May 12, 2015

The Reformation Study Bible 2015: A Brief Review

By Clarke Morledge

I have been waiting for this one for years. The Reformation Study Bible (2015) has recently been released.

There are dozens of really good study Bibles available in English today. But I always advise people to consider reading in different translations if at all possible to get various perspectives. The problem, of course, is that Bibles can get expensive, especially study Bibles.

However, these days one of the benefits of Internet technology is the access to great online resources, such as BibleGateway.com. BibleGateway.com is where you can read passages of Scripture in multiple translations.  Not only that, but BibleGateway.com has a few helpful commentaries. But the big news this week is that BibleGateway.com has added many of the study notes for the Reformation Study Bible (2015) to its online access. Essentially, you get the notes from this study Bible for free online! But you might want to consider the paper version as it has more material in it.

The story behind the Reformation Study Bible is that it is the product of a team of scholars led by Bible teacher R.C. Sproul, the leader of Ligonier Ministries and the Renewing Your Mind radio program.  R.C. Sproul was first inspired by the original 1560 Geneva Bible, which was essentially the great English translation that mentored multiple generations of English Puritans in transforming 16th and 17th century Britain and the American Colonies, only to be eclipsed by the famous King James Version of the Bible. What set the Geneva Bible apart from other Bibles is that it had copious notes explaining the Bible text for the non-Bible scholar reader. The Reformation Study Bible carries on with that tradition for contemporary English readers.

The Reformation Study Bible was originally done with the New International Version (NIV) in 1988, but when the English Standard Version (ESV) became available, a slimmed down version of the Reformation Study Bible came out for the ESV in 2005. The 2015 is a greatly expanded resource with tons more material than the 2005 version.

Nevertheless, there are some things to keep in mind with the Reformation Study Bible. Because of its decidedly “classical” Reformed theological bent, readers who hold to more Arminian and Wesleyan perspectives might be put off by some of the theological biases. Furthermore, when it comes to issues dealing with the “End Times” and the question of the relationship between Israel and the church, the Reformation Study Bible will prove to be a challenge to readers from more dispensationalist backgrounds. However, when I reviewed the notes for some of the more controversial passages of the Bible, I was pleased that the editors showed a fairly generous view towards different theological positions while clearly stating their own.

Here is a short one-minute video promo:

 

Leave a comment   |  tags: | posted in Topics

May 7, 2015

Are Jesus’ Words Really in “Red Letters?”

By Clarke Morledge
Can we trust that what we read in the Gospels are really the words of Jesus?

Can we trust that what we read in the Gospels are really the words of Jesus?

Many Christians like reading from so-called “Red Letter” Bibles because they are told that the words spoken by Jesus are written in red ink. It can be helpful for some readers, since in the King James Version, there are no quotation marks used to identify when someone is speaking.

The idea of “Red Letter” Bibles goes back to 1899, when the editor of the Christian Herald magazine, Louis Klopsch, was inspired by reading Luke 22:30: ” Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (KJV)” Klopsch was passionate about getting God’s Word out to people, and so he envisioned a new Bible where the words of Jesus could be represented by the color of His blood.

However, the use of a “Red Letter” Bible can be misleading, as it may give some people the impression that the words of Jesus are somehow more important than the other words in the Bible. But theologically, this is wrong-headed since everything in the Bible is inspired by God, according to 2 Timothy 3:16. In that sense, every word in the Bible should be printed in red!

Reading from a “Red Letter” Bible might set you up to have some skewed expectations about Scripture. What are the appropriate expectations we should then have?
Continue reading

10 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in The Gospels

May 3, 2015

In What Sense Does God Foreknow Before He Predestines? (Romans 8:28-30)

By Clarke Morledge
Nero's Torches (Leading Light of Christianity) Henryk Siemiradzki, 1876 (credit: WikiArt, HT: John Paine)

Nero’s Torches (Leading Light of Christianity)
Henryk Siemiradzki, 1876 (credit: WikiArt, HT: John Paine)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son,in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (Romans 8:28-30 ESV).

“Predestination” gets a really bad rap in our culture today. It conjures up images of an aloof or angry deity arbitrarily sending some people to bask in the fragrances of heaven and the rest to go burning in the fiery flames of hell.  Who wants to worship a God like that? But does this popular image of “predestination” conform to what the Bible actually teaches?

In Romans 8:28-30, the Apostle Paul does something that has puzzled and frustrated readers of the Bible for centuries. He brings up this subject of predestination, but he does not go into exhaustive detail here. What does Paul really mean by predestination? Do we get any clue by looking at the word foreknew that precedes predestined in this text?

Continue reading

2 Comments   |  tags: , , , | posted in Apostle Paul

April 29, 2015

Taking the Bible “Literally”

By Clarke Morledge

Plumb LineHave you ever had a conversation with someone who is skeptical about the Bible, and one of the first questions they may ask you is, “Do you take the Bible literally?”

Many Christians, upon hearing the question, instinctively go on the defensive and say, “Yes, I do take the Bible literally.” After all, if the Bible is under attack, a believer will want to stand up and say that they take God at His Word. But then you can almost envision the annoyed look on the skeptic’s face when they respond with something like, “Well then, do you hate your family? After all, did not Jesus say that unless you hate your father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters, then you can not be a follower of Jesus?” This classic objection from Luke 14:26 often puts the believer back on the defensive again, trying to come up with some way to get around the idea of taking the Bible “literally” without compromising one’s faith.

I can almost see the skeptic stiffen up and say, “Mmmm… I see.. so you don’t really take the Bible literally. So why should I?”

When I am asked that first question from a skeptic, I never give a flat response. Instead, I in turn ask a different question, “Well, what do you ‘literally’ mean by ‘literally‘?”
Continue reading

4 Comments   |  tags: , , | posted in Apologetics

April 24, 2015

The Armenian ‘Tragedy,’ and A Plea for the Study of History

By Clarke Morledge
A conflict of versions of history: Armenians claim that 1.5 million of them were killed in 1915-16 in the former Turkish Ottoman Empire. Turkey has a lower figure of 500,000. (photo credit: AFP/Getty, from the The Independent)

A conflict of versions of history: Armenians claim that 1.5 million of them were killed in 1915-16 in the former Turkish Ottoman Empire. Turkey has a lower figure of 500,000. (photo credit: AFP/Getty, from The Independent)

April 24, 2015 marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Armenian “tragedy” where up to 1.5 millions Armenians in Turkey, most of them Christian, were killed in the shadow of the First World War. I say tragedy because for many in Turkey today, the thought of calling it the Armenian genocide is considered offensive. From that perspective, what happened to those Armenians was non-systematic, a part of the chaos of war. The term genocide is a powerful, loaded word, stirring up controversy in the minds of many.

We live in an age where history is often pooh-poohed as being nothing more than a boring recitation of dates and facts that means nothing to most people. Folks are a lot more excited to play with their iPhones and their other latest technological gadgets than they are to think about Turkish and Armenian versions of something that happened one hundred years ago.

But such a dismissal of the study of history is completely wrong headed. History is mostly about the stories of people. These are stories about children, parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents. These are stories that shape the way we view the world around us. History tells us about who we are.

History is even more important for the Christian, since the Bible is essentially the telling of God’s Story. The Bible gives us the authoritative account of God’s redemptive history of humankind. That is why any church worth its salt will retell the story of the Bible week after week after week, so that our minds and hearts might be saturated by the work of God in history.

Make an investment in the study of history. You will learn things about yourself and God that you might never have learned before.

Here is Philip Jenkins, professor of history at Baylor University, telling us about the story that unfolded among the the Turkish and Armenian people, including their Christian communities, one hundred years ago.

1 Comment   |  tags: , | posted in Topics