4/1/2009

I started reading bibleinayear.

I recently finished this, and it was wonderful. Plus 8

I read THEMESSAGE//REMIX PAUSE-and it wasn't until 100 days prior to finishing that I realized how much I wish I had picked any other translation to read. Minus 2

Don't get me wrong, I have a love for The Message and the way Eugene wrote it for 21st century relevance, but I got a little tired of him inserting his theology into God's word. That being said, I am going to keep The Message around for years to come to compare translations and to read for fun, but no hardcore bible studies. Let's be real. Plus 2

Therefore!

Favorite Old Testament books

1) 1 Samuel (DAVID is my favorite OT character not including God duh)

2) JOB!!! (God is SOOOO sarcastic to Job. Yea I said it. Sarcastic. Love Him so much) Plus 3

3) Amos

4) Isaiah (Only because of how obvi Jesus is in it)

5) Ecclesiastes

Favorite New Testament books

1) Romans, Philippians, Ephesians (in no particular order)

2) Jude, Colossians, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter (in no particular order)

It was hard enough to limit myself to those. Sorry about all the ties, I just can not pick. You should see these books in my bible. Pretty much every verse is highlighted. And I don't say that to make myself sound SpIrItUaL, I say that because I am being completely ridiculous. Love them. Can any of us really pick a number one? Or number 2? The books not listed I still LOVE. Plus 1

Gospel's in order of most favorite to favorite

1) Luke

2) John

3) Mark

4) Matthew

They are all pretty close though. Maybe a tenth of a point off. Because they are all lovely. Plus 1

Honestly I have learned so much. The bible is SO relevant (and I don't just say that because I was reading the Message) most of the time when I found a monumental story I'd read it in NIV and ESV. Plus 2

Speaking of, I have converted officially to ESV. AmyKitchel bought me an ESV study bible for my Baptism (which deserves its own blog entry but I've been too lazy to write/busy finishing the bible) and I have been rocked by it. Plus 6

A) I got a code for esvstudybible.org which is my new favorite website. It will read you the bible, you can store your notes about certain chapters, highlight whatever you want and read study material about most verses. Pretty much it's your bible online. I know there are like 10000 sites that do this already but no, I promise this site will change your life.

B) It is awesome. Word. For. Word. (not thought-for-though like NIV or an thought-for-thought translation from NIV...like The Message) Word for freaking word. ANDDDDD with the study bible, (and most ESV's) if there is a variation they list the variation at the bottom. So tight.

Anyways, I am a full supporter of the ESV translation. Obviously any translation is fine because if you are reading the bible in a certain translation it's pretty awesome that you're reading the bible in the first place. That being said, if you are studying the bible and looking for God's Word- I wouldn't take NIV or The Message too seriously. Nothing against them, there is a reason they are considered translations of the bible, just from personal experience I feel like I would much rather read word for word then thought-for-thought.

Sorry about that long rant, Minus 2

Final score = +19!

Read the bible, ftw.

I'd love to say something like, read the whole thing before you make judgments about it but if I'm being honest I think it's pretty sweet that you are reading it in the first place. 20 bonus points. Since I spent this whole post lightly bashing The Message I am going to go ahead and contradict myself, if reading the Old Testament is hard and you can't keep to it-- read the Old Testament in The Message so you understand what is going on and then read it in ESV or another word-for-word translation! Do it!!!!

Final final score = +39!!!!