Absolutely Nuts!
I have received and completed viewing the first disk from Puritan Picks. The disk was the first one of the Foundations DVD from Ligonier – excellent stuff as to be expected. That is not the focus of this article. I want to focus on the Puritan Picks service. Spoiler alert: it is excellent!
It took 3 business days to receive my first disk. Certainly not as fast as Netflixs but very good. It arrived in a similar, but smaller envelope. During the time I had the disk, the fine folks at Puritan Picks implemented a feature that not even Netflix has available. They allow you to notify them through your account when you send back the DVD you had rented and then they expedite the shipment of the next disk in your queue. Very nice! That is a very helpful addition that will expedite receiving the next selection.
I have been very happy with the selection of DVDs available. It will keep me busy for quite some time. I would highly recommend the Puritan Picks service to anyone who wishes to view Christian DVDs. Check it out for yourself!!
R. L. Allan has been designated by many as the publishers of the best quality Bibles in the world. You won’t get any argument from me on that. The one edition that is frequently mentioned as their best is the KJV Longprimer. I won’t go into all the details of that edition, check out J. Mark Bertrand’s review – he has covered it in great detail.
The crown jewel of the Longprimer line is the #53 Highland Goatskin model with full yapp. Suffice it to say, this is one fabulous Bible. Unfortunately, the Longprimer #53 is out of stock awaiting a reprint which will likely be at a higher price according to a correspondence I received from Nicholas Gray, the director at R. L. Allan.
My friends, now is the time to acquire one of these Bibles should you be in the market for a quality KJV Bible. While checking out the Longprimer section of the R. L. Allan website, I noticed that two of these editions are currently reduced in price: the #59 – Mid Grain Goatskin (now about $115) and the #52 – French Morocco (now about $100). The Mid-grain goatskin is nearly the equal of the Highland goatskin. The French Morocco is a little stiffer though still awesome. Mr. Gray also had some other intereting information in his email:
“… I think you should consider the #52 or the #59 Longprimer now. I would choose the cheaper #52 because it is really goatskin although we say French Morocco. Our binder upgraded the leather at no extra cost.”
Wow! A double bonus – reduced price and a leather upgrade at no additional cost. This was just too good to pass up. One is now on its way to my house. Perhaps, one will be on it’s way to your place also.
By now, most have heard of Netflix and many have availed themselves of this popular service. It has become very popular in our family. Now there is a new service known as Puritan Picks modeled very similarly to the Netflix business model . . . except that Puritan Picks specializes in Christian videos. I have recently signed up for Puritan Picks. The main reason I joined was for videos produced by Ligonier Ministries. They have a yearly conference with several speakers that I enjoy hearing speak and they also have DVDs containing theological instruction from the Reformed perspective. However, Puritan Picks doesn’t contain just videos of the above sort. There is something for everyone in the family from Charlotte’s Web for children to something like Sense & Sensibility for those looking for a wholesome movie. I’ll be reporting my impressions of the Puritan Picks’ service – their lineup of video looks to be very good.
For all of you who, like myself, use the very fine Accordance Bible program, the usefulness of the NRSV has just been magnified. They have released a tagged module of the NRSV. A tagged module, what is that? A “tag” is a label that is used to give information about a word or group of words. The advantage of this is that the tagged words will show the Strong’s number and relevant Hebrew or Greek words and transliteration of the Hebrew or Greek words in the instant details box when hovering the mouse over a word in the text. Another big advantage is that if you have a tagged original language text (Greek or Hebrew) and have it open in a parallel window, one can see the corresponding original language word being highlighted when the mouse is held over the English text and vice versa.
It is no secret to most that the NRSV is my translation of choice. This is a much needed addition to the Accordance toolbox for me. At this point, the module contains the entire New Testament but the Old Testament is only partially completed. It will be finished later this year and will be a free upgrade for all who purchase the NRSVS module. Scoot on over to the Accordance website and get this gem.
Today must be free day! Westminster Theological Seminary has made their audio archive available to anyone. A simple signup is all that is necessary. Go to the signup page and start enjoying!
Logos is currently giving away the book, “Money Matters” by Larry Burkett to anyone who would like it. If you have listened to Christian radio in the past several years, it is likely that you have heard Larry Burkett giving sound Biblical-based financial advice to his listeners. This book is a distillation of the principles that Mr. Burkett has espoused over the years and is well worth having. Rush on over and get your copy today.
Today, I discovered a website of great interest to me and perhaps you, too. I was searching for a genuine leather edition of the Spirit of Reformation Study Bible. The SORSB is now out of print and the leather edition is especially hard to find. During my search, I was perusing the Puritan Board to see if there might be a reference to a website where I could purchase the SORSB. Well much to my delight, there indeed was such a reference. A link directed me to the Third Millennium website where I found exactly what I had been searching for . . . in more ways than one. My interest in reformed theology has been building in a steady crescendo for several weeks now. I owe J. I. Packer and his series of lectures on Puritan theology for the initial kickstart. Since then, it has been a steady quest in study of the Bible and other Christian works to learn as much as I can.
Another desire of mine has been to further my formal Biblical education. In 2007 I graduated from Saint Louis Christian College with a Bachelor of Science degree. Since then I have really wished for a seminary-level education. Couple that with my interest in reformed theology and the Third Millennium website becomes very attractive indeed. They offer a modest but growing selection of seminary-level courses at a very reasonable cost. The classes are presented by professors at Reformed Theological Seminary and Covenant Theological Seminary – both high quality institutions. The courses are available for a suggested donation of $1.99 per class if you choose to download the video. A corresponding study guide is also available to download. Additionally, the classes are available on DVDs at a very modest cost. Their aim is to offer three different progressive level of classes that in totality would equal an MDIV degree. To be clear, Third Millennium is not a school nor do they grade your classes. In their own words:
Our goal is to provide Christian education to hundreds of thousands of pastors around the world who lack sufficient training for ministry. We are meeting this goal by publishing and globally distributing a free multilingual, multimedia, digital seminary curriculum in English, Arabic, Chinese (Mandarin), Russian and Spanish. The curriculum is designed to be used in support of existing schools, as well as by groups and individuals. It consists of three central elements: graphic-driven videos, printed instruction and internet resources.
If you are looking for some excellent seminary-level study material, please check out the Third Millennium website.
There is a new print magazine, Bible Study Magazine, from the folks who make the very fine Logos Bible software.
Bible Study Magazine
I know that seems a little strange that a software company would create a print magazine. I ordered a back issue of the first issue and I am very impressed. The magazine fills a very important and pretty much untapped focus. The magazine is definitely evangelical without being unnecessarily conservative. The layout is one of the most attractive I have seen in any print magazine. If you want to get a feel for what this magazine is about, there are several sample articles available online. The focus of the articles seem to be aimed at the interested layperson or pastor. Almost anyone could read this magazine with profit. The magazine is very reasonably priced at $14.95 for a one year subscription.
One of the articles that I enjoyed was the one entitled, “The Great Isaiah Scroll” by John D. Barry. Mr. Barry interviewed Dr. Peter Flint who believes he has a calling to show the importance of the Dead Sea Scrolls to those of the Christian faith. Dr. Flint spoke in a convincing fashion about how the Dead Sea Scroll reinforce the Christian faith. The other articles in this issue are top notch as well. There is an interview with the popular apologist, Josh McDowell and and interview with Dr. Mark Goodacre, the creator of that most excellent web resource for New Testament studies: the New Testament Gateway. There are some excellent tips on how to actually conduct your own personal Bible Study as well.
Currently, there is a promotional event underway that involves a giveaway of several gifts. Those include:
- 40 signed copies of Randy Alcorn’s book, “Heaven”
- 5 subscriptions to the Bible Study Magazine
- 1 copy of the Logos Bible Study Library – a $259 value.
Rush on over to the Bible Study Magazine website and check out this very valuable, high quality resource that will greatly enrich your study of the Bible.
I have really tried to like the ESV. I want to like the ESV. I have purchased more editions of it than almost any other translation. I like the fact that it is a revision of the RSV. I like the fact the Crossway appears to listen to their customers and be daring enough to provide editions with features that many other publishers will not. I like the fact that Crossway is a non-profit entity. I like the fact that they are willing to provide free electronic editions to many Bible software programs.
What I don’t like is the tendency to unnecessarily theologically color passages and NOT be honest enough in the footnotes to admit it. The one that I think has finally sent me over the edge is the much discussed passage in Isaiah 7 where they use the rendering from the Septuagint to support the use of virgin instead of young woman like that in the RSV. In and of itself that is not a bad choice provided they footnote alternative readings – especially in such a controversial passage. Even worse, and this is what drove me over the edge, they then turn around and cite the Hebrew usage of the term in several passages in the cross references as supporting the use of virgin – conveniently changing the text to reflect that without footnotes. The passages referenced do not require that virgin be used to make good sense of the passage. Sorta like, having your cake and eating it too. The Hebrew term, ‘almah’ does not demand virgin be used and indeed is usually translated in the Hebrew Bible as young woman or maiden and does not preclude the young woman or maiden being a virgin.
What it boils down to for me is that there is a lack of honest documentation in the footnotes about usage of the text. These types of things would have far less negative impact if they would just footnote the alternative or provide an explanation and not just be assumed as the interpretation. I just wish the textual notes were a little more forthcoming.
In the meantime, I’ll stick with the NRSV and its excellent textual notes.
