Book Review: NLT Illustrated Study Bible - Great for new Christian or for easy to read translation.

Review: NLT Illustrated Study Bible

When I received this Bible in the mail, I was excited about looking it over.  Translation wise my view of the New Living Translation is that it is a good thought for thought translation; meaning it is not word by word to the original Hebrew (OT) or original Greek (NT), as would be the case with KJV, NASB, ESV (and some other translations). It does a good job with its thought for thought at bringing the original meaning into each verse in a much easier reading style.  This Bible is my choice for a new Christian. When I came to faith in Christ in 1975, I wish a Bible like this existed, as when I became a Christian it was all so new to me and my first two Bibles were not study Bibles.  A study Bible like this would have been so helpful to me. 

As to the name "Illustrated" in the title, I was really interested in how "illustrated" this Bible would be, as I have many good Bibles with pictures, charts and illustrations.  Would this Bible be different?  This Bible has a good amount of illustrations.  As far as color pictures, this Bible may be the most beautiful Bible I own. Also, some of the photos taken at actual Bible sites are amazing and give you a little more feel for the environment of that time period. 

One of my favorite features of this Bible is the detailed information "Features Index" provided on every main person in the Bible, as well as detailed information on every key event, situation or term that needs explaining. These are inserted throughout the Bible (usually when the subject first comes up in the Bible), and this is even before you get to all the Bible Study notes that take up approximately the bottom half of most pages.  The Bible notes are good to cover most things, but also fairly general in their explanations.  Definitely sufficient and helpful - not my favorite Bible in study notes - though still very good.

This Bible has great reference material in the back starting at page 2378 and going through 2557 including (but not limited to): Hebrew & Greek Word Studies (over 200), Features Index, Notes Index, Dictionary/Concordance, and in the very back colored maps.

From cover to cover this Bible has over 2600 pages and weighs 4.7 pounds (so it's pretty big and heavy).

I own other NLT Bibles, but this is my first Study Bible of the NLT.  I'm excited to have it.  I hope this review was helpful to you in your endeavor for the right Bible for you as you read God's Holy Word, the BIBLE.

I only gave it 4 stars overall, but for a new Christian or someone who needs an easy to read study Bible, I would give it 5 stars.

Best price I found was at: www.christianbook.com  $26.99 (Retail $49.99)

Tyndale House Publishers provided me with a free copy of this Bible in exchange for my honest review.  I was in no way required to write anything positive, and the thoughts and opinions expressed here are completely my own.

Book Review: "If God is Good - Faith in the Midst of Suffering and Evil"

I was very excited about getting my copy of "If God is Good" by Randy Alcorn. I even the loved the cover (rose and thorns). I find Randy Alcorn to be an excellent author who is very scripturally sound. He does a pretty thorough job covering a very hard subject, evil and suffering, in this 500+ page book. This subject is a hard one for anyone to totally understand, but I feel Randy Alcorn, the author, did a great job covering the many angles of hand questions that surround this very question,  "if God is good, why all this suffering and evil?"  

Randy Alcorn (Author) takes 2 1/2 minutes to share on his book.

This book is divided into 11 sections and covers practically every aspect of evil and suffering from its origins to various views on the subject. I believe Randy did as good a job on covering the subject as anybody could ever attempt to do. To understand it more thoroughly than this, I believe we'll have to wait until the day we stand before the presence of God, and then that which is now dim and cloudy on suffering and evil, will become totally clear. But until then, I believe this book will help you better understand and deal with the suffering and evil that surrounds all of us. Not one of us is exempt from suffering and the consequences of evil in our world.  

I do believe this book will help you to see that you don't need to be getting mad at God over this subject.  It is so wonderful to know that through it all our God is in control and that God is good!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher, in exchange for my honest review.  I was in no way required to write anything positive, all thoughts and opinions expressed here are complete my own.

My review of "Bonhoeffer Abridged - Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy"

This is the second book I've read on Dietrich Bonhoeffer in recent months.The last one was "Strange Glory," a very long book with a lot of detail, and for some people a little too much detail. My wife loves history and is from a German heritage, so I thought she would love "Strange Glory" - she didn't. She found herself getting bored with the details.  I have asked her to read "Bonhoeffer Abridged" and I think she'll really like it. One of the things I really like about this book is that it gives you a fast-moving account of Dietrich Bonnhoefer's life, yet being careful to cover most of the highlights of his life and ministry without dragging through little details. It is broken down into 12 chapters covering the years of his life from birth to death.  It's entire length is only 256 pages, but those pages  covers his life quite thoroughly. I never once found myself bored while reading this book - it is an excellent book. I believe it gave me good insight into the life and ministry of Dietrich Bonhoeffer. I found it very easy to read and enjoyed it very much. If you want more details on his life and ministry, I would suggest getting the unabridged copy of this book "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy" (624 pages) by the same author (Eric Metaxas).  I easily give this book 5 stars.

256 pages abridged 

or 624 unabridged.

Thank you to Thomas Nelson and BookLook bloggers for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review; all opinions are my own.  I was not required to give a positive review.