Life Application Bible Studies

I would like to thank Tyndale House Publishers for sending me a review copy of their Life Application Bible Studies study guide for the book of Acts. The ISBN for this particular guide is 1414325622, and you can visit the website for this guide and the guides for other books of the Bible by clicking on the image to the left. According to the website, you can currently buy guides for John, Acts, Hebrews, and James. They also list upcoming releases for Matthew, Romans, Galatians/Ephesians, Philippians/Colossians, and Revelation. It seems that these are updates to the now decade old Bible Studies which are going out of print. As it appears that there were no Old Testament study guides in the prior series of guides, I’m assuming that this series will be limited to the New Testament.

I was completely unfamiliar with this series of Bible study guides before I saw a few of them being reviewed on other blogs. I was offered a review copy and have used it to satisfy my curiosity, as well as pass it along to our college group who is currently looking for material to use for their Bible studies. This study guide contains the complete Bible text of Acts, as well as the full introduction, features, and study notes of the Life Application Study Bible in the New Living Translation. On a side note, I was glad to see that these guides use the updated 2007 text of the NLT second edition.

The study guide is divided into two major parts. The first part is 81 pages long and contains an exact reproduction of Acts from the Life Application Study Bible. This would be helpful in ensuring that everyone in a class is reading from the exact same translation of the Bible. The second part is 53 pages long and contains the actual study guide materials. The study guide is divided into thirteen lessons, with a time guideline provided for 60 or 90 minute lessons. The back cover states that the lessons are designed “to stimulate thought, discussion, and practical life application.” The study guide is suitable for individual or group use, and has application questions at the end of each lesson “to help you map out your personal action plan.”

Each of the thirteen lessons is well organized and also sub-divided into five major parts, each of which is themed to a different word that starts with the letter “R”. There is also a sixth section at the end of each lesson, but let me briefly illustrate the sub-divisions:

• Reflect on your life - ties to your own life, circumstances, or society
• Read the passage - there are roughly two chapters per lessson
• Realize the principle - focuses on biblical principles for the passage
• Respond to the message - helps you incorporate principles into your life
• Resolve to take action - make an action plan: missions, outreach, etc.

The sixth part is at the end of each lesson and is used for studying other themes from that lesson. Basically it guides the group towards deeper study for that passage that was not covered in depth by the lesson. I went through each lesson and have noted that there is a range of ten to sixteen questions for each lesson, each tied into one of the six parts mentioned above.

Conclusion
The Life Application Bible Studies appear to be excellent for personal and group use. They break down the Biblical text into easily managed chunks, and approach the various themes from multiple angles. I really like how they try to urge the user towards taking action and responding to the text. I think this is where the study guide’s tie to the Life Application Study Bible really shines. I took some time last month to read through the LASB in a bookstore and was not impressed with it as a Bible designed primarily for study. However, I do like the LASB when it is presented in a lesson format as it is here, and I think it makes for an effective lesson in this format. That being said, I would recommend the new NLT Study Bible over the Life Application Study Bible if you are looking for a study Bible in the NLT translation. I have spent quite some time with the NLT Study Bible now, and I will probably publish my review of it in February. Back to the reason for this post; if you are looking for a series to use for personal or group Bible study, then you would be well served by these updated Life Application Bible Studies.

 

Acts comparison results part 1

The first passage was taken from the NLTse. This was the translation that I was reading on my own while the pastor read aloud from another translation. This is the verse that inspired this whole series of posts and the key word was “propaganda.” I don’t know about anyone else, but to me, propaganda is a negative term that implies the use of deception and trickery to further one’s own agenda. So I ended up looking through some definitions and it doesn’t appear that this word originally had the meaning that I apply to it. Instead it seems that propaganda has to do more with propagating a message than it does with my understanding of it. Incidentally, the use of propaganda in the NLT goes all the way back to the original Living Bible.

So I wonder how other people view the use of this word in the NLT here? Some expressed in the comments earlier that they liked it’s use here. My favorite part of this translation is the the use of “can’t” instead of “cannot” in the first verse. I don’t know anyone who says “cannot” and everyone I know says “can’t” in their every day speech.

• “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”
  NLT

The second translation was the TNIV. This is my daily reading translation and it is very comfortable and understandable to me. The one part that seemed a bit odd was how they used the phrase “this thing” where the NLT used propaganda. I kind of like the vagueness that is given by this rendering, but admittedly I haven’t looked at the Greek to see how it is actually worded there. If anyone would like to inform me of the Greek usage please do so.

• “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
  TNIV

I’ll make two more posts dealing with the rest of the verses from the original Blind Comparison in Acts posts.

Update
Original post, follow up posts: part 1, part 2, and part 3.

 

New Living Translation – Second Edition

First off, I think I’m going to try to stop this drought of blog posts on my blog. However, I think I’ll need to stick to short and focused posts to do it. So without further meandering…

I’ve really started to enjoy the NLTse. It’s a great translation of scripture and worth looking into if you are not comfortable with more traditional renderings. There are some great posts out there, and thanks to Jeff for pointing me to this great article over at internetmonk.com. I used to have that blog linked here and checked on it regularly myself, but I finally removed it from my reader a couple of months ago. I’m not sure why I did. I love the content there. There is so much traffic and commenting going on at IM though that I seldom interacted with anything there. Maybe I commented once or twice. Anyways, if you’ve never visited the site it really is worth a trip, but be warned that his content is highly engaging.

So back to the NLTse. I surprised myself last week when it was the only translation I took with me to church. Also I’ve been thinking of finally sitting down to read my copy of Peterson’s The Message which I bought earlier this summer at a good price. I have also started to feel more comfortable with the TNIV’s use of “brothers and sisters” for αδελφοι and now consider it my primary bible translation. Also, in case you missed it, the NLT now has a blog up for their translation here: http://nltblog.com/default.htm

There’s a few other things I can throw out, but I think I’ll save them for a future post. I still want to publish those older ideas, but I may revise them down considerably to something I can manage in only a short time.

[update]

Just found this interesting post over at New Epistles.

 

Bibles and more bibles

The past two weeks I have come across an abnormally large variety of bible translations. Most of them I’ve picked up for $2-5 and have already started making some comparisons. The biggest gem so far has been The Easy to Read Version which is surprisingly both easy to read and to understand. I found it amusing to see a paperback copy on Amazon for $148, and bought mine locally for $4.

I have mentioned a few times that I would probably pick up the second edition of the NLT because I only have the older one, and don’t care for it too much. I was planning on picking up a copy I had seen for $13, but then I found a nicer, sewn and leather bound copy today at a reseller for only $3. I was shocked, as it appears brand new, but promptly bought it. Also, it is a smaller pocket size similar to my TNIV and ESV which I take to church, so it’s getting added to my Sunday rotation now. Expect to see me make some regular use of it in the future as I start comparing it with the Greek and other translations.

Summer school starts next week so I will be pretty busy with that, not sure how it will affect things around here. I still have a ton of books I’m reading through… so little time.