I just received my copy of the NLT Study Bible in the mail today, thanks to the good folks at Tyndale Publishing. I’m going to be spending the next few days soaking in it, and a review will be forthcoming. On pure aesthetics alone, the Bible looks gorgeous. I think its going to be a treat, so let’s get into this thing and see what comes up.

Also, in light of Nick’s post [Dude, how are you not on my blog list yet? Mea culpa] on the same topic, I just want to say: I agree. There will never be a better Joker. (I just saw it last night).

Be sure to check out the NLT Blog, and the NLTSB Blog. The guys and gals there are pretty rad. Check it out, even if you’re Tim Challies. (Sorry Tim. I had too. Even though you’ll never read my blog.)

There is an interesting issue that creeps up in 1 John 2:12-14. Here is the passage in the NLT:

“I am writing to you who are God’s children
because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
I am writing to you who are mature in the faith
because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you who are young in the faith
because you have won your battle with the evil one.
I have written to you who are God’s children
because you know the Father.
I have written to you who are mature in the faith
because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning.
I have written to you who are young in the faith
because you are strong.
God’s word lives in your hearts,
and you have won your battle with the evil one.”

Certainly, the repetition in the passage catches our eye. The Greek is equally, if not more so, eye-catching. Before I actually get into the issue at hand, I do want to add that I really like NLT’s rendering of father and young men as “mature in the faith” and “young in the faith” respectively. The issue that I mentioned comes with how we translate the word ὅτι (hoti), which can be either causal (which the NLT, and most other translations, take it as), which would warrant a translation of “because,” or we it could be showing the content of John’s writing, which would be rendered “that.” In other words, is John giving the reason for writing or is he giving a summary of what he is writing?
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The Ouroboros is a mythological creature, usually portrayed as a snake or a dragon. What’s particularly interesting about this creature is that it is depicted as always eating its tail, forming a circle, and stands for many things including cyclicality, fertility, and unity. It has been used in many religions and cultures throughout time including the Aztecs, Egyptians, Hinduism, and others.  The idea is that the serpent is eternally eating itself, without beginning or ending.  It is completely circular, giving rise to itself.

The debate between systematic and biblical theology has had many great thinkers on both sides throughout the years. Both sides generally portraying itself as the superior way of looking at theology and doctrine.  Systematic theology is an attempt to “systematize” what the Bible teaches on specific topics, while biblical theology is the attempt to find out what the Bible teaches through the progressive revelation of Himself to people.  In other words, systematic theology looks to define theological ideas through collecting everything the Bible says about a specific topic, say the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. Biblical theology, on the other hand, reads the Bible as a narrative which “seeks to understand a certain passage in the Bible in light of all of the biblical history leading up to it and later biblical references to that passage.”
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Keith at the NLT Blog has recently posted about a book from Tyndale publishers entitled “The Many Gospels of Jesus” written by Philip W. Comfort and Jason Driesbach.

This book looks very interesting, because, other than “the four canonical Gospels, Comfort and Driesbach have offered new translations of 17 other ancient Jesus texts, all in a style similar to the accessible New Living Translation.” This includes both the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Judas (which was in the news quite a bit last year). In addition to these 17 translated Gospels, another 18 more are discussed, and summarized, bringing the total count of gospels covered to 35!

Philip and Jason have also included a few essays, as well as a testimony of how Philip came to discover Jesus himself (which is promised to be quite exciting). Both Philip and Jason are involved with the NLT:

“Phil Comfort is the NT Coordinating Editor for the NLT and has been involved with the translation from the beginning, and Jason Driesbach is intimately involved with the Cornerstone Biblical Commentary series as an editor and author.”

This certainly looks to be a great volume, where the differences between the canonical gospels and the other gospels can be seen in juxtaposition. If anyone is feeling particularly charitable, I would certainly have my day brightened by receiving said book. Christmas isn’t that far away is it?

Now, if only we could get some NLT apocrypha… *cough*

Next semester I am taking my first class on Hebrew. We are using Dr. Russell Fuller’s text, “Invitation to Biblical Hebrew.” I haven’t gotten past the first page- the alphabet. Greek, while difficult, was easier for me to dive into because I already had some familiarity with the letters and such, but with Hebrew, I have absolutely no familiarity at all. My question to all of you who have studied Hebrew, or even just foreign languages that use an unfamiliar script, is what tips can you give me while studying? Do you have any techniques that you’ve found profitable for learning alphabets? Really, any tips or help would be wonderful.

!שלים

Here is the wordle word cloud for my translation of Philemon:

I just put up my translation of Philemon. Please feel free to check it out and leave comments and suggestions. As with Colossians, I will add a Philemon wordle soon.

Also, in the next few days I will be adding the two posts I did on the death of Judas from my old blog. The post deal with the apparent contradiction between Matthew’s Gospel and the book of Acts. In it will be an explanation of what makes an actual contradiction, and why the two accounts, though different, do not fit the criteria of a contradiction.

I know things have been sort of dead around here lately. Things have gotten quite hectic with a couple of issues hitting all at once. I apologize for the lack of blogging and commenting. However, the good news (hopefully good anyways) is that I have finished the first part of my Philemon translation. I have translated the entire book very woodenly, so I can get a feel for what Paul is saying and following his argument. The next step is to take my English translation, and turn it into an actual English translation- adjusting for grammar and so forth. Hopefully, I will have it up soon!

Today is the birthday of theologian John Calvin, born on July 10th, 1509. Whether you agree or disagree with Calvin, or the movement which came about after his death and borrowed his name, it is undeniable the effect that he has had to Christianity.

You can check out Calvin’s commentaries for free here.
You can read Calvin’s major work, Institutes of the Christian Religion, also for free, here.
You can check out what is being worked on for John Calvin’s 500th birthday next year at calvin500.org.

Tim Challies has recently sent waves across the blogosphere by taking shots at translations such as the NLT for their Dynamic Equivalence in translation. He argues that the ESV is a superior translation because it literally renders the original languages.

Keith Williams, editor for Tyndale Publishing who works primarily on editions of the NLT, has given his response on the new NLT Blog. Keith goes point to point with Challies and offers many great insights, and also clears up many misconceptions. I really recommend reading both Tim and Keith’s posts if you are at all interested in the methods behind the translations of our Bibles.

Also of interest on the subject is TC’s response to Tim at New Leaven.