Versions

My pastor has taken to using the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible. I'm not sure why, but hey, he's the pastor.

I needed a new Bible, so I got one. It's very small, VERY pretty, and comes with a boatload of free software. Did I mention that I like free software? Oh, I did but not on this blog; that was here: http://spiritedmenagerie.blogspot.com/.

Okay, so before that, I was using the NASB, and before that, the NIV. I've gotten away from the King James and NKJV.

I still use the New American Standard Bible, for a couple of reasons. One, I heard that seminaries prefer it for its accuracy in translation, and two, it seems to be precisely a word-for-word translation, so that all you need to do is find out the Greek work and maybe do a work study on it, but not the definition, since you have the definition right there in your Bible.

The ESV...I like it. It's a nice complement to the NASB. It's a bit more modern, but not quite so paraphrased as The Message. I don't particularly like The Message. To me, it's not the Bible. It's interpretation of the Bible. You might as well pull out your J. Vernon McGee's. But the ESV seems to have had the same intent as the NASB, but there is a little more modernity to it, and while I find that a little annoying sometimes, it does help to shed light on the meaning of passages on occasion.

Who knew that scientists could be such purists, huh? Or...maybe that was obvious--I don't know.

So, I think I will do the bulk of my studies from my el cheapo NASB, that I actually highlight in, and the other one I have, the huge and clunky, old International Inductive Study Bible, which I'm afeared of marking in even thought that's its design, and use the ESV for church and times of lighter reading.

I might compare passages of the NASB and the ESV at times, and might even check out the study notes in my broken-spined NIV Study Bible. Sounds like a plan. :)

Regi dG

Technorati Tags: Bible versions, NIV, NASB, ESV, J. Vernon McGee, Greek, The Message

The True Message - Galatians 1

I thought I'd share my notes from Galatians ch. 1 with you. First off, I'm not a Bible scholar, by any stretch. If I happen to hit something right, I want to be clear that it is not from myself. Hey, I just decided to show up to this meeting. If I'm wrong, it's because I'm half-dead tired, since it's 2 am and I started this at midnight. If I'm right, it's surely a miracle.

Okay, so mini background: I'm doing Kay Arthur's "How to Study Your Bible," Regi-fashion. I paraphrased the chapter, then went through my paraphrase, and did all kinds of funky highlighting and note taking. I even drew a little map. It's so rough, I could probably scrape down lumber with it.

Right now, I'm not going to get too detailed, but to discuss my thoughts on a couple of sections. Verse 12 talks about the revelation of the gospel to Paul. Then, in verse 16, he talks about his reaction to his conversion experience. Here are my notes:

First off, "revelation" is an interesting word, and from the Greek word for it, we get "Apocalyps." It can mean "laying bear," "instruction," or "manifestation." The way Paul describes it, it's not something that was cultivated by years of studying or by years of imagining and building a construct. It was built outside of him and "downloaded" to him. It has an instantaneous quality, like something that was previously covered that has had its covering snatched away.

Expansion here: I use the word "downloaded" because that is how I think of it. When I download a program onto my computer, my computer (computer is to brain as download is to revelation, here) is not the source machine. There is another source. When I submit my request to download, the process begins. A complete package is transferred to my computer, almost instantaneously. The development already happened, and now it is just being made manifest to my computer. The installation is more time consuming, as is my learning to use the program, but the information is all already there. /end expansion

The next thought is that Paul spends a lot of time supporting the fact that he didn't spend much time with the apostles (15 days, he specifies). This was curious, but an inevitable defense for where his knowledge comes from. He sets down that the Gospel was by revelation and not from mankind. This is supernatural...and he insists that he is not lying. It seems "too good to be true." He relies on his detailed facts about his travels to be adequate "proof" that his conversion and message were not implanted by experience and suggestion. His past of persecuting Christians establishes that he was unwilling to listen until his conversion experience at Damascus.

I learned a Greek word: euangelion...eu-angelion. From this analysis, I get "eu-" which means "true," like "eubacteria" in biology, and "angelo" which is "messenger." Therefore, I conclude, rightly or wrongly, that Euangelion, from which we get "evangelism" is talking about teaching a "true message."

Regi dG

Technorati Tags: Galatians, Paul, conversion, persecution, Judaism, apocalyps, revelation

Studying Galatians

I've been working on Galatians with my Sunday School class, who are working through Kay Arthur's book, also. I'm not using her guidelines, however.

Basically, I'm paraphrasing the book, right now. It really makes you think, a lot. It's slow work, but I seem to get more out of it.

Having said that, my life is so hectic lately, that I could barely tell you what the book it about right now. I know the first chapter is a defense of the faith, and the second chapter continues that, up to the point I've studied. Maybe I'll get more into it later.

I just thought I'd stop in and empty my brain on the things stirring therein.

Regina G

Playing with Blogger

I changed my template here to look like my old site at blog-city, except I created the wallpaper (and the header). AWESOME! I found some helpful advice here: http://blogatech.blogspot.com/2007/01/add-custom-header-in-new-blogger.html.

I had figured out some of these things already, lol! But it took me hours of goofing around, and many "discard edits." I have a family for crying out loud! I act like a kid with this stuff. I'm 31.

So, then, the guy at the above link suggests deleting stuff out of the style sheet section of the html. When I did that with my template, it crunched my header. I don't know what's wrong, but I think I like it as it is, anyway. There is an invisible link there where my page title is. See if you can find it. ;p

Regi dG

PS. Hmm...apparently, I deleted it somehow. Whoops.

PPS. I cross-posted this to http://spiritedmenagerie.blogspot.com/.

PPPS. I can see that my background will block the view for a little while. *rolls eyes* I should probably lighten it up, but for now...

Moving from Blog-city

I asked the Mayoress at Blog-city to help me upgrade my account, and that I was trying to figure out payment options. I wanted to test their new version, but they converted my old blog.

What happened was that I was not able to pay nor to back up my site by the time the trial was over, and I lost my blog, completely. It was completely deleted.

Thankfully, a lot of my posts were articles that I had just copied from my website, but there were some that I fear have been lost.

Regi dG