I’ve been using The Voice translation a little bit lately, and am enjoying it. I received a review copy, and want to offer one — but I begin with an excursus on Bible translation generally and dynamic equivalence specifically, since this will frame helpfully what I want to say about The Voice.

Scot McKnight’s wife Kris refers to his latest book, The Blue Parakeet, as “one of his readable ones.” The book is, in fact, one of his most readable, which is most fortunate given the importance of the subject matter. Although Scot McKnight is something of an avid birder, the book’s title is really only a metaphor, not a literal description of the subject at hand. For that, the books subtitle, “Rethinking How You Read the Bible” sums it up. And if you notice that the image of the book cover glows just a little, it’s no accident — the book deserves a glowing review.

After reading Scot McKnight’s The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible, I started into Ed Cyzewski’s Coffeehouse Theology: Reflecting on God in Everyday Life. Both books speak of an approach to scripture that attempts to bridge the gap between the culture in which the culture in which each book of the Bible was written and that of today into which it still speaks. As I reflected today on the nature of scripture an how it interacts with itself, I remembered the view of one Rabbi. The Hebrew Bible (what we refer to as the Old Testament) is divided into three parts — the Law (Torah), the Prophets, and the Writings. The Jewish view is basically that the prophets and writings act as commentary on the Law (the Pentateuch), explaining how to understand it.

I recently finished Scot McKnight’s latest release, The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible. I have a habit of noticing ideas and examples that may be tangental to the author’s point but which I still make a point of applying in a slightly different context — as I did yesterday. And here comes another one, on authority.

Scot McKnight’s The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible will be out soon, and reviews are beginning to appear online. I haven’t seen a copy, but the reviews are all good and it promises to be a good resource. Obviously the way in which one approaches the Bible will colour what we exegete from it, but the exegesis can be effected by how we understand that the Bible views itself.

When I noticed Steve Bishop recently asking, “What do your New Testament Commentaries say about you?” and listing the applicable volumes in his library, I decided to do the same. It only follows naturally that I’d proceed to the Old Testament, where my collection is weaker — the list is shorter despite the text being longer. As I said before, I haven’t read all of these, I just tend to pick up used titles here and there where I can, as collecting is part of the fun. ;^) Not all of are selections I’d particularly recommend, and in many cases I lack what are accepted to be the best work on each book. With that in mind, I welcome suggestions on what my short-list for acquisitions should include for particular OT books. And again, feel free to go ahead and suggest what my OT Commentaries actually say about me…

I noticed Steve Bishop asking, “What do your New Testament Commentaries say about you?” He proceeded to list the applicable volumes in his library. Stuck for a good blog-topic, I decided to do the same in response. Let it be said that I haven’t read all of these, I just tend to pick up used titles here and there where I can. Collecting is part of the fun. ;^) Not all of these are selections I’d particularly recommend, and in some cases I haven’t got what are accepted to be the best work on each book… partly because my library is slowly becoming dated. But for those who are so inclined, give me a few suggestions on what my short-list for acquisitions should include to round out or improve my selection for particular books. For the really brave, feel free to go ahead and suggest what my NT Commentaries say about me…

For lack of anything better, I’m starting a meme… but hopefully an interesting one that’s not too hard to handle. Rules are simple: name your favorite book of the Bible, and explain why. Link back here and tag 5-ish people. Jump in with a comment below if you don’t have a blog, or to point back to your entries.

Naturally, I’ll dive in first.

Favorite book: John’s Gospel.

I’m thinking about small group ministries that so many churches offer these days. Many seem to be based on good principles of mutual care, and some are based around the idea that the small group or cell is the basic building-block of the church. At one time I might have said that a church without a small group ministry is missing out on a critical element of church life. In my CLB, we were all about small groups, at least in the earlier days (they became more mechanized than organic nearer the end). I remember a lot of the cell church material as well, and the attempts at hybridizing the purer forms of cell church and the megachurch mentality. I wonder now if a church with a small group ministry isn’t sometimes an oxymoronic expression of community, an attempt to replicate in smaller units the thing that’s fundamentally missing from the larger context… but since it’s fundamentally a program, its makeup cuts across the formation of organic relationship and true community.

The iMonk has a Recommendation and Review: Ten Reasons to Love The ESV Literary Study Bible. Notable here is the fact that this edition strips the chapter and verse divisions as well as the cross-reference notes, and offers study notes from a literary perspective, unusual in a study Bible of any type. Intrigued, I am.