Cultural thoughts on the Bible – where are you?

1. I don’t like the Bible. It is full of fairy tales and promotes bigotry and violence.
2. It’s a boring, irrelevant book. I don’t get anything out of it.
3. It’s a good book but not totally accurate.
4. I know that God has a message for me, but I just don’t have time currently in my life to read and study the Bible.
5. I really trust the Bible to be God’s Word, but I don’t know where to start reading and how to study.
6. I am reading and personally growing as I apply the Bible truths to my life.

Here are some “don’ts” for reading and studying the Bible

1. Secular pursuits (this is folly)
2. A weapon to bash (this is angry)
3. Take verses out of context (this is lazy)
4. Connect a verse to the wrong situation (this is hasty)
5. Assert your religious superiority above others (this is beastly)

With all the Bible options, which one do you start with?

“I am afraid no one can give you an exact number for the English translations and paraphrases of the Bible printed since Tyndale’s New Testament of 1526. In part this is due to the difficulty of determining what should be defined as a new translation as opposed to a correction or a revision of an existing translation. There is the additional question of how we should count translations that include not a complete Bible or Testament, but just a group of books or even a single book. And then, of course, there is the difficulty of sheer numbers. With all these caveats in mind, the number of printed English translations and paraphrases of the Bible, whether complete or not, is about 900.”  – America Bible Society, December 2009

1. Bible story books (Jesus Story Book Bible, The Child’s Story Bible)
2. Bible paraphrases
   • The Living Bible
   • The Message
3. Bible translations
   • Prior to the King James Version (Tyndale, Geneva)
   • King James Version (1611 facsimile, updated KJV)
   • New King James Version
   • American Standard Version (New American Standard Bible)
   • New International Version
   • English Standard Version
4. Study Bibles
   • Thompson Chain Reference Bible
   • Scofield Study Bible ->  Ryrie Study Bible  ->  John MacArthur Study Bible
   • ESV Study Bible
   • NLT Study Bible
   • Inductive Study Bible
5. Personal Favorite Bible
   • Wide Margin Cambridge Bible