Grace Blogs

The Amazon.com search link was a temporary casualty of the Web site redesign. It is coming back, but in the meantime, you can bookmark this entry. If you are not familiar with the way this works, you simply start your search from the Amazon search box. A percentage of your purchase (usually around 6-7% for books and 4% for electronics) will automatically go to the church.

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You know that feeling you get when someone says something that nicely articulates something that you have long felt but just didn’t quite know how to say? Os Guinness is one of those authors that, as I read him, I think “Wow! I wish I could have said it like that.”

Justin Taylor dropped one of those Guinness passages on hi blog yesterday. He is quoting from Guinness’ latest book, The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends on It (pp. 93-94), on Christians playing the victim…

As one who believes that the call of Jesus is to a path of suffering that shuts the door to every form of victim-playing, I am angered by

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 I just got this e-mail from from DesiringGod.org:

All Books $5

Every book in our store will be $5 on June 27-28, Wednesday and Thursday this week.

No limits, so spread the word.

Anybody care to weigh in on some must-read titles from DG?

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ChristianAudio.com gives away a free audio book each month. This month’s book is Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine. I haven’t listened to it yet, but here is what the book’s description says…

“There are certain rules for the interpretation of Scripture which I think might with great advantage be taught to earnest students of the word, that they may profit not only from reading the works of others who have laid open the secrets of the sacred writings, but also from themselves opening such secrets to others. These rules I propose to teach to those who are able and willing to learn.” With these words Saint Augustine (354-430 AD) began one of the finest theological treatments ever written on reading and

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This is finally the last post in the series on Bible study aids following week two of our How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth class. Commentaries are often the first source we turn to for help in understanding a passage, but should probably be our last.

There is something rewarding about mining the Scriptures for the truth that lies beneath the surface. Often this mining requires the types of tools we’ve covered in prior posts, like Bible Dictionaries, Bible Encyclopedias, Concordances, Word Study Guides, and resources like New Manners and Customs.

However, there are times (often after working through a passage on our own) when we are well served …

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For the vast majority of our Bible reading, we rely on the work of our translators and don’t give it a second thought. There are times, however, when we would like to look behind the curtain (so to speak) and see what the original-language word is and see it’s range of meaning and how it has been translated in other passages. In this category, I’d look for something by Spiros Zodhiates, like Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible: New American Standard Bible: Unlocking the Riches of God’s Word or The Complete Wordstudy New Testament With Greek Parallel (Word Study Series). You may also want to combine it with The Complete Wordstudy Dictionary: New Testament and The Complete …

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New Manners and Customs of Bible Times is unique enough that it gets it’s own category. From CBD…

To understand the Bible, you must understand the culture, customs and background of the Bible. This best-selling reference guide takes you on a journey back to biblical times. Each chapter is filled with colorful photography and artwork that brings the Bible to life explaining crafts, occupations, archaeological finds, sculpture, and daily life, food, housing, worship, farming, customs and more. Diagrams, maps, and charts offer more detailed analysis of Bible times. Also includes a useful scriptural and topical index and helpful tips on trips to the Holy Land.

You cannot own every resource out there, but this one has a high

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A concordance gives the reader an index of every word used in the text of Scripture. This can be very helpful when comparing the author’s treatment of the same subject or use of a word. It can also be helpful when you have a passage in mind, but are not sure where it’s found. The key to purchasing a concordance is to make sure that it is matched to the translation of the Bible you use for study.

A closely related tool you’ll want to have on hand is a topical index. Nave’s Topical Bible is the classic in this category. From the blurb at Amazon…

Nave’s Topical Bible, the best known of all topical bibles, has been a

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A Bible Encyclopedia provides the same sort of help to the Bible student that a general encyclopedia would provide to the science or history student. This time around, a recommendation is a little easier.

Ken refers to the The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE) as the best choice “absolutely, hands down, no question.”

What’s even better is that CBD is still offering this resource at an incredible sale price of $79.99 for the four-volume set (compare at Amazon for $204).

Here is the blurb on the ISBE from CBD…

This set contains over 9,000 topics and 3,500 cross-references, including an article on every name of a person or place mentioned

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In How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth this week we looked at how to choose the most important tool in Bible study–a good English translation. We also looked at some of the other tools that will help us get more out of our study. 

One of the most natural first tools to supplement the text itself is a Bible Dictionary. Just as we consider a good dictionary as a standard reference to aid us in our everyday reading, we should think of a good Bible Dictionary in the same way in our reading of the Bible. It should always be on hand to help give us the biblical context …

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