Book Review: "Exploring Christian Theology - Revelation, Scripture and The Triune God" (Volume 1)

When I first received this book I was a little concerned that it was going to be some really dry, purely intellectual reading, but I was wrong. This book is really good on sharing the importance of theology. This volume isn't too long with 272 pages, and covers two subjects (nice length); the way in which it's designed is really like having two books in one. The first subject is Scripture and all that entails including the inspiration of the Scriptures. This subject really has to be covered first as it is foundational.  If you don't come to the conclusion that the Bible is 100% inspired by God (Holy Spirit), then you will have no basis upon which to build any of your beliefs. Along those lines let me quote from page 109 of this book, "The proper conception of inspiration holds that the Holy Spirit acted on the writers of the Bible in an organic way, in harmony with the laws of their own inner being, using them just as they were, with their character and temperament, their gifts and talents, their education and culture, their vocabulary and style. The Holy Spirit illumined their minds, aided their memory, prompted them to write, repressed the influence of sin on their writings, and guided them in the expression of their thoughts even to the choice of their words." (Quote by Louis Berkhof).  

The first section also includes 10 memory Scriptures as they relate directly to the subject of the inspiration of the Scriptures. There are also little blocks of information through out the pages for quick reference on the subject at hand, and are also very well-written.

The second subject or book in this volume is on the Triune God, the Trinity. The Trinity is one of those doctrines that is foundational to Christians worldwide, and it will be hard to understand unless you accept as fact that God's Word (BIBLE), as stated in section one, is truly 100% the inspired Word of God.  This section will cover and explain how God exists as three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and each person is fully God, yet there is one God (not three as erroneously taught by some). While this may be one of the hardest doctrines to wrap our finite minds around, it is taught throughout the Bible (Old and New Testaments) as you will see in this section. I feel this book did a good job of explaining the Trinity and showing many passages that teach this foundational truth of Christianity.  

This second section includes 14 memory Scriptures, again, related to the subject. There are also other handy tools such as a glossary of terms. This is helpful as many of the terms in this book are words you've never heard from a modern day pulpit. There is also a section at the end of each part of the book called "shelf space," which refers you to other books on the same subject for further study (and in most cases more in-depth), which I found helpful. The book suggestions are broken down into three categories: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.  By their own rating system, I would say they would likely consider this book intermediate. So, if you did find this book a little too detailed, look at their book suggestions and look for a book rated beginner; if this book was too simplistic for you, then look at their book suggestions and pick a book that is rated advanced.

I would give this book four and a half stars. it's a good book on theology, not too terribly long and pretty easy to read. That being said, if you pay retail price 1 volume is just $16.99, but it only covers two subjects, inspiration of the scripture and the Trinity, so to get a more fuller study of theology you need to buy the other 2 volumes (soon to be released), which means putting out about $50 ($40 if you look around) to cover basic theology.  Volume 2 covers creation, fall, and salvation; and volume 3 covers the church, spiritual growth, and end times. While that doesn't cover absolutely everything in theology, with those three volumes, you should have a pretty good handle on biblical theology when you're done.

I received this book free from the publisher, Bethany House. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. 

Bible Review: New King James Version Study Bible - Second Edition - Full Color

 I grew up with the King James Version (KJV) and therefore memorized most of my scriptures in KJV.  My first KJV Bible was used for many, many years to where I could visibly tell you where on the page most verses were located.

Over the years I changed over to the New King James Version.  I like its similarity to the KJV, yet it is clearer to read and understand, as KJV was written in 1611 in Elizabethan English so many of the words and their meanings in KJV are different now in 21st century. 

The KJV was translated to English from the Textus Receptus Greek for the New Testament and Masoretic Hebrew Old Testament. If that matters to you, then you should like the NKJV as it too was translated from the same above mentioned manuscripts. If that last sentence doesn't matter to you, don't worry about it.  Let's move on :-)

Now, about this specific version. 

First, a quick summary of some of the features of the updated version on the New King James Study Bible are:

NEW attractive full-color page design

NEW stunning Bible-land photos and graphics

NEW in-text maps and charts 

Full cross-references with textual notes

Book introductions, outlines, and timelines

Bible Times and Culture Notes

Word studies and indexes

Reader-friendly notes and articles ideal for extended study

Deluxe NKJV Concordance including proper names

Maps

Center-Column

The above mentioned features are "some" of the main features, but this Bible is full of other great features and information that would make this review much longer. Let's go over some of these features. As stated above, this full color edition is very colorful and has many stunning photos and graphics.  Also, this Bible is full of helpful maps and charts. As is standard in most Bibles, it has a center column of cross-references and some textual notes, but one thing unique about this is the center-column is shaded a light gray (I personally like that).  The book introductions, outlines, and timelines are excellent. As you read through you will see olive call blocks of information on "Bible Times & Culture Notes" you will find this quite helpful and informative. One of my favorite features is the gray block at the bottom of some pages with "Word Studies" that has great information and also references "Strongs" corresponding number for further study. And one final notes on the features - it has a larger and better concordance than I have seen in most Bible (starting at page 2145-2339). 

 Introduction, Outline and Timeline

Large Concordance

Closing thoughts: As colorful as this Bible is, it does NOT have the words of Christ in red.  While this doesn't matter to me, I thought it was worth mentioning.  

This bible has a total of 2400 pages (that's big), but with all the valuable information it needs to be that many pages. As to be expected, it is also quite a heavy Bible weighing in at 3.8 pounds (but I have heavier, so it's no big deal to me).

My final analysis is this Bible deserves more than four stars so I'm going to give it five stars.  If you're looking for a NKJV Bible you should consider this Bible!

TO order the ISBN: 0529114380 (Hardcover, also available in bonded leather and imitation leather).  NOTE: When you order make sure it is the new 2014 edition. Check Amazon.com or ChristianBook.com (as well as many other book retailers to order)

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.

Following God's Complete Instruction Book

"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." - II Timothy 3:16

"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. " - Acts 17:11

"Study (be diligent) to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." - II Tim. 2:15

In the church, today, I find one word that is almost shunned - the word is "doctrine". What is doctrine (in the Greek word is "didache")? Bible doctrine is simply teaching/instruction; it is that which is taught in the Bible.

I have been in churches where people did not want to learn Bible doctrine. After all, they say, "doctrine is boring". My question is, what do you want to learn? After all, Bible doctrine is to be taught/instructed from the Bible.

We're more concerned with hearing an "emotionally stirring" sermon or Sunday School lesson than we are to hear Bible doctrine! Guess what, if you're NOT learning Bible doctrine in EVERY sermon, then you are in trouble of getting into error. It grieves the heart of God that we will not invest the time in His Word to study it and see who God truly is, and what we are to believe. I try to make sure I am believing God's Word and not man's word.

Let me relate a story of something that happened to me a few years back. I had been using a computer for quite some time. Then, I felt a need to add to my software skills. So I picked up a book from the library on this new software. Then, after going through it, I went and got tested on THREE Microsoft software programs (and I studied some on all three), two I had used for approximately 7 or more years, the other one LESS than two weeks. Guess which one I scored the highest on? The one I only knew for two weeks! You may say WHY? Here's the answer, plain and simple. The two programs that I knew for years, I had only been using the applications I thought I needed for the task at hand. But when I wanted to learn the new program, I went and got a book from the library and studied ALL aspects of the software, then I tried to apply ALL the applications. This brought to light an all-too-true, but sad spiritual scenario. Many of us have been doing the same spiritual applications over and over for years, BUT we have never sought to learn the whole counsel of God (all of His Word). We have picked and chosen what we wanted to apply of God's Word. Big mistake!!! You have hindered your full(er) knowledge of God's Word! This is where doctrine comes in! We need to study ALL aspects of God's Word, NOT just the "feel good" subjects.

Understanding all the fundamental doctrines in the Bible are so essential! You will only grow so much (and no further) if you pick and chose what you want to learn and apply. Today, go out and get a good book that covers the fundamentals of the Bible (personally I think a great book for every library and worth the long read is "Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine" (over 1250 pages) by Wayne Grudem's or his small book "Christian Beliefs: Twenty Basics Every Christian Should Know" (only 160 pages and low priced).  Whatever you read be sure it has a lot of scripture and make sure you look them ALL up in your Bible (and in context) to ensure it's the truth (Bible) and not man's words.

Also, launch out into your own personal study on some of those subjects such as: Infallibility of the Bible; the Virgin Birth; who is Jesus Christ; the death, burial and resurrection of Christ; who is the Holy Spirit; who is the Father; end times/last days (Eschatology); salvation; sin, etc.

As we study the Bible we can take simple steps to keep us in a Biblical view of the Bible.  These simple steps to take to keep help you in "rightly dividing the Word of God (Bible).

Step One: Observation  (I.E., Ask questions of the biblical text. Look for things that are emphasized, repeated, related, alike, and true to life.”

Step Two: Interpretation (I.E., Read in context (don't just pull a verse out of it's setting) and also compare words, themes, phrases and styles of the text with other biblical texts.

Step Three: Application (I.E., What does the text Relate to you. Meditate (think about it) and Practice it.   For more information read "Living By the Book" by Howard Hendricks

And may I add here please, please, please ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to Biblical truths as you read and study the Bible.

Today, start afresh studying God's COMPLETE instruction book!




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