Why does this affect me?

I commented on the same article over the weekend. It's not so much that I'm opposed to such niche Bibles, but as I said in my post, I hope that at some point the kids reading these will actually read the scripture and not just the stuff that accompanies it. Of course the same can be said for their parents' study Bibles. I'm not opposed to that either, but I've run into more than one adult who did not know the difference between what was scripture and what was commentary in their Bibles. Then such misunderstanding gives rise to "my Bible says something different from yours..."

about as ridiculous as the Baptist Study Bible I once saw. Yup, on the cover it read "Baptist Study Bible". I thought "so the Baptist have their own Bible....that explains a lot!"

Rick, I agree with you that getting people reading the Bible is a good thing. To me these seem a bit different than a Bible with notes. What I see on the covers of these "Bibles" is a capitulation to the values, message, and image of Americanism.

Look for a second at the "pink one"

- 2 min makeovers to transform your life? How is this from the biblical narrative? Now, I don't know what these make-overs are, but just the way that it is spewed on the cover of this "Bible" is extremely problematic.

Now, look at the green one. Why did they pick a beautiful model, with perfect high cheek bones to represent young women. It is following "the image" that women's magazines use. Complete with a "what guys are really thinking" headline. Why didn't they use a homely looking girl who is awkward looking? This is a bit sickening to me to be honest and I am not a prude when it comes to pop culture.
I believe in using the forms of culture to communicate a biblical message - I do not think it wise to communicate non-biblical messages in pop cultural forms.

Again, I am not against Bibles with notes, even trendy designs, colors etc. and I share the desire to get people into the Scriptures. I guess I see this as using forms which are designed to mimic messages which I find very far from the biblical narrative and worldview. Is it not grotesque to compare 1 John 1:9 to getting white deodorant streaks out of a shirt? How has this not trivialized in some way the sacrifice of the gospel.

Thanks for the insightful comment.
Reid
PS - I think the "my Bible says something different than yours" problem can arise from more than Bible notes. If you ever have someone reading the message remix and an old school KJV (why, i don't know) and you'll have the same issues. Heck even reading the TNIV and ESV on the 10 commandments and you will have "Bibles that say different things"

PS my last comment was TIC. i forgot the smiley.

:-)

Too bad that it was TIC-- I figured it'd make a great blog topic.

No, I agree with you about the "biblezines." I am all for innovative design and formatting, but there's always a line that shouldn't be crossed.

Thomas Nelson has probably been the most innovative with this kind of thing. A decade ago, they first introduced the "Word in Life" Study Bible that was formatted somewhere between a textbook and a magazine--definitely not your standard double-column with cross-references in the middle Bible. I just pulled it off the shelf to take a look at it. It pales in comparison to some of the Bibles out today. It was single-column but with lots of sidebars and graphics and various articles that attempt to bridge biblical life to today.

I only have the New Testament (in paperback) and it alone is over 1,000 pages. I think I remember seeing a complete Bible in this format and it was huge.

Bible publishing is about to get more radical than simply neon covers. They only recently developed paper for full color prints and the Archaeological Study Bible and the Holman Illustrated Bible are merely the first Bibles to take advantage of it. Again, although my tastes are more conservative, perhaps it will be inviting enough for some folks to read the Bible for themselves. I just hope the publishers will show some kind of constraint.

to clarify, I actually did see a Bible entitled "The Baptist Study Bible", but I was teasing about the thought that I had about said Bible. I do try to be diplomatic....well occasionally at least! :-) Anyways, it did raise a few alarms in my head, but whatever.

Reid, it's looking like I'll be back in Nashville next fall. If you, your kids or anyone else want to learn Latin or Greek, lemme know. I'd be more than happy to start teaching y'all (free of course). In the meantime, if you read refuels "how to attract godly girls" or "sexcess: success with the opposite sex" lemme know; I'd appreciate all the help I can get!

BV - the Baptists DO have their own Bible - the HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible) :)

Schellack - yes, the beauty of "Sexcess" - What the!?! But I will keep my eyes for for a brother on the godly girls front. I would love for you to teach ME Latin. My daughter Kayla will be six at the end of Sept - is she old enough? We could start simple, she is bright. Reading little books already. Maybe you could tutor Reid and Kayla once a week?

If I could ever read the Prologion in Latin I think I would be a bit giddy.

If we carried scrolls, people would stop and say, "hey, what's with the scrolls?" Then we could tell them about Jesus. Hmmm?

Why not parchment? Animal hides bound in little books would draw attention as well. But scrolls seem scholarly for some reason...maybe why we hand out little scrolls at graduations. :)

Fides quaerens intellectum. You could do it. Anslem's structures are a bit tough, but the sentences are really short, and the vocab is small.

Kayla might be a bit young, but Erasmus could read Latin and Greek without aids by the time he was ten.

So if you're looking for a Kayla "Erasmus" Monaghan, I know of several introductory, picture based Latin books for 7-10 year olds. Most famous, old school songs exist in Latin (Happy Birthday, all Xmas songs, Cat Stevens, etc). And, of course, St. Jerome's translation of the Bible is a really easy read, so there's always that. I'll let you know how things play out:

Cattus Petasatus, (the Cat and the Hat)
Esopus Hodie: Aesop Today: Aesop's fables
Fabula de Petro Cuniculo (Peter Rabbit)
Ferdinandus Taurus (Ferdinand)
Quomodo Invidiosulus Nomine GRINCHUS Christi Natalem Abrogaverit (How the Grinch Stole Christmas).
Tres Ursi (Goldilocks and the Three Bears)
Virent Ova! Viret Perna!! (Green Eggs and Ham in Latin)
Winnie Ille Pu (Winnie The Pooh)
Harrius Potter (books 1&2)

Wow, I think they jumped over the line with both feet. Granted I could see how the marketing teams would go this way. There job is to create sales not maintain integrity. I guess it must be tough in trying to compete against the world to not become to much like it