Bible

Barclay, W. – Making the Bible

Making the Bible

by William Barclay

William Barclay was a Scottish author, radio and television presenter, Church of Scotland minister, and Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the University of Glasgow. He wrote a popular set of Bible commentaries on the New Testament that sold 1.5 million copies. william-barclay.com

Summary

In this classic work by british author William Barclay, he explains God’s process of giving us the Bible. Chapters are (1) the Grandeur of the law, (2) the Writings, (3) For further guidance, (4) The final test.

This is a three chapter work (rather long chapters with many subdivisions) about the formation of the Bible and the Canon. Chapers run: The Grandeur of the Law, The Starting-Point of Scripture, Some Discrepancies, The Holiness Code, Just Because the Days of the Prophets Were Held to Have Ended, The Prophets Established, The Writings, Attributed Authorship, The People of the Book, The Emergence of Sacred Scripture, The First Christian Books, Collecting Paul’s Letters, Making the Collection, The Gospels Win Their Place, A Written Gospel, Authoritative and Sacred, Discarding the Old Testament?, The Church’s Decision, Closing of the Books, The Final Completion, The Final Test: Does the Book Speak of Christ? Faith in a Living Saviour

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American Standard Version [ASV]

The American Standard Version

Summary

The Revised Version, Standard American Edition of the Bible, more commonly known as the American Standard Version (ASV), is a version of the Bible that was released in 1901. It was originally best known by its full name, but soon came to have other names, such as the American Revised Version, the American Standard Revision, the American Standard Revised Bible, and the American Standard Edition. By the time its copyright was renewed in 1929, it had come to be known by its present name, the American Standard Version. Because of its prominence in seminaries, it was in America sometimes simply called the “Standard Bible”.




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Webster Bible Translation [Webster]

Webster Bible Translation [Webster]

Summary

Noah Webster’s 1833 limited revision of the King James Bible focused mainly on replacing archaic words and making simple grammatical changes. For example: “why” instead of “wherefore”, “its” instead of “his” when referring to nonliving things, “male child” instead of “manchild”, etc. He also introduced euphemisms to remove words he found offensive: “whore” becomes “lewd woman”. Overall, very few changes were made, and the result is a book which is almost indistinguishable from the King James Bible. It has sometimes been called the “Common Version” (which is not to be confused with the Common Bible of 1973, an ecumencial edition of the Revised Standard Version).

Modern critics are surprised by just how little Webster changed the King James Bible. His revision was very light, as he did not want to make the language wholly contemporary, but rather wanted to correct flaws he disagreed with as an educator. Other, less orthodox Americans were bringing out their own versions of the New Testament, but he had no interest in theologically motivated changes. One notable change that was beyond just revising language flaws was a correction changing the word “Easter” in Acts 12:4 to the word “Passover”.

It is noteworthy that throughout Webster’s revision of the King James Bible, the lexicographer replaced “Holy Ghost” with “Holy Spirit”. Webster did so because he knew that in the Scriptures this expression did not mean “an apparition”. In the preface of his Bible, Webster wrote: “Some words have fallen into disuse; and the signification of others, in current popular use, is not the same now as it was when they were introduced into the version. The effect of these changes is, that some words are not understood by common readers, who have no access to commentaries, and who will always compose a great proportion of readers; while other words, being now used in a sense different from that which they had when the translation was made, present a wrong signification or false ideas. Whenever words are understood in a sense different from that which they had been introduced, and different from that of the original languages, they do not present to the reader the Word of God.”
The problem with the older books was confusion on the part of readers as the language styles had been evolving over the years and a lot of meaning of the text in this Bible was being lost on the average reader. Some passages were misunderstood. Grammar had evolved as well and the above changes made an easier read while purifying the language and making it more delicate. From Wikipedia.org Continue reading

Anstey How to Master the Bible

Anstey How to Master the Bible
by Martin Anstey

Anstey How to Master the Bible is an introductory book on Bible study. It has a few general chapters on the Bible then 7 chapters on how to Study the Bible, and a a final 4 chapters on mastering the Bible and our relationship with the Bible (Wield the Bible, Enthrone the Bible, Defend the Bible).




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