I went to Barnes and Noble this weekend and got a chance to actually visit a bookstore since I normally do most of my shopping online. It was, however, nice to check out some of the various Bibles out there and actually look inside.
The first interesting one I saw was the Green Bible. I’m sure it was made in an eco-friendly fashion, but the oddest part was that it includes words about nature and the earth in green text. While it’s an interesting concept, it still strikes me as a waste of money, or better yet an attempt to get others to waste their money (I’m sure they’ll find quite a few takers).
The second “unique” Bible was the American Patriot’s Bible, which combines Scripture with themes from US history. I love Scripture and am generally proud of my country, if not a lot of my countrymen (and women)…but…this is way too much. Although it looks like the writers were as sensitive as possible, the whole endeavor strikes me as idolatry.
The final Bible that I examined was the new Orthodox Study Bible with the Septuagint translated for the Old Testament. It has many notes from an Orthodox perspective. Although it comes from an evangelical convert apologetic angle, it still looked helpful. It’s definitely the only one of the group that I’d buy if money were more plentiful.
I also noticed that someone had put little fundamentalist tracts in all of the Catholic Bibles. I took care of that.
David Bennett
Jennifer
asimplesinner
Fr. J.
Chad T.
Jorge Flores
Jonathan B
carmelbennett
nicenehobbit
Jason S
jaybird68
papaz
Dave Hartline
faceman
You should have returned the favor and left copies of the Catechism inside all the Evangelical study Bibles.
Jonathan,
You’re starting to sound like me…you de-tracter, you! I’ve been taking Prot tracts out of books in the library for years.
About the Orthodox Study Bible. It CAN be helpful, BUT (and this is a BIG BUT), it indulges in anti Catholic polemic in many of its notes and is OFTEN inaccurate when it speaks of Catholic doctrine. Also, MANY Orthodox theologians intensely dislike the Orth. Study Bible because it is so very Prot in outlook.
I, too, am a devoted “de-tracter”! The last “de-traction” was on a visit I made to the library of a Catholic university. The tracts were strategically placed right on top of the book return box.
Jorge,
But it did backfire on me just recently. I put CATHOLIC tracts in our parish rack to use with Protestants or Evangelical friends. Problem was, they looked just like those Chick tracts folks use…kind of reverse psychology. But some Catholic folks thought they WERE Prot tracts and tossed em! Ooops…guess I should’ve explained to someone, huh?
First Things Magazine had an interesting piece on the “Green Bible” a couple of issues ago.