Author	Thread: Study Bible
shalom716 View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 24 Jul, 2011 05:53 AM Dear Brethren, Just wondered what your thoughts are on why there are so many different versions of the Bible and which one is the most accurate. If we are not to add to or take from the Holy Scriptures why are there these additional gospels, apocrytaptic texts which I have not heard of or studied. I'm interested in a new study Bible and I don't want anything added or taken away from the original word, mostly have always read KJV and NIV. :peace: Post Reply
shalom716 View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 24 Jul, 2011 06:24 AM These are the Biblical Apocrypha; books recognized by the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox & Oriental Orthodox Churches as being part of scripture (and thus deuterocanonical rather than apocryphal), but most Protestants do not recognize them except as part of The Apocrypha. Many other Christians recognize them as good, but not on the level of the other books of the Bible. Anglicanism, as stated in the Thirty-nine Articles, considers the apocrypha to be "read for example of life" but not used "to establish any doctrine."[1] Luther made a parallel statement in calling them: "not considered equal to the Holy Scriptures, but are useful and good to read."[16] * 1 Esdras * 2 Esdras * Tobit * Judith * Additions to Esther * Wisdom of Solomon * Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) * Baruch with the Letter of Jeremiah * Song of the Three Young Men and Prayer of Azariah * Story of Susanna * Bel and the Dragon * Prayer of Manasseh * 1 Maccabees * 2 Maccabees http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Books_of_the_Bible Post Reply
View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 24 Jul, 2011 06:28 AM I use, for the most part..The Bullinger Bible, called The Companion Bible, its a KJ with heavy annotating. bless, michael Post Reply
View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 24 Jul, 2011 11:27 AM I love the NIV which is written in easy to understand 20th Century English and is also the favorite version of over 60% of the Evangelicals. I like the NIV since all the Greek and Hebrew Bible scholars involved were conservative evangelical Christians. Whereas the KJV is written in 16th century English which is sometimes not very clear and about 40% of the Greek and Hebrew scholars involved were Roman Catholic. Post Reply
View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 24 Jul, 2011 11:34 AM Ya, the NIV is great, a bit off on the "Trinty thing", but hey, we all know how to deal with that when we see it.. bless, michael Post Reply
View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 24 Jul, 2011 12:14 PM Here are three good study sites: 1.http://biblos.com/ 2.http://www.e-sword.net/ 3.http://www.blueletterbible.org/ I prefer the biblos,there is much more material and more helps than the other sites. Also,when you click onto the flags,you get the Word of GOD in the language of that country. Chesed Mr.Ed Post Reply
View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 24 Jul, 2011 08:56 PM I, personally, find the NKJ study Bible the most for me. It hasn;t changed, it only breaks down certain words. Also, if you can get hold of a Matthew Henry's Commentary or one of the other great theologians to whom God revealed His word to and they wrote commentaries on the whole Bible, this will also help in your studying. I have an oooooold Matthew Henry Commentary which covers Genesis to Revelation 1961 copyright, and when I can't figure out what God is trying to say to me in my studies, I use this to help me better understand certain passages. Love Matthew Henry's work, what a blessing he left us. Post Reply
View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 25 Jul, 2011 06:11 AM Unfortunately, oweing to the nature of the Scriptures, there is no 'original' version of the Bible as there was never an original Bible to begin with. Originally, as each Gospel got written, followers would use it, and usually only it as modern mass reproduction hadn't been invented yet. Earliest Christians (pre-Catholicism say) had access to just one or a few Gospels at a time. Over time then, as more were written or came to be popular and/or accepted, individual Gospels became more than 1 up until Vatican Councils had enough in circulation to decide what would become officially accepted by them and become the Bible. Notice too how Scriptures never refer to themselves as "The Bible" but rather "The Scriptures," "The Word," and whatever else. And unless we wish to lean ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic we have to rely on English translations of the originals. Also, those originals on papyrus and later on parchment are rarely intact as time and various calamities took their toll. So often, English translations have gaps and they're filled in with clerical or scholarly 'best guesses.' Can see this clearly with the Dead Sea Scrolls and most recently Gospel of Judas where only fragments of the originals remain. Myself, I prefer using online versions that leave the gaps intact rather than filling them in. I'll read the filled-in ones too when clarification is desired, but like you like as accurate or reliable a version as I can find. The internet has been a boon to Scripturalists enabling us to see photocopied versions of originals (not that I personally can read them, but is neat to see them at least,) and being able to go back as far as we can read with every version ever written. Recently began reading the Wycliffe Bible from the late 14th century which is in middle-English (i.e. Shakespearean) and though older ones in old-English are available, it's basically a foreign language. For Tanakh books and apocrypha I like chabad.org online texts for Tanakh, and University of Pennsylvania's 'online Jewish Texts' library here: http://www.library.upenn.edu/cajs/etexts.html For the NT Gospels I've yet to find better than biblegateway.com which has the Wycliffe, YLT, and in addition to a useful feature of keeping your place in Scripture while allowing switching from version to version, also has the option of listening to decent voice actors reading the selected sections as you read along. Post Reply
View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 25 Jul, 2011 06:13 AM ...Oh ya, and for NT Apocrypha, this is a very large collection including some of my favs like Infancy Gospel of Jesus Christ, Gospel of Thomas, Acts of Paul and Thecla: http://www.interfaith.org/christianity/apocrypha/ Post Reply
View Profile History	Study Bible Posted : 25 Jul, 2011 06:20 AM I use NKJV Post Reply