anything he wants to reach people. He excels at drawing "straight lines with crooked sticks". But that's no excuse for being a crooked stick.

Oh, I understand what you are saying.

The Message just has chapter divisions (no verse divisions), and it says in the flyleaf that "the Message is a contemporary rendering of the Bible form the original languages, crafted to present its tone, rhythm, events, and ideas in everyday language...The goal is not to render a word-for-word conversion of Greek into English..." It *is* a translation, *not* a paraphrase (as the Living Bible is), but as translations go, it leans more towards the 'interpretation' end of the scale. You might try it, even though the text itself interprets the original text.

When you find a Bible with no little subtitles (like, "Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand" introducing that passage which is what we find in our NIV's), let me know. I want just the text and no titles or subtitles.

I've read a bit of "The Message" and was pretty weirded out by it. I liked the lack of verse divisions, but it was far, far too interpretative for my tastes. I can't remember specific examples off the top of my head, but I do remember not liking it.

I'm a fan of the NKJV and ESV for everyday and scholarly use, and you just can't beat the KJV for style.

Ryan and Krista, I know it's been a while since you posted your comments about wanting to find Bible translations without chapter or verse divisions but you might still be interested in the following: I've also been searching for such a version (esp in the NIV) without success so far. But what I have come across is several New Testament only editions. The best of these is Richard Lattimore's translation of 1997. This has the plainest text I have seen - no chapter breaks or even numbering, no verses, no double columns, no intros, footnotes or references of any kind, just scripture in paragraph format, divided only by the beginning and end of each book.

Some comments taken from the back cover give a quite accurate idea of the kind of translation it is: "Without the gaudy beauties of the King James version or the overly hip sound of some modern editions, Lattimore's New Testament possesses an austere, moving plainess, a willingness to shape long sentences, and an admirable clarity" (Washington Post Book World). Also, "Lattimore's aim was to provide a simple, literal rendering in which the syntax and order of the greek dictate the character of the English style."

Another New Testament translation in exactly the same format, except for chapter numbers, is "The Unvarnished New Testament", by Andy Gaus (1991). Although this also attempts to be fairly literal, some may find parts of it a bit too radical as it, in the words of the cover, "strips away the thick layers of convention and 'Biblical' language which often clouds the meaning of original words.'"

Another chapter and verse free version with quite a solid reputation you might want to try is JB Phillips' The New Testament in Modern English (1972).
If you hadn't come across any of these already I hope the info is of some interest.
Jay, London UK