Review of the Voice Bible

Last year I had the opportunity to review The Voice New Testament. I very much enjoyed, so I was thrilled to have the chance to review the whole Bible. Needless to say, I love to have the whole Bible in this new version.

Here's a quick review of what I liked about it previously: The Voice is a collaboration of many scholars, artists, and pastors. It is not just the work of one person, and it is not just the work of scholars. I think that it is fantastic that artists have been included in the translation process since so much of the Bible, especially the old testament, is poetry. Again, while reading The Voice, it didn't feel like the typical paraphrase. It still reads like a Biblical translation. It feels like it is using language that would be familiar to someone who has read the Bible and yet easier to understand for those who do not have much experience with the Bible.

As far as the translation is concerned. think The Voice offers one of the best paraphrase/dynamic equivalents thus far. The majority of the translation is done like any other version of the Bible with any additions are in italics so that it is easy to see when these additions have been made. And the additions don't really add a new content to the text, instead they add explanation.

Something that I didn't note last time are the notes in the Bible. At the beginning of each book, there is about a page of introduction. Also, there are added notes interspersed within the text itself. These notes  are highly beneficial for understanding how to read each book and the background of the text.

I still think that this is a fantastic addition to anyone's Bible reading. I'm still hoping that it will be available for Logos so that I can have it in that form. If you are eager to read it, you can look up various passages on their website www.hearthevoice.com. I highly encourage you to check out this translation and considering purchasing it at some point.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Merry Christmas

May God bless you this Christmas and may we never forget that we have a God who came to be with us.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.


But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”


All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”


Matthew 1:18-23

Happy Thanksgiving

I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this,
and it is marvelous in our eyes. The Lord has done it this very day;
let us rejoice today and be glad. Lord, save us!
Lord, grant us success! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
From the house of the Lord we bless you. The Lord is God,
and he has made his light shine on us.
With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will praise you;
you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever. (Psalm 118:21-29 NIV)

Scripture as Story: A Review of The Voice New Testament

This semester I have been teaching Principles of Bible Study 1 at LCU. One of the things that I have been trying to emphasize to my students is the fact that God's revelation comes to us through the medium of story. There are letters, laws, poems, proverbs, and prophetic visions, but the overwhelming sense of Scripture is that it is a story. God's story of how he created the world, we broke creation, he sent his Son to fix it, and how ultimately he will come to restore the world and live with us. This new Bible, simply called The Voice, aims at helping us see scripture as a story. It is a new approach to scripture that combines the efforts of Biblical scholars and Christian writers and musicians in an effort to give us a more dramatic and story like version of the Bible. They have taken great care to translate the Greek as best as possible to communicate the meaning of the text. This is done in conjunction with artists who give the words some depth to engage the reader. Simply, The Voice is a dynamic equivalent translation of the Bible that aims as presenting the Bible artfully.

There are a lot of things that I like about this translation. First, I believe that it is more useful than a paraphrase like The Message. While the Message has been helpful to many, it is the work of one man, while the Voice is a collaboration of many scholars, artists, and pastors which adds to the strength of the translation. Also, when reading sections of the Voice, I was struck by how similar it was to typical Bible translations and yet at the same time it was easier to read than many translations. While it is easier to read like a paraphrase, it doesn't read like a typical paraphrase. It still feels like it is using language that would be familiar to someone who has read the Bible and yet easier to understand for those who do not have much experience with the Bible. In the way that it is written, it would be a great translation to read on a Sunday Morning, especially if you want to "dramatize" the Bible. It has been translated with the help of writers and musicians, it makes for an already dramatized version. The dialogue in the voice even appears in play like format. Since I am on a team that plans Sunday morning worship services, I will be adding readings from the Voice translation when a more dynamic reading is needed.

For those who are worried about the of translation from Greek to English, I think the Voice offers one of the best paraphrase/dynamic equivalents thus far. The majority of the text comes from the Greek text. On occasion they will add in phrases that either aid in understanding or emphasize something in the text that may not be in the Greek text. These additions are in italics so that it is easy to see when these additions have been made. As far as how it has been translated, there were times that I wonder why they changed from the typical wording (like John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Voice"), but so far I have not found anything that concerns me about the way it has been translated.

Overall, I think that this is a fantastic addition to anyone's Bible reading. I, personally, cannot wait for the entire Bible to be released next year and I hope that it will be available for Logos so that I can have it in that form. I even purchased their translation of the Psalms because I think that it will be helpful in worship planning. This Bible is useful for anyone new to Scripture or just trying to get a fresh artistic look at the Bible. If you are eager to read it, they have John available on their website www.hearthevoice.com. I wouldn't blame you if you wanted to wait until the whole Bible is available, but I would encourage you to purchase it at some point.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Digging Down Deep

Many people under estimate the importance of theology. Joshua Harris wants to curbs this problems. In Dug Down Deep he makes the case for needing to study theology. He argues that we need to be like the man in Jesus' parable and dig down deep to lay the foundation of our faith on the theological rock. He relates this through personal stories of learning how to apply Biblical theology to holy living. To explain how to live a holy life, he breaks down theology in to typical categories of God, Jesus, salvation, the Holy Spirit and sanctification. All of this is an effort to know God better, love God better and obey him better. Harris does a great job of presenting scripture in a manner that teaches about theology in way that is engaging. This is by no means a systematic theology or a very deep work, but it is a helpful. The final chapter leaves the reader with an important reminder that theology is not about gaining knowledge, knowing about God doesn't change a person. It is living out the truths found in scripture that will lead to change, this is done through humility.

Personally, I enjoyed reading this book. There are a lot of things that I have heard before, but he presented the information in a relational and engaging manner. For the most part he presented theology in a way that most people would agree. He did not try to pass of what some denominations hold as the absolute truth. Instead, he presented mainly from scripture in a manner that would not cause many to disagree. The only thing that would some would disagree with is his stance on "charismatic" gifts. He does believe in them, even though there are many Christians who do not think they are still practiced. His goal is clearly to call Christians to live a life that is founded on strong Biblical theology and for that I cannot disagree with Harris. I would recommend this to anyone wanting to know how Biblical theology can be lived out. This new edition includes discussion questions and would be great for church class or group. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and think you will too.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Book that Made Your World by Vishal Mangalwadi

Vishal Mangalwadi sets out on bold mission to show how the Bible has affected the development of Western Civilization in The Book the Made Your World. This is interesting because Mangalwadi is Indian. He does not live in the West. This gives him the ability to compare the development of the Eastern culture (mostly focusing on India) to the development of Western Culture (mostly focusing on Western Europe and America). Through the course of the book he compares how each culture views things like technology, rationality, heroism, education, science, literature and many others. The main thesis of the book that is developed in each chapter is that the West was able to develop faster and in better ways that the East was able to because the West was built on the foundation of the Bible. He explains that since the time of the Reformation the Bible has been available in many languages for all to read and this dissemination of the scriptures exposed the Western World to higher morals which then led to a better rate and level of development. The East, however, was built on the various scriptures of Buddhism, Hinduism, and other Eastern Religions. These scriptures were not available to all and do not hold the same values that the Christian Bible does. Therefore, the West and parts of the East where bible has been introduced are substantially better than the places where Eastern religions have driven the culture.

Mangalwadi has created a strong argument and presented an interesting comparison between the development of the East and the West. As someone who has been exposed and involved in both cultures, he has a unique vantage point to compare the two. The problem is, however, that the premise  that he starts out with is not necessarily the one that he carries through the book. Mangalwadi claims to be writing about how the Bible changed the west, which it did. What he actually writes about is how the Protestant Reformation changed the western world. He rarely jumps into the time between the early church fathers and the late Medeval age. The catalyst of change from his perspective is that the Reformation made the Bible available to the masses in their own language. While I am not a historian, I will agree that this changed the world, but it ignores the fact that the Catholic Church, even with its issues in the end of the Middle Ages, had spread the Bible all over Europe. They had created a Christian culture that is also quantifiably different from the culture of the east. If the church had not spread all over Europe, then having the Bible available in all languages would not have had the immediate impact. The Bible already laid the foundation for culture and then became even stronger after the reformation. It should also be mentioned that with the neglect of the time between the fathers and reformation is also a neglect of the developments of the Eastern Church which, while it did not reach the far east, it still in the East. Lastly, I have a hard time coming to some of the same conclusions that he did. Yes, I agree that the Bible changed the world, but I cannot agree with him that the Bible, and ultimately God, blessed Britain with a global empire and blessed America with the success of capitalism. He seems to attribute these two things to the Bible, and I believe the Bible is not meant for building empires or economies. The Bible changes lives and has influenced many people to go and give their lives to helping others. I believe the stories of people like Mother Teresa, Eric Liddell, and Richard Wurmbrand really show how the Bible has changed the world. Overall, I have to agree with his premise, but disagree with the way that he explains about how the Bible changed the world.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Good Friday

It's Good Friday, and I don't need to add my own words to what this day is all about. Instead, I will leave you with this:

Matthew 27:45-56

From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.  About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means,“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, “He’s calling Elijah.”

 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. The rest said, “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to save him.”

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split.  The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life.  They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.

 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Sonc of God!”

 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs.  Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee’s sons.

Romans 5:6-11

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!  For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.