The Books of the Bible
by various authors
Published by International Bible Society(to come)
Click on book
cover to order
at Amazon.com
Reviewed by Bob Pike CSP, CPAE
Subtitled: A Presentation of Today's New International Version of the Bible
Habits and expectations are very powerful things. And for those who read the Bible we have both habits and expectations. For some there is only one version that should be read and studied. I remember the first time as a student at Moody Bible Institute hearing a statement about the King James version, "If it was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for me!" Of course this was said tongue-in-cheek, but it was in reference to the growing popularity of Tyndale's "The Living Bible."
Anyone who reads The Books of the Bible will find they need to set new expectations and develop new habits. This is the complete Bible, but it has only 59 books. None have been taken out, but some have been put back together (for example 1st and 2nd Kings and 1st and 2nd Chronicles). These were never separate books, but rather separated because of the limitations of the size of the scroll that could be created. The books are also placed in chronological order (the order in which they were actually written), rather than the traditional order. Also, chapters and verses (added in 1205 A.D. and 1505 A.D. respectively) have been eliminated. Why? Because this is a book intended to be read and studied as a whole, rather than in isolated chapters and verses.
For some, the rearrangement of books and the elimination of chapters and verses will be reason enough not to pick up this version of the Bible. I want to encourage people to get beyond that and consider how our thinking might be reframed if we have the context of when a particular book was actually written and what other scriptures were known and available (for example all of John's writings: gospels, letters, and the book of Revelation come last). And how would our understanding of scripture be altered if we read the words as whole and entire rather than chopped into chapter and verse?
It takes some getting used to, but it will also bring fresh meaning to God's word. I highly recommend it.
Armchair Interviews says: Changing expectations to old ways.