by cantleave 20 Replies latest watchtower bible
My wife and I want to start looking afresh at the bible, go back to basics as it were.
What have people here found to be the best approach?
What translations of the bible would you reccomend (I have the NWT)
What commentaries / texts have people found most useful?
BTW our budget isn't particularly big!
CL
Throw away the NWT and get a real Bible. Start listening to the preachers on the radio. Get a literal translation like Green's Interlinear, and Strong's Exhaustive Concordance with Vine's comprehensive Hebrew and Greek dictionary. If you really are serious you will find the money.
Oh, and don't forget to read this:
New International Version
The most honest approch I can think of (and the one I took), was to research it's origins, history and the religion that came before christinaity.....
By looking at the bible from all angles possible before placing your 'faith' in it as being 'the word of God' (regardless of translation used), you will have more information on which to base your opinions..... and dont expect to ever know anything 100%
When buying a new car, do you ignor complaints made about a certain model and not double check first before you buy it???
Take full advantage of Google- check as many websites as you can find that have a netural approach to the study of the hebrew and greek scriptures- and a good website on 'religious tolorance' is always a good idea.......
JWN also has a search.... perhaps most of what your looking for has already been posted here......
Goodluck with your studies/search
This site has an incredible amount of resources online, free! www.blueletterbible.com You can look up verses or passages, and click on any version, click on words, then it will tell you about the Hebrew or Greek word, also clickable list of commentaries. (I am partial to the Matthew Henry Commentary.) You can find Vines' Expository Dictionary of New Testament words, Strong's concordance, and even Martin Luther's commentary on Galatians, and more.
cheers, auntbee
I picked up a Moffat in a charity book sale and read the Gospels in the order in which they were authored. It is a very easy to read version, but it does have it's critics. This probably occured because James treated it as a set of historical documents without regard to religious sensibilities.
As references I used my WT Interlinear, a Strongs Concordance I had picked up in an online auction and other online and downloadable interlinears.
Chris
May I suggest "Isaac Asimov's Guide to the Bible"?
It sells for $ 11.25.
Generally word-for-word translations are the most true to the original language. I do not know Greek or Hebrew, but I do know that most scholars tend to point towards New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, New Jerusalem, and Holman Christian Standard as being the most faithful to the original languages. These translations try to take out theological basis and render the text as true to the original meaning as English will allow.
Commentaries can become very expensive, a cheaper way to have some commentary is through a study bible. It would be good to have study bibles from several theological viewpoints (as the text notes will be biased toward their theological perspective). Here are some that I have found helpful; Reformation Study Bible is a English Standard Version that is coming from the protestant Calvinistic view; The New Jerusalem Bible is a Catholic Study Bible; The Apologetic Study Bible is Holman Standard Translation and is coming in defense of the scripture twisted by the cults and secular worldviews.
The best resources are the free ones. There are full seminary classes online from well know and respected scholars and theologians, and they are completely free. Here is the link for two different sets of free classes.... http://www.biblicaltraining.org/speakers and http://www.worldwide-classroom.com/ I have gone through classes from both and thoroughly enjoyed them. There is also a podcast that is excellent for getting your feet wet in the different field of study it is called Theology Unplugged http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/tup/archive
There are also books that are free to download form a wide array of disciplines. To navigate this site click on the area of study on the left-hand column and then scroll through the page, when you have reached the bottom of the page click on "older post" to view more books on the subject. Here is the site http://revelation-online.blogspot.com/
Hope this helps get you started!!!
Aaron
Hello CL,
Cool! :)
Throw away the NWT and get a real Bible.
Amen! That thing is corrupt and doesn't deserve to be even called a bible.
Plenty of real ones for free here, all styles and languages http://www.biblegateway.com/
OK, the biggest piece of advice I can give you is this. Let the Holy Spirit be your guide. Without Him you might as well forget it.
14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
26 But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
26 "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.
So simple pray, Father, send the Counsellor and He will!
Plenty of good teaching out there but you still need the Holy Spirit to sort out the wheat from the chaff for you.
Blessings,
Stephen
Any Bible translation but the NWT. Just read the New Testament and "think" about what it is saying, without Watchtower thoughts or aids.
Read Philip Yancey "What So Amazing About Grace?" and "The Jesus I Never Knew."
