(Free) Bible Software Update

By | February 4, 2006
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About a month ago, I posted on Bible software and a good follow-up to that post is this review of 6 different free programs, including Swordsearcher, e-Sword, BiblePro, Theophilos, The Sword Project, and the Online Bible. The reviewer concludes thus:

Narrowing the field down to Swordsearcher and e-Sword was easy; picking the final winner was not. I went back and forth trying to come up with a clear winner, but in the end I gave up. My conclusion is that both of them do about 90% of what I need, and therefore I was going to have to go against my anal-retentive inclinations and leave both products installed on my box.

I have come down on the side of Swordsearcher for general day-to-day use, using it to do my research and enter my own commentaries and works. However I switch to e-Sword when I need to find text in a contemporary translation, or need to see a parallel view of a passage from different translations.

But read it all to see the pros and cons of the various programs and which would best suit your needs.

HT: Bible Software Review

Which Translation is Best for You?

By | February 3, 2006
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We’ve talked about Bible translations here before. Here is one guy’s attempt to help you determine which English translation is best for you, depending on what factors you consider most important. Give it a try and you might learn something new. For instance, the JPS Tanakh ranked #1 for me (if the questions included whether I thought the NT was important, then this version would have ranked lower). NET Bible was #2 and my favorite scored as #3. In second to last place, the KJV. These results seem to indicate that my translation preferences actually match my translation philosophy.

HT: Better Bibles Blog

Does It Sound Like the Beatles?

By | February 2, 2006
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I’ve mentioned here before the “Hide the Word” CD series which features Scripture verses set to song in a professional way. But the announcement of the new release says this:

We’ve all gotten songs stuck in our heads. How much better if the lyrics are pure Scripture? Mark Altrogge‘s new CD, the sixth in his Hide the Word series, can help fill head and heart alike. Senior pastor of Lord of Life Church (Indiana, PA) and a prolific songwriter, Mark knows the value of memorizing and meditating on Scripture. Weight of Glory contains 20 Scripture passages set to music. Check it out at the Sovereign Grace Store.

To find out more about why Mark puts Scripture to music, how he writes songs, and why one song in particular sounds so much like the Beatles, read his interview at the ESV Bible blog.

Of course my attention and yours is drawn to the Beatles reference (even though I am too young for the Beatles and never have been drawn to them otherwise). But the writer of this blurb knows that interest will be increased, even to a Christian audience, by the mention of this secular rock band. Some will probably never read to the end of this post because they’ve clicked over.

It gets me to wondering why it is this way. Why is it that the caves at Bet Guvrin are nice until you learn that Sylvester Stallone filmed Rambo III there, and then that’s all everyone wants to talk about. Or that lone stick of wood on top of Tell Beth Shean where Judas Christ Superstar was filmed? And if I made up some story about Michael Jackson visiting Caesarea, suddenly my group would want to know exactly where he walked, and our study of Herod’s construction or the apostolic work would be interrupted. Why do we care? I think I know the answer in part, but the point that I want to make here is that when I’m at Beth Shean, I don’t mention the tree, and when I’m at Bet Guvrin, I’ve never heard of Rambo. Maybe I cheat my students by not teaching them popular culture, but I’m afraid I’ll cheat them of biblical history if I do. And we all know that usually popular culture wins. Not, if I can help it, in my class.

I’d add too that though I don’t have this latest CD, I do have the others and I highly recommend them. Whether they sound like the Beatles or not :-).

The Hamas Victory

By | February 1, 2006
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A number of people have asked me for my take on the Hamas’ victory in the Palestinian elections last week. I’m far from an expert in this area and I don’t have the time I need to formulate my thoughts for a public forum. But I read Daniel Pipes’ editorial yesterday and agree with it in the main. This paragraph in particular is probably the reality that most in the West don’t realize.

Not much separates Hamas anti-Zionism from Fatah anti-Zionism except that Hamas terrorists speak forthrightly while Fatah terrorists obfuscate. Even their tactics overlap, as Fatah denies the existence of Israel and Hamas negotiates with Israelis. Differing emphases and styles, more than substance, distinguishes their attitudes toward Israel.

And, in case you don’t read the whole (short) article, here’s another quote:

The Palestinian election outcome resulted partly from more than a decade of misrule by Yasser Arafat and his cronies, who stole, plotted, embezzled, and ran roughshod over their subjects. Hamas, in contrast, built a record of community service, relative probity, and modesty. Looked at positively, the success of Hamas implies that Palestinian Arabs do take other matters into consideration besides eliminating Israel. Looked at negatively, they merely prefer honest terrorists to dishonest ones.

The Bible vs. the Book of Mormon

By | January 31, 2006
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Few people know that I started my scholarly life researching the Mormon faith. I was about 8 years old and many of the kids on my block went to the Mormon church. I read a lot and I studied a lot and when opportunities arose, we talked. That continued in my college years as I worked alongside BYU grad students in my summer job. There are Mormons in Israel, but we don’t have much contact, especially as their school on the Mount of Olives has been closed for the last 5 years. When a film crew showed up a year ago asking me questions about the geography of Israel, I didn’t really expect anything to come of it. Thus I was pleasantly surprised to recently watch their outstanding video on the historicity of the Book of Mormon vs. the Bible.

The video makes a very clear and powerful point that the Book of Mormon is not based on any historical realities. There is not a single ancient document, city, coin, or weapon that can be connected to the Book of Mormon. By contrast, difficulties in identification of a site or object in the Bible are the exception and not the rule. You can state these facts, but the video makes the point much more powerfully using images and interviews. They interview various New World archaeologists and anthropologists (including Mormons), as well as some archaeologists in Israel including Gabriel Barkay. And they did a good job. Often in works like these (done by those in the U.S.), I find numerous errors. I noted only one (the orientation of an inscription). And I really liked the guys they interviewed from Aberdeen and Oxford.

You can watch the video online for free, but there’s something to be said for the DVD version ($20, or get 10 for $40). I of course don’t get anything from it (and they didn’t even give credit for my photos); I recommend it because I was impressed. This certainly isn’t the only important issue in talking with those of the Mormon faith, but it is a central one.

I’ll add that often when I tell my students that I believe the Bible because there is evidence to support it (and conversely that if there isn’t evidence, I won’t believe it), I get some strenuous objections. It’s all about faith, I’m told. This video is one clear demonstration of why they are wrong and I am right.

Is the Messiah Here?

By | January 30, 2006
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One very important rabbi says so. Before you laugh this off, know that this was one of the most important rabbis in Israel, as attested by the tributes given to him and the size of his funeral (from Arutz-7).

Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, known as the “Senior Kabbalist Elder,” passed away last night in Jerusalem. Over 300,000 people participated in his funeral. Rabbi Kaduri…commemorated his 105th birthday several months ago….Police closed off Jerusalem streets for the Sunday afternoon funeral, which became one of the largest ever in a city known for large funerals….

Students of the righteous rabbi say that the blessing of the Ben Ish Chai (considered the leading rabbi of Sephardic Jewry, d. 1904) and that of the Lubavitcher Rebbe – both of whom blessed him that he might live to see the Final Redeemer – came true. The rabbi’s closest followers say that Rabbi Kaduri told them he met the Messiah on Cheshvan 9, 5764 (Nov. 4, 2003). He reportedly said that the Messiah is not promoting himself, and that a study of his [Rabbi Kaduri’s] words in recent months would provide hints of his identity.

“He is not saying, ‘I am the Mashiach, give me the leadership.’ Rather the nation is pushing him to lead them, after they find [in my words] signs showing that he has the status of Mashiach.” So said Rabbi Kaduri to one of his close relatives.

Rabbi Kaduri was also quoted of late as saying that the imminent arrival of the Mashiach will “save Jerusalem from Islam and Christianity that wish to take Jerusalem from the Jewish Nation – but they will not succeed, and they will fight each other.”

This past Yom Kippur, shortly after Hurricane Katrina, Rabbi Kaduri said, “Jews must come to the land of Israel to receive our righteous Mashiach, who has begun his influence and will reveal himself in the future.”…

A statement released by President Moshe Katzav’s office said the president “is pained by the death of the important and accomplished rabbi whose reputation is world-renowned. Rabbi Kaduri, one of the great rabbis of the Jewish People, was noted for his love of Israel and in his second-to-none expertise in Kabbalah, contributed to Jewish unity, and was a source of inspiration for the Jewish People in Israel and around the world.”

Unfortunately, chasing phantom Messiahs is not new for the Jewish people. Fortunately, Jesus has made blind eyes see before and He will again.

A Few Things I Learned Last Semester

By | January 29, 2006
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We’re already into the next semester, but I’m still catching up. They say that you never stop learning, and last semester was proof of that for me. Here are a few things that I learned:

  1. Don’t forget your swimsuit on the Negev trip.
  2. Not everyone is as fanatical about tells as I am.
  3. You can’t judge a person by his questions.
  4. Everyone likes you if you extend the research paper deadline.
  5. Soccer is fun, especially with a little Frenchman.
  6. I apparently look like a turtle.
  7. You can eat 2 Magnums and drink a Diet Coke a few times a day and not get fat.
  8. If anyone ever asks you to drive in Naples, offer to cut off your right hand instead. If they ask you to find a parking space, cut off the other one.
  9. A bad start to a relationship doesn’t mean a bad end
  10. It’s not a good idea to wonder aloud what it would be like to be called “Todd the Magnificent.”

More on the Archaeological Study Bible

By | January 26, 2006
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Readers of this blog are more likely to be interested in the new Zondervan Bible due out in March, so I will do a rare follow-up (and I’m considering being less reluctant to do follow-ups in general).

Though released in November, copies of the promotional calendar for the Bible only reached me this week (despite the fact that I supplied a majority of the photos for said calendar). Being promotional, the calendar naturally has a website listed, which I was unaware of previously: http://www.archaeologicalstudybible.com/. Here you can download a sampler, watch a video, download a poster, see some bonus materials, or get a $10 rebate form. You can even download that calendar and print it out for yourself, should you be so inclined. Back to the sampler, when I looked earlier this week it was about a 10-page deal, but now they are sharing a full 90 pages of it for free! That is the entire book of Genesis. The full color nature of it is very unique for a Bible; for instance, take a look at page 26 with the photo of Beersheba (page numbers refer to numbering in Bible, not Acrobat page numbers). This is a different publishing era than five years ago when color books of this size were prohibitively expensive.

Some of my students might wonder if any of what I wrote is available in this section. Take a look at page 38 and the article on the “Machpelah.” This is my first look at what they did to my writing. I see that the editors altered (improved?) my grammar but the content is the same except for their addition of a sentence about Moshe Dayan (which I think is inappropriate in a study Bible). If there are any English style pros out there, I would like to learn why they changed what they did so I can write better (assuming theirs is better) in the future.

I don’t have time now to look further at the sampler, but I note one problem with this “Archaeological” Bible is the apparent use of the term in the broadest possible way. Note the article on “Paddan Aram” (p. 48) is under the heading of “Archaeological Sites”; I don’t see anything that I would consider remotely archaeological in the article. Maybe it doesn’t matter.

One other thing. Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary is having an archaeological seminar timed to coincide with the release of the Bible. GCTS is most responsible for the writing of the Bible, as the two editors are/were on faculty and they chose the writers of the individual articles. The conference looks interesting, with some interesting talks by John Monson and Tim Laniak. For the $90 entrance fee, you also get a free Bible. That makes it worthwhile if you’re in the Boston area.

Update: A friend (the “IBEXScribe”) compared my original writing to the final edition and explained to me in detail why their grammar was much better. I am glad to learn, and happy to see the care that the editors took in preparing the notes.

A Thought on Fundraising

By | January 25, 2006
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I just received a letter from a Christian organization which told the sad story of the death of some members of a family and how a surviving member was dealing with the loss. The organization took some credit for preparing that individual for this trial and as I read along it struck me that this would be a crass way to appeal for funds. At the end of the letter, indeed the appeal was made. I don’t have a problem with telling the story, and the Christian organization is a good one that needs funds to operate. I also don’t doubt that the organization deserves some credit in the situation. But it strikes me as inappropriate to use a tragedy to raise money other than for the individuals directly affected. Am I wrong? Is this just the norm and I’m too separated from standard US fundraising technique to appreciate it? I don’t doubt that the technique was effective; the story was riveting and only a hard-hearted person would be unmoved. But should Christians use this technique even if it is effective?

Best-Selling Bibles

By | January 24, 2006
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I don’t normally follow the sales ranking of English Bible translations, but I happened to come across it recently and it got me thinking about some of what it says about Bible buyers in America. You can see the list here, but for convenience, I have pasted it below (from Feb 2006; the linked page is updated monthly and so may change).

1 New International Version
2 New King James Version
3 King James Version
4 New Living Translation
5 Holman Christian Standard Bible
6 New American Standard Bible update
7 The Message
8 New Century Version
9 English Standard Version
10 New International Readers Version

As I count, 4 of these are essentially literal translations and 6 are dynamic equivalent or paraphrases. Without the KJV and NKJV, I would guess the percentage of “literal” ones in the top ten would be lower.

Of the 10, 9 were translated or revised in the last 30 years. 6 were produced in the last 10 years. So clearly the newest Bibles sell better, with the exception of the top 3 which are older than 10 years.

What is not listed is also surprising: no RSV or NRSV. These are largely used by mainline and liberal denominations. Does this say anything about the Bible buying patterns of those in these groups? Also, there is no TNIV. That may be because of the controversy, because of the competition (a big market would be NIV users, who might not see a need to switch from the NIV), or because it is too new. It’s probably all of the above, but I predict that marketing muscle will get this in the top 10 before too long.

It is interesting (shocking?) that the #2 and #3 best sellers are KJV and NKJV. Together they would easily be #1 (and in fact, by itself, the NKJV was #1 last month). That means that there are a LOT of people buying these. This is sad because 1) both are based on inferior manuscripts and 2) what the KJV has (an eloquent archaic style), the NKJV fails at and is a poor read. In my opinion, no one should ever buy the NKJV and only people over 60 should buy the KJV. Ok, that’s a little strong, but at least these shouldn’t be the best selling Bibles. Last week I was out on a field trip and I forgot my Bible in the hotel room and so I had to borrow someone else’s to read to the group. It was a KJV and I found it quite difficult to read (and understand). You can call me uneducated, but since this would be the only indication of that, I would suggest that the old style is much less understandable at least to those born in the 1970s or later. Even to one whose first Bible was a KJV.

The worst named translation? The Holman Christian Standard Bible
In second place: New American Standard Bible update (every word is bad except for “Bible” in both translation names).

I’m not trying to make you mad; just to make you think. These are just my opinions, and I’m not pretending that my opinion counts for much. I am pretty sure that the issue is near the bottom of the list in terms of what really matters.