Is Your Hope in Politics, or God’s Gospel?

June 18, 2016 Bob SnyderLeave a comment

Years ago I was a Fox News Christian. My political ideology took precedence over my theology. In other words, I cared more about being conservative, than I did about Christ, and the will of God. I also saw conspiracies all over the place. It seemed to me that there was a world government that controlled all of the governments of the civilized world. I thought that the world government was comprised of the ultra-rich and influential. I haven’t really changed my mind about that. I do think that the enemy has his minions running a satanic plan. What has changed is that I no longer think it is possible to fix the problems via politics. I also think that the enemy can only do what sovereign God allows. I believe with all my heart, all that matters now, is to preach the gospel to the lost and perishing world. I read something from Isaiah today that brought this to mind.

Isa 8:11 — Isa 8:16
For thus the Lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
“You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’
In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy,
And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.
“It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy.
And He shall be your fear,
And He shall be your dread.
“Then He shall become a sanctuary;
But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over,
And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
“Many will stumble over them,
Then they will fall and be broken;
They will even be snared and caught.”
Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

Of course, I’m not encouraging you to take this section out of context. It is obviously a prophecy from God to Israel, through Isaiah. I get that. The Israelites were suspicious of the true prophets of God. They didn’t like the warnings they gave them. They were relying on their allegiances with pagan nations, they were hoping on pragmatic security and not God. Relying on our own feeble abilities and righteousness keeps us from God the same way that it kept many of the Israelites from Jesus when he came. This also reminds me that living in fear of what could happen, and what the government will do to us, is not honoring to God. God is the one who we should fear. He is the one who we should concern ourselves with. We should seek his glory. The true hope of the world is not electing the right politicians, it is the wonderful gospel of Jesus. Only the transforming work of God can change the hearts of sinful men, and reform the reprobate heart. So we preach repentance of sins, and faith in the work of Christ on the cross, to justify men to God, and save their souls from the flames of Hell.

Bible Reviews · Uncategorized

A Review of the Thomas Nelson NKJV Study Bible, Personal Size, Paperback.

June 17, 2016June 17, 2016 Bob Snyder2 Comments

This Bible is the same in content as the NKJV Study Bible that I reviewed here.
The differences are a smaller font, and format size. It measures approximately 8.5″ by 5.5″ by 2″ The font is 7 pt. for the main text and 6 pt. for the notes. This is a red letter edition. It is arranged in a double column, paragraph format, with cross references in the center column. Notes are at the bottom, with different full color features dispersed throughout the Bible. There are very small margins. Note taking will not be done in the margins. The paper is sufficiently thick. Ghosting is minimal. The paper is pretty white and contrasts well against the uniformly printed text.

This is a paperback instead of a hardback. I found the font to be a bit too small for my liking and it runs into the gutter of the page. Trying to open this thick of a glued Bible enough to read the text in the gutter is a tedious chore. I don’t think Thomas Nelson considered this when they chose to use a glued binding. It should have been obvious that this would have required a sewn binding or pages with extra width to provide for the pages bending around each other. If the pages are sewn into signatures and then bound together, the spine will arch. This allows for less of a gutter, as the book will open more fully. The did use a hybrid glued binding which employs signatures glued into the spine. It is more flexible than a typical glued or “perfect binding.” Even with the hybrid binding process, this Bible is not as practical as it could have been in a truly sewn binding. I guess for $20 they figure who will care… I do, and so do thousands of other potential customers. Perhaps the people who only crack their Bible at Church won’t mind, because it won’t wear out being used once a week, but if you are going to use it, I suggest getting NKJV from Holman or one of the ones with a synthetic fake leather cover and sewn binding. Sure they cost more, but they will be more usable and last longer.

This Bible is ok. It could have been much better. The notes and aids were somewhat helpful for a general knowledge. I would recommend the Holman NKJV Study Bible for better notes. My personal favorite is the MacArthur Study Bible. If you can afford the ESV in Calfskin, that is the best made one you can currently get. My advice, don’t waste your time and money on this unless you need a mediocre, smallish, study Bible, to hand out or give away, but there are so many other better choices out there in the same price range that I would get them instead.

ISBN-13: 9780718081980

Parables · Sovereign choice · Theology · Uncategorized

Why Did Jesus Speak in Parables?

June 4, 2016June 6, 2016 Bob SnyderLeave a comment

Here is the setting and context,

Mat 13:1 That day Jesus went out of the house and was sitting by the sea.

Mat 13:2 And large crowds gathered to Him, so He got into a boat and sat down, and the whole crowd was standing on the beach.

Mat 13:3 And He spoke many things to them in parables,

He was preaching to the Jews about salvation and what that would look like,

saying, “Behold, the sower went out to sow;

Mat 13:4 and as he sowed, some seeds fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate them up.

Mat 13:5 “Others fell on the rocky places, where they did not have much soil; and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of soil.

Mat 13:6 “But when the sun had risen, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Mat 13:7 “Others fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them out.

Mat 13:8 “And others fell on the good soil and *yielded a crop, some a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.

Mat 13:9 “He who has ears, let him hear.”

Then His disciple ask the question,

“Why do You speak to them in parables?”

His answer in context to what He was teaching seems pretty clear.

Mat 13:11 Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.

It appears that He knows that they are not permitted to understand, and that the parables are part of that judgment from God against them. God has granted to them to hear and understand, but He has excluded the others as judgment against them. They don’t have the ability to hear or understand according to God incarnate. If we have Jesus we have the Father. He sovereignly willed that they not come to an understanding of salvation.

Jesus explains further that it is because they didn’t have him from the beginning and that what they have(not him, but self-righteousness) will be taken away.

Mat 13:12 “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.

Mat 13:13 “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

Here Jesus recalls the prophecy He gave through Isaiah,

Mat 13:14 “In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE;

Mat 13:15 FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES, OTHERWISE THEY WOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I WOULD HEAL THEM.’

As judgment against them they would be blind until the land of Judea was destroyed by the Romans. So God determined to do this to them in His sovereign, just, and righteous will.

This in context to the earlier verses shows us the other side of the coin, that these people are the ones who will be given more.

Matthew 13:16-17 NASB

[16] “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.

[17] “For truly I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Matthew 13:34-35 NASB

[34] All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable.

[35] This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.”

These truths are from the beginning, before anyone was created.

Bible Reviews · Bibles · Crossway · Uncategorized

Review of the Crossway ESV UltraThin in Black Top Grain Cowhide Leather.

June 2, 2016June 2, 2016 Bob Snyder2 Comments

I purchased this Bible on sale from Christianbook.com I was curious because it was listed as having a top grain leather cover. I was glad I ordered it. It turns out that it is now out of print. So if you can find one, I suggest you purchase it. I was pleasantly surprised by this less than a half inch thick little gem. This UltraThin came in a clamshell retail box with a clear plastic window. I retained the box for storage purposes. Once you open the box up you smell the leather and not glue or dye. The leather was very supple and soft to the touch. The grain appears to be natural. There is a nice perimeter groove and spine hubs.

The hubs add to the ornamentation along with the gold letters stamped into it. From the top of the spine down it reads, “Holy Bible, ESV, the ESV logo, English Standard Version, Then the Crossway logo.”

The spine is sewn affording this very thin Bible with great flexibility for a paste down, case bound Bible. In my opinion the cover offers a perfect compromise of flexibility, and structure.

The head and tail bands are gold and black, complementing the color of the cover, and the gold page edge gilt. There are two ribbon markers, even though the retail site only lists one. The ribbon markers are narrow, but thicker than most employed in Bibles under $100.

In the front of the Bible there is a presentation, marriages, births/adoptions, and deaths pages. They are printed on a thicker matte finish paper that takes ink well. Unlike higher gloss papers, these won’t crack or tear as easily.

Then there is the copyright/publishers page. Before Genesis begins the Old Testament we have the table of contents, preface, and explanation of features.

The text of this Bible is double column, paragraph format. This is a red letter edition. The red lettering is not too red or too light. It contrasts well against the white paper and surrounding black text. The main text is a 7.5 pt. lexicon font. Line matching is employed to aid in reduction of, “ghosting” or the appearance of the text from the opposite side of the page showing through the paper due to the opacity allowing it.

The paper’s opacity is pretty good considering how thin this Bible is. At just under a half inch, it is one of the thinnest UltraThins I’ve seen. I had assumed that they used a thinner paper. That was not the case. The paper is 31 g.s.m. 20# Thincoat Max. This is not a thin or lightweight paper. It looks like they made up for the thickness of the paper by not having any cross references. There are some footnotes at the bottom of the pages. This way they could fit the entire text into this UltraThin.

So we have a nice, legible, well printed, and bound Bible in this truly UltraThin format. It is also so soft and flexible due to the quality binding and cover, that I can fold it over itself. It is almost as flexible as an edge-lined Bible.

At the end there is a weights and measures page, and an abbreviations page. A three column concise concordance follows. Finished off with eight maps in color.

Make sure to check out the pictures I took of this Bible on my Flickr page here. You can still purchase these on Amazon until they run out. Then you’ll have to get them used. ISBN-13: 9781433538834

Bible Reviews · Bibles · Crossway · Uncategorized

Review of the Crossway E.S.V. TruTone Single Column Heritage Edition Bible.

May 21, 2016May 21, 2016 Bob SnyderLeave a comment

I purchased this Bible because it was on sale for 80% off. I figured I could write a review, and then gift it to someone. After receiving it, I might just keep it for a rebind project. It arrived undamaged. It was in a cardboard box with two other ESV Bibles, I ordered at the same time. This one has a clamshell retail box. If you need to store your Bible, it is always a good idea to keep the retail box.

This Bible is the soft leather-look, TruTone brown/burgundy, with band design. TruTone is a synthetic cover material that simulates leather. It is one of the better synthetic covers on the market.

The inside liner is paper as this is a case bound Bible.

The cover around the spine is ornamented with, “Holy Bible, ESV, the ESV logo, English Standard Version, and the Crossway logo” in gold.

There are brown head and tail bands, as well as one brown ribbon marker. The spine, and corners are rounded. The page edges are gold gilt.

There is a presentation page up front, along with the typical copyright/publisher’s information page.

I really like the size of this little text edition. It isn’t too big, or small. It measures about 5.5”x7.5” It is pretty portable, though not as much as a true compact, pocket size, thinline, or ultrathin.

Of course you would lose the font size and paper quality to drop down to those sizes. I think this is a pleasing compromise in Bible design. Since it is a single column text edition, it can afford to be smaller than a reference Bible. It also utilizes a 9 point Lexicon font, which is a great choice for a Bible of this size. Crossway also employed line matching, which greatly reduces ghosting. (being able to see the text from the opposite side of the paper) The paper is 31 g.s.m. Thincoat Max, 1720ppi.

Between the great paper, clear uniformly printed text, and line matching, this Bible is very legible.

The spine is smyth sewn.

This in conjunction with the soft cover, make this a very flexible Bible.

I can fold it over on itself. Then, hold it like a magazine in one hand. This is my prefered way to read. It also opens fairly flat. I don’t think it is suited well to pulpit duty as it is a paragraph format Bible. It lends itself to devotional, and daily reading. It would be perfect for that with one more ribbon marker. There is not a concordance or any other helps or features except for some colored maps in the back.

My overall impression of this Bible is favorable. I think it fulfills the purpose for which it was designed in an exemplary manner. It is a great value, legible, portable, durable, and flexible. It is not so nice, that I’m afraid of hurting it. It is a good value and should provide you with years of service.

You can pick up your copy at Christianbook. Amazon also sells them.

Make sure to check out all of the pictures of this Bible on my Flickr page.
ISBN 9781433537370

Bible Reviews · Bibles · Uncategorized

Review of the Trinitarian Bible Society’s (T.B.S.) Hebrew/Greek Bible.

May 17, 2016 Bob Snyder4 Comments

This Bible was well packaged in a heavy duty clamshell type paper covered cardboard box, with packing foam inside. TBS does an excellent job of packaging their Bibles. I have never received one damaged in the least.

This edition is a vinyl covered hardback, with the Hebrew Old Testament starting where the back of the book would be, and the Greek New Testament starting where the front would be. This might seem backwards to you if you are unfamiliar with Hebrew, but you wouldn’t be buying this book if you were… would you?

I was very impressed with the apparent quality of this book considering the low cost. Those two things alone make this a great value. Other original language Bibles go for three times this price to start and climb up from there. I assume that the low price can be attributed to the fact that TBS is a ministry not a for profit corporation. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at the copyright/publisher information page, and found that this volume was printed and bound by Jongbloed.

They are the premier printer and binder of premium Bibles. I don’t think any company in the world does a better job at this point in time. This fact explains the excellent print job. All of the masoretic vowel marks are printed sharply and uniformly, along with all of the 9 pt. Greek and Hebrew text.

This makes them supremely legible compared to other lesser print shops work. All of the text is printed in black. The notes at the bottom of the Hebrew section are so small they are difficult to read.

The Greek is text only. The pages are a smooth Bible paper, comparable to the paper of the Cambridge Clarion, but perhaps a bit whiter. I found it to be opaque with limited ghosting.

The page edges are white. The spine is rounded and smyth sewn. The corners are not rounded. There are two round ribbon markers, that are silver. The head and tail bands match the markers in color.

This Bible is close to the same size as the Cambridge Clarion. The specific texts used in this Bible are, the Ginsburg/Bomberg edition of the Hebrew Masoretic Text, and the Textus Receptus of F.H.A. Scrivener for the New Testament. I imagine if you are thinking of purchasing this Bible it is because of the source texts. I am not a KJV onlyist. I don’t agree with their assertions. However, I do understand people who prefer the KJV. Some prefer it because of the source texts, some prefer the way early modern English sounds. While I can appreciate those preferences, I oppose those who make it a matter of salvation. There are groups out there that say, “If you haven’t heard the gospel preached to you in KJV English, then you are not saved.” I don’t believe that is what T.B.S. is about. From what I’ve read on their site, they use the KJV because they believe it has the best source text. I use the NASB primarily, but still enjoy reading from the KJV and 1599 Geneva from time to time.

Make sure to check out all the pictures I took on my Flickr page here.

You can purchase it from TBS on their site here.

You can also purchase it on Amazon

ISBN 9781862281165

Bible Reviews · Bibles · Uncategorized

Review of the Chronological Study Bible in NKJV from Thomas Nelson. Earth Brown/Auburn Leathersoft.

May 11, 2016May 11, 2016 Bob Snyder3 Comments

It is a novel idea, but not very practical. It is also not a study Bible. It is more of a reference Bible with added notes. If you want to look up a verse you have to go to the verse index in the back, find the verse you are looking for, then go to the page indicated by the index. I know that if you have purchased this Bible it is probably for the chronological arrangement, but the trouble of finding your way in this is not worth the trouble in my opinion. There is a good reason for having the Bible arranged in books instead of epochs. They could have scrapped the book, chapter, and verse, format altogether and went solely with the epoch arrangement. This would have required the user to learn the location of verses within their historical location, but would have negated the need for an awkward index system utilized by this hybrid arrangement. Of course they wouldn’t be able to reach as many customers that way. The best option, in my opinion is to stick with the book, chapter, and verse arrangement, and use book introductions with the appropriate notes. The typical commentary notes you’d expect from a study Bible are missing. Instead there are features, or small articles interspersed throughout the Bible. Many of these are not Reformed, or complementarian friendly. They also seem to employ a cultural hermeneutic to many scripture passages instead of the proper hermeneutic for the particular passage. It is obvious that this Bible’s articles are focused on appealing to the modern cultural sensitivities in hopes of selling more Bibles. If you are a Methodist, Nazarene, Arminian Baptist, or any other non-Calvinistic confessor you will like the notes.
The heading for Romans 8 says that it is about the rejection of the gospel by Israel. From that heading it is meant that Romans 8 is about a national election not an individual one. Which is quite odd considering how most of the converts of the early Church were Israelites. The gospel came to them first and then the gentiles. In Ephesians 5 there is an article imposing a cultural hermeneutic on the passage instead of making it prescriptive it is implied that this was just for that culture. The same thing is done with 1 Timothy 2.

The Bible was shipped in a cardboard box with air bladder packing material. The Bible arrived undamaged.

It has a two piece retail box.

The synthetic cover has perimeter stitching.

The stitching would have been a nice feature if the inside liner were not paper.

The cover is pretty flexible. That in conjunction with the sewn binding makes the entire Bible flexible.

There is a single ribbon marker, along with gold gilt page edges.

The text is in a double column format with full color features interspersed throughout. The 9 pt. font is legible and uniformly printed.

There is a substantial concordance in the back and some ruled paper for notes.

This Bible is advertised as a study Bible, but it is definitely not. It forgoes them for biased articles. If this were just a NKJV Bible I would recommend it, but due to the bias in the articles, and notes I cannot. I would definitely not purchase this Bible unless I was not a Calvinist. I found it insulting to be honest.

2383E
ISBN 9780718040536

If you’d like to purchase this Bible you can get a copy here.

Make sure to look at all the pictures I took of this Bible on the Flickr album page.

American Made · Bible Reviews · Bibles · Uncategorized

Review of the, “The Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible in Genuine Leather.

May 7, 2016 Bob Snyder3 Comments

I requested a review copy quite some time ago, and was refused. This is why it has taken a while for me to do a review of this Bible. Recently I purchased a copy, at my own expense for the purpose of review. I was curious about this Bible because of the title. I am a Reformed Baptist. I hold to reformed soteriology. Since I affirm believer’s baptism, or credal baptism, I cannot be said to have Reformed theology proper, as that would include infant baptism, or paedo-baptism along with some other theological distinctions.

This Bible came shipped by Amazon in a cardboard box with no padding.

One of the corners of the retail clamshell box was dented. The Bible inside was undamaged.

When I first examined the Bible I didn’t notice that some of the pages were folded under and failed to be trimmed with the text block. I had to trim them myself with an exacto knife. I contacted Reformation Heritage by e-mail. It has been several weeks without a response. I was waiting to do the review because part of my e-mail had to do with questions about this Bible’s manufacture. I wouldn’t let their failure to respond stop you from purchasing this Bible.

This edition has a genuine cowhide leather cover and not pigskin leather. On the front cover, “Holy Bible” is hot stamped in gold color foil. The texture of the leather seems to be natural and comfortable to hold. this is a case bound Bible.

It is not as high grade as some, but far exceeds many lesser quality covers on Bibles in the same price range. This Bible lists for about $80.00, but I purchased it on sale for $55.88 from Amazon. You would be hard pressed to find a study Bible with all of the features this Bible has for the same price. We are talking about an American printed and bound Bible with smyth-sewn spine, cowhide leather cover, unique study notes, creeds and confessions, notes on family application, and numerous articles in back along with a concise concordance and maps.

This Bible is only available in the King James Version. (KJV) It is a verse format, double column, layout with notes at the bottom of the page.

Before each book is an introduction and outline of the book.

A sharply printed and uniformly inked 9.8 pt. Minion Font is used for the text of the Bible, and 8 pt. Myriad SemiCondensed Font for the notes is employed.

The page margins are pretty small, so you won’t be making many notations in them. The page edges are gold gilt. The corners are rounded, the spine is not.

Since this Bible employs a sewn binding it lays flat without having to fight the binding or cover. It is pretty flexible.

There are gold and burgundy head and tail bands as well as two narrow yet, substantial black ribbons.

The ribbons are both fixed in the spine at the same place making them a bit awkward compared to others that are glued in differently.

I truly like the paper used for the presentation/records section in the front and the maps in the back. RHB made the best decision of not using the glossy papers that crack. Instead they went with a thicker matte paper that will last a long time.

I would have liked to see a thicker, more opaque paper employed, however, to include all of the features in one volume without making it a behemoth like the ESV study Bible, I can understand why the chose the paper they did. Don’t misunderstand me, the paper isn’t bad. It is just a little less opaque than I would like. Ghosting isn’t bad at all and it appears that line matching was employed. For the money, there aren’t many full study Bibles on the market that could compete with this one. I highly recommend this Bible if you are a fan of the KJV, and historic creeds and confessions. It is an all around solid study Bible. Here is a link to the publisher’s page for this edition. Here is a link to this edition on Amazon. Finally, here is a link to this Bible on Christianbook.

Don’t forget to visit my flickr album of all the pictures I took of this Bible.

ISBN: 9781601783264

cultural · gender dysphoria · God · transgender · transsexual · Uncategorized

The Hypocritical Statement of Target.

April 27, 2016April 27, 2016 Bob SnyderLeave a comment

How can anyone look at their statement, and not see the extreme hypocrisy behind it? This seems like a no-brainer to me. Here is a quote from their site, “…Inclusivity is a core belief at Target. It’s something we celebrate. We stand for equality and equity, and strive to make our guests and team members feel accepted, respected and welcomed in our stores and workplaces every day…” Let’s look a bit more closely at this. First, they insist that “Inclusivity is a core belief at Target.” Now remember, inclusivity is their justification for allowing men in the ladies’ room and women in the men’s room. To most reasonable people inclusivity would imply that Target allows everyone from every walk of life to shop at their stores without prejudicial treatment. They provide public restrooms for their patrons to relieve themselves. So to be true to their policy, they should either do away with restrooms, offer only a universal public restroom, or offer separate restrooms for every type of pseudo-gender that any insane person identifies as. Those are pretty much your options if you insist on identifying as, “inclusive.”

The first solution is not practical. As part of good customer service people expect to have access to a public restroom. The second option would be fine, but they would have to have several separate, self-contained unisex bathrooms, that only could be occupied by one person at a time, each. This is not as burdensome and impractical as the last option. In that case, every time someone imagined a new gender, Target would have to install and label a new restroom just for their newly sinfully imagined gender. The sin addled mind is incapable of making righteous use of reason.

Of course, there is the fourth option. They could just do what they are doing right now. They are taking the discriminatory, bigoted, hateful, intolerant, exclusive, and hypocritical approach. They force the 99.8% of the public, who identify as either male or female to fall in line with the new morality. Which by the way, is neither new nor moral.

Here is another quote from their site, “…We believe that everyone—every team member, every guest, and every community—deserves to be protected from discrimination, and treated equally. Consistent with this belief,Target supports the federal Equality Act, which provides protections to LGBT individuals, and opposes action that enables discrimination…” They say that they believe in absolutes. You can see this when they say, “everyone, every team member, every guest, and every community.” but this isn’t what they really mean. Sure they say it and it sounds good, but it isn’t the truth. They are lying to us. It is impossible to do what they are saying. When you have communities with world views that make mutually exclusive statements, you can’t equally affirm them all. Ultimately you will affirm some of them over the others, and that is what Target has done. they are affirming the anti-Christian, secular, satanic, sinful, destructive, death culture worldview, over its antithesis. In so doing, they have prejudicially discriminated against all who oppose the worldview they affirm and have acted to exclude them from consideration in regards to their beliefs. They have upheld the beliefs of the perverse over the moral and called it good while denigrating anyone who criticizes them as evil.

The left has created this insane notion that reality doesn’t matter and there is no absolute truth. It is obvious that there are only two genders. The problem is that we should have never engaged them in the conversation or used their terminology. It should still be considered a crime for a man to go into the ladies’ room. It should be a crime to do a sex change surgery. It should definitely be against the Hippocratic oath.

Since we allowed the discussion, we somehow gave some sense of legitimacy to their argument. As soon as this issue came forward we should have laughed in their faces, refused to discuss it, kept things the way they were, and walked away.

I get it. Sinful people are hurting. They need real help. Not this insanity. You don’t give a suicidal person a knife. We have to do what is good for crazy people because they aren’t competent enough to know what is good for them or to want it. They need to be regenerated by God and saved from their sins. They need counseling and help not mutilation by surgeon. Most of all they need Jesus.

Bible Reviews · Uncategorized

A Review of the 2015 Amplified Bible in Paperback, from Zondervan

April 18, 2016April 18, 2016 Bob Snyder18 Comments

Instead of going through and listing several changes between the older Amplified Bible and the new for 2015 Updated Amplified Bible, I decided just to show one as a brief example. Then I will explain some pros and cons. The verse we are going to look at is 1 John 3:9.

First we’ll look at the familiar KJV.

Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

[1 John 3:9 KJV]

Now the NASB.

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

[1 John 3:9 NASB]

Next, the old version of the Amplified.

“No one born (begotten) of God [deliberately, knowingly, and[a]habitually] practices sin, for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him]; and he cannot practice sinning because he is born (begotten) of God.”

The same verse in the 2015 Amplified.

“No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin, because [a]God’s seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again—who is reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose]; and he [who is born again] cannot habitually[live a life characterized by] sin, because he is born of God and longs to please Him.”

SBL Greek, “1 John 3:9 (SBL NT) πᾶς ὁ γεγεννημένος ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ ἁμαρτίαν οὐ ποιεῖ, ὅτι σπέρμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ μένει, καὶ οὐ δύναται ἁμαρτάνειν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ γεγέννηται.” Pas ho gegennamenos ek ton theou amartian ou poiei, hoti sperma autou en auto menei, kai ou dunatai hamartanein, hoti ek tou theou gegennetai. Anyone having been born of God sin not practices because seed of him in him abides and not he is able to continue sinning because of God has been born.

Now after looking at all of those versions for comparison you might have noticed a few differences. In the KJV the Greek word, “ποιεῖ (poiei)” is being translated as, “commit” when it more accurately means, “practice.” So all of the other versions have a more accurate translation of the first part of this verse. What is inside the []’s in the Amplified translations is added commentary that is put in line with the Biblical text. It is not the actual translation. So the added, “[deliberately, knowingly, and habitually]” is intended to help you understand what is meant by, “…practices sin…”

The KJV renders the next part as, “…for his seed remaineth in him:…” The NASB is pretty similar with, “…because His seed abides in him;…” And then the old Amplified has, “…for God’s nature abides in him [His principle of life, the divine sperm, remains permanently within him];…” This caused some people to get a bit testy. I think the 2015 fixed the problem by changing their comments to, “because God’s seed [His principle of life, the essence of His righteous character] remains [permanently] in him [who is born again—who is reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose];” but in my opinion added another problem, that being excessive commentation. Finally, the last part of the verse is the same in the KJV and the NASB. “…because he is born of God…” and the old Amplified, “… because he is born (begotten) of God.”

and the 2015, “…because he is born of God and longs to please Him…” Now here is a problem that might not be evident at first. Notice that there are no brackets around, “and longs to please Him.” These words are not in the Greek, KJV, or the NASB. They are added as if they are part of the translation. There is no notation to let you know they are added text. Now perhaps the people who compiled the 2015 Amplified meant to put them in brackets, but didn’t. Nevertheless, it is a cause for concern.

Having brought your attention to these things, I think it is prudent to say that I can give a qualified recommendation for this Bible. I would recommend it for mature Christians who understand textual criticism, and want some insights into the translation process. I wouldn’t recommend this for Christians who have no understanding of textual criticism. False teachers are always going to find some way to twist the Bible around to make it say what they want. People who say the Amplified version is a responsible are placing the blame on the translation and not the false teacher. I think the Amplified might be helpful as a side Bible for comparison, but I wouldn’t use it for a study Bible. I also wouldn’t use it to read from as the added text causes some discontinuity.

The Bible itself is a paperback with a hybrid binding. The paper is fairly opaque, for the cost, and the print is uniform and clear. It is arranged in a double column, paragraph format. There are notes at the bottom of the page. The page numbers appear at the top outside corner of the pages with the book name, chapter, and verse range. There are section headings in bold type. The expanded text shows up in brackets in line with the text [like this] see how that works? The hybrid binding and creased cover allow this Bible to open well considering the fact that it is not a sewn binding. I wouldn’t count on this Bible lasting a long time as a daily reader because of the construction. It is a value line type of Bible. The most expensive binding I found this in was an imitation leather, so it isn’t exactly meant to be a durable product.

Here is a link to the Lockman page for this Bible, The Amplified Bible is a Literal Equivalent translation that, by using synonyms and definitions, both explains and expands the meaning of words in the text by placing amplification in parentheses, brackets, and after key words. This unique system of translation allows the reader to more completely and clearly grasp the meaning as it was understood in the original languages. Additionally, amplifications may provide further theological, historical, and other details for a better understanding of the text.

Here is a blurb from a Christianbook.com

Product Description

If you want to get all the rich nuances of the original Bible languages, the Amplified Bible is for you. No working knowledge of Greek or Hebrew is required—just a desire to know more about what God says in his Word. With its unique system of brackets, parentheses, and italics, the Amplified Bible defines and expands key words and phrases right in the text. Verse by verse, the deeper meaning behind the message of Scripture unfolds as you read.

This updated edition of the Amplified Bible is even easier to read and better than ever to study and understand. It includes more amplification in the Old Testament and refined amplification in the New Testament. Additionally, the Bible text has been improved to read smoothly with or without amplifications, so that the text may be read either way. It’s the same feel and style of study material that you expect from the Amplified Bible–now with even clearer wording for deeper understanding

Now available in a more portable size, the Amplified Bible is perfect for an on-the-go lifestyle. Whether you are headed to class, to church, to a coffee shop, or on a trip around the globe, the Amplified Bible can travel with you.

Features

Complete Amplified Text
Thin, portable size
8.50″ x 5.50″

Product Information

Format: Paperback

Number of Pages: 1440

Vendor: Zondervan

Publication Date: 2015

Dimensions: 8.50 X 5.50 X 1.25 (inches)

ISBN: 0310443903

ISBN-13: 9780310443902

Availability: In Stock

Text Layout: Double Column

Text Color: Black Letter

Text Size: 8 Point

Thumb Index: No

Ribbon Marker: No

Spine: Glued

Page Gilding: None

Page Edges: White

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Product Description

Product Information

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