Advice for an absolute MUST read book list?
🧐 Research Wanted 🤔
I guess it doesn't have to be a book. This is the list of the ones I've read/listened to so far that I think are tremendously interesting or important (I know, it's a short list):
World Without Cancer, by G. Edward Griffin,
The Creature from Jekyll Island, by G. Edward Griffin,
Borax Conspiracy (article: https://pforlife.com/borax-conspiracy.html)
Currently I'm listening to Tragedy and Hope 101 by Joseph Plummer (if you're familiar with Tragedy and Hope by Carroll Quigley, this is just a synthesis of that long and difficult to find book.) Additionally I'm planning on reading The Real Lincoln by Thomas DiLorenzo next.
If you have any strong recommendations, please share!
Agreed that reading the Bible will be a daunting task for most.
Cover to cover is likely not the best way to go about it. Starting with something more easily readable such as the Gospel of John might be a better place to start.
Additionally, using a guide such as "How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth" and/or "How to Read the Bible Book by Book" can be helpful for beginning to understand the rhetorical and cultural issues that can make understanding difficult.
My friend who has been coaching me along (blessed to have him - no coincidences!) gave me a normal Bible and a study version, where the bottom half of the page will be filled with insight on the particular verse/chapter and have references to other books/chapter/verses. That would probably be helpful to some. Also, he recommends, as you are, to start off by reading Gospel of John.
I'll have to check out your references as well, so thank you!
A study Bible is also a great tool - somewhat similar to the books that I mentioned in that it can give you some of the necessary background knowledge necessary to reduce the problems created from reading a text from another era, from another culture, with a rhetorical style that is unlike what we are used to today.
The Gospel of John is a great starting place because not only does the message of John summarize the entire Bible, but John's writing style is quite accessible.
That is not to say that John is simplistic. The Gospel of John is a literary masterpiece with many connections within itself and with the Old Testament. Some of these connections are explicitly stated, but most require reflection.
Really appreciate the advice here. I'm reading the English Standard Version and from the research I've done, it seems to be a "decent" version, compared to some of the other versions out there. KJV seems to be the gold standard around here and I've read blogs where that's the version they tout. Any commentary on that?
Some people are diehard KJV. They may even go so far as to say that other versions are defective and/or untrustworthy. My position on this is that understanding of Biblical languages is better today than it was at the time the KJV translation was made, so I prefer a more modern translation.
As for the popular translations, KJV included, I think they can all be useful. Because one language never translates perfectly into another, making a perfect translation is often next to impossible, and for a text as large and varied as the Bible, I think that it is impossible. Therefore reading from multiple translations with varying translation methods can be helpful.
For example, the ESV claims to be the most literal (word-for-word) version. This may be true, but that does not necessarily make it the best. If you take the English sentence "He's in hot water." and translate it word-for-word into another language, you may have a literal translation, but it is likely that the actual meaning of the sentence would be lost if the receiving language did not have the same idiom.
Additionally, I have found that the literal-style translations, in their quest to faithfully translate word-for-word, often result in complicated English, which can make them more difficult to understand.
In contrast, a translation such as the Good News Bible, seeks to understand the meaning of the original text and then convey that in plain English. This results in a translation that is much easier to read, but you are often at the mercy of the interpretation of the translators because they are trying to give you (what they think is) the meaning of the text rather than just changing vocabulary and grammar from one language to another.
A middle-of-the-road approach is the New International Version (my preference) which tries to incorporate both translation philosophies. The NIV has its own problems - it's not perfect - but it is more readable than the ESV while being more literal than the Good News.
For the most part, translation is a preference. All of the major ones try to be faithful to the original text, but the nature of the translation task means that all of them have to make choices along the way. In spite of this, the overall content is more-or-less consistent. A good commentary (or two) will help to identify the small areas of difference so that you can decide for yourself which is better in each instance.
If I were a beginner, I would simply want a translation that I could read as easily as possible, and my preference would be the NIV. If I already had an ESV study Bible, I would just stick with that because I'm frugal, and the ESV is also a good translation.
There is a podcast called 66/40 by Chuck missler. During the weekdays they upload a 20 minute daily overview of a chapter in the Bible. Right now we are just starting the book of psalms. You read the passages in your Bible then listen to the podcast which gives you a detailed overview of the passage, it’s history, it’s author, it’s context, it’s translation, it’s application to today.
Excellent point...Start with the Gospel of John