Effective Habits To Embrace In Parenting
To be an effective parent, you must be a leader in your childs life, guiding with a gentle hand and setting a solid example. Dr. Randy Schroeder provides the insight you need to be a leader-parent. As he explores the foundational Rsrelationship, routines, responsibilities, and rulesyoull better understand the role you play in your childs life. Youll learn great phrases to employ such as Either/Or/You Decide and When You/Then You. While there is no perfect parent, this nuts-and-bolts material will equip you to lead your child in a loving, confident manner.
Verses About The Christmas Journey
These verses depict how Mary and Joseph had to flee in order to protect the baby Jesus. When reading this to your children, give them context for what is going on. Explain that rulers at that time feared the Kings of kings and knew He was coming.
As you read this to your kids on Christmas Eve, give pause for the tremendous event youve just read to them. The Son of God has been born. We know the story doesnt end here. These next few verses offer a time to reflect with your children on what Jesus has done for us.
Choosing A Bible Version
There is no one way to translate a book as large as the Bible.
With such a cultural and linguistic distance between then and now, its really more of an art than a science: an art that seeks to communicate the Bibles truth to todays readers. That means that there are a number of different Bible translations out there. Nowadays, they are more commonly called different versions of the Bible. The two words, though meaning different things, are used pretty interchangeably. For ease, Im just going to stick with version.
The big stumbling block for people trying to choose a Bible is which version to pick. There are a lot to choose from. It also doesnt help that they almost all go by acronyms. How would you, as a new Christian, feel if you were asked to choose from NIV, ESV, NRSV, NLT, KJV, NKJV? Daunting, no?
To help you choose with speed and confidence, here is a quick run through four of the most popular versions of the Bible:
The New International Version Bible:Short for the New International Version Bible, the NIV is the most popular version of the Bible. Its written in pretty standard English and is the one youll most likely find in a Church. Its simple text means that it is often given away to new Christians. If you are looking for a first Bible, the NIV Bible would be a solid choice.
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Is The King James Version The Only True Bible
One very strange statement that has come up repeatedly over the years is that the King James Version of the Bible is the only true version of the Bible. Its a nice idea, to have only one true version of the Bible. But for anyone who knows how God got the Word of God in our hands, you are surprised to hear that about the KJV. That statement is uninformed as a little research shows all that the Bible was written originally in Hebrew and Greek, not English.
What About The King James Version?Why So Many English Bible Translations?
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Identifying Triggers In Your Marriage
They were both convinced they had married the wrong person. From almost the very beginning of their marriage, Amber and Guy Lia experienced various tensions and personality clashes related to house cleaning, backseat driving, workaholism, and intimacy. In this two-day Focus on the Family broadcast, Amber and Guy discuss how they bravely faced the triggers head-on, and committed to working on their own relationships with Jesus. As you listen to the Lias story, youll feel hope that you, too, can see real marriage transformation!
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Sharing Your Faith With Grace And Purpose
You can confidently and lovingly share your faithyou just need to learn some new tactics to do so! In this Focus on the Family Daily Broadcast, apologist Greg Koukl outlines the Columbo tactic of asking questions, the self-defeating argument tactic to find holes in your opponents arguments, and other specific methods for engaging in faith-building conversations with others. Greg pulls from his over 30 years of experience debating atheists and agnostics to help you share your faith with grace and truth.
Tactics 10th Anniversary Edition: A Game Plan For Discussing Your Christian Convictions
In a world increasingly indifferent to Christian truth, followers of Christ need to be equipped to communicate with those who do not speak their language or accept their source of authority. In Tactics, 10th Anniversary Edition, Gregory Koukl demonstrates how to artfully regain control of conversations, keeping them moving forward in constructive ways through thoughtful diplomacy. Youll learn how to stop challengers in their tracks and how to turn the tables on questions or provocative statements. Most important, youll learn how to get people thinking about Jesus.
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List Of The Best Translations Of The Bible
The best translations of the Bible are mostly well-known, but there are also a few that are not so well-known. Scholars regard Word-for-Word as most accurate translation method that leaves the least room for error.
Thought-by-Thought and Paraphrase are much more readable, but they have been criticized because these translations can begin to interpret the Bible rather than only translating it.
Is The Original Bible Still In Existence
Background of the Original BibleDan BrownâsThe Da Vinci CodeCompilation of the Original Old TestamentDead Sea Scrollsfrom the blood of Abel to the blood of ZechariahCompilation of the Original New TestamentSecrets of the CodeMuratorian CanonThe laborer is worthy of his wagesthe other ScripturesOriginal Bible Conclusiontextual criticism
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The Bible Is Confirmed Through Gods Challenge To Other Religions
Throughout Isaiah 4046, God, speaking through the prophet, repeatedly challenges the false gods to prove themselves. Specifically, He challenges them to tell the future and bring it to pass.
Present your case, says the Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob. Let them bring forth and show us what will happen let them show the former things, what they were, that we may consider them, and know the latter end of them or declare to us things to come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, that we may know that you are gods.
So here is the test for the other religions of the world. Can they accurately foretell future events? After all, only the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator knows everything that will happen and has the ability to bring it to pass. And God has established His righteous character through this unique ability. In Isaiah 41:26, the Lord asks, Who has declared from the beginning, that we may know? And former times, that we may say, He is righteous?
Most of the founders of the worlds religions never attempted to tell the future.7 Outside of the Bible, the other holy books of the world do not really include prophecies. The vague predictions of Nostradamus and demonstrably false prognostications of Edgar Cayce do not meet the biblical standard of 100 percent accuracy for a prophet .
Now take a look at what God says about His own ability in this area:
| The Messiah Would Be . . . | |
|---|---|
| Psalm 16:10 | Luke 24:6 |
Why The King James Bible Of 1611 Remains The Most Popular Translation In History
In 1604, Englands King James I authorized a new translation of the Bible aimed at settling some thorny religious differences in his kingdomand solidifying his own power.
But in seeking to prove his own supremacy, King James ended up democratizing the Bible instead. Thanks to emerging printing technology, the new translation brought the Bible out of the churchs sole control and directly into the hands of more people than ever before, including the Protestant reformers who settled Englands North American colonies in the 17th century.
Emerging at a high point in the English Renaissance, the King James Bible held its own among some of the most celebrated literary works in the English language . Its majestic cadences would inspire generations of artists, poets, musicians and political leaders, while many of its specific phrases worked their way into the fabric of the language itself.
Even now, more than four centuries after its publication, the King James Bible remains the most famous Bible translation in historyand one of the most printed books ever.
King James I of England, 1621.
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It Is Living And Powerful
Men think of the Bible as a Book that was inspired, and this is true, but it is also true that it still comes sweeping into the hearts of men today, and the same breath of God that gave it life makes it living and spiritually energising today. This is a most remarkable and unique feature of the Bible — I feel that it is mine. Its promises are mine. The 103rd Psalm is not ancient Hebrew, it is a present day message to my soul. The other day I took up an old Bible that my mother gave me, in which years ago I had marked Genesis 28:15 when I was in great trouble and had to leave my wife and children and travel in quest of health in distant lands. One day as I opened the Bible at random these words came before my eye. Shall I ever forget the flood of comfort that swept over my soul as I read that verse? “Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again to this land.” All the critics in the world could never persuade my soul that those words were a mere echo of some far-off relic of a Babylonian legend or oriental myth. No, no! That was a message to me, and it swept into my soul as a voice from heaven and lifted me up. No man will ever shake me out of the conviction that that message was God’s own Word to me — inspiring because inspired.
Chapters And Verses Of The Bible
The chapter and verse divisions did not appear in the original texts they form part of the paratext of the Bible. Since the early 13th century, most copies and editions of the Bible present all but the shortest of these books with divisions into chapters, generally a page or so in length. Since the mid-16th century editors have further subdivided each chapter into verses each consisting of a few short lines or sentences. Esther 8:9 is the longest verse in the Bible. Sometimes a sentence spans more than one verse, as in the case of Ephesians 2:89, and sometimes there is more than one sentence in a single verse, as in the case of Genesis 1:2.
The Jewish divisions of the Hebrew text differ at various points from those used by Christians. For instance, in Jewish tradition, the ascriptions to many Psalms are regarded as independent verses or parts of the subsequent verses, whereas established Christian practice treats each Psalm ascription as independent and unnumbered, making 116 more verses in Jewish versions than in the Christian. Some chapter divisions also occur in different places, e.g. Hebrew Bibles have 1 Chronicles 5:27-41 where Christian translations have 1 Chronicles 6:1-15
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The Wonder Of Its Preservation
The Bible has withstood ages of ferocious and incessant persecution. Century after century men have tried to burn it and to bury it and to extirpate it. Kings of the earth set themselves and rulers of the church have taken counsel together to destroy it. Diocletian the Roman Emperor inaugurated in AD 303 a terrific onslaught upon the Book. Bibles were destroyed, Christians were slain, and the Emperor boasted that the very name of the Christians was blotted out, and yet after a few years, the Bible came forth as Noah from the ark to repeople the earth, and in AD 325 Constantine enthroned the Bible as the Infallible Judge of Truth in the great council of the Church held in that year.
Later the Church of Rome denied the Scriptures to the people and for ages the Bible was practically an unknown book. Martin Luther was a grown man when he said that he had never seen a Bible in his life. No jailor ever kept a prisoner closer than the Church of Rome kept the Bible from the people.
The worst opposition of all has been during the last two hundred years, with rationalism and modernism seeking to undermine the authority, inspiration and inerrancy of the Holy Scriptures. It was Voltaire’s boast that within one hundred years of his death not a Bible would be found save as an antiquarian curiosity. Many more than one hundred years have passed, and other pens and other voices have joined in the attack, but the Bible remains and is being more widely distributed and used than ever before.
Archaeological And Historical Research
Biblical archaeology is the archaeology that relates to and sheds light upon the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures . It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in biblical times. There are a wide range of interpretations in the field of biblical archaeology. One broad division includes biblical maximalism which generally takes the view that most of the Old Testament or the Hebrew Bible is based on history although it is presented through the religious viewpoint of its time. It is considered to be the opposite of biblical minimalism which considers the Bible to be a purely post-exilic composition. Even among those scholars who adhere to biblical minimalism, the Bible is a historical document containing first-hand information on the Hellenistic and Roman eras, and there is universal scholarly consensus that the events of the 6th century BCE Babylonian captivity have a basis in history.
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Accurate Bible Translations Compared
-Paraphrase
Each approach has its strengths and weaknesses.
Bible scholars have to study the original languages for a long period of time in order to develop a high proficiency in the original language.
And these same scholars must be top experts in the target language as well.
Anybody who has learned a foreign language knows there are certain idioms in each language.
These idioms do not always translate accurately from a source language to the target language, so translators must be very careful to make sure the meaning is accurately transmitted.
And the translators do a very good job of it. We can tell, because after hundreds of years of Bible translating, all the major translations are in agreement about the major meanings they are conveying in English.
They differ very slightly in the exact expression of the meanings and the translators take great care to make sure the core meanings are conserved.
This makes the translations very useful in side-by-side comparisons.
New King James Version
The New King James Version is great for those who loved the original King James Version, but want something a little easier to read. Here is an excerpt from it’s History in Wikipedia:
The NKJV translation project was conceived by Arthur Farstad. It was inaugurated in 1975 with two meetings of 130 biblical scholars, pastors, and theologians. The men who were invited prepared the guidelines for the NKJV.The aim of its translators was to update the vocabulary and grammar of the King James Version, while preserving the classic style and literary beauty of the original 1611 KJV version. The 130 translators believed in unyielding faithfulness to the original Greek, Aramaic, and Hebrew texts including the Dead Sea Scrolls. Also agreed upon for most New King James Bibles were easier event descriptions, a history of each book, and added dictionary and updated concordance.
The New King James Version is a literal translation which is easier to read than its original version, but it is still somewhat choppy due to it maintaining the 17th century sentence structure of the original. The NKJV gets a 9.0 for reading difficulty.
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Which Bible Translation Is Closest To The Original
Based on what we now know of how difficult translation is, this is also a difficult question to answer, and it leads to comparing two different translation philosophies. The first is formal equivalence, also called literal or word-for-word equivalence. Formal equivalence strives to stay as close as possible to the actual wording of the original language, striving to translate each Greek or Hebrew word to the closest possible word in English. Think of this reading Shakespeare as Shakespeare wrote it.
The second is dynamic equivalence, or thought-for-thought equivalence. This approach attempts to stay as close to the thought the original writer was trying to convey. Think of this as Shakespeare rendered as an easier-to-understand language for modern English speakers.
Each approach has strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately most translations are a true combination of the two. The versions below are generally considered to be very close to the original.