A New Kind of Bible

The long awaited Renovare Spiritual Formation Bibles arrived today. It has been a messy affair to get them here but since so many of us are messy I am sure we don't mind.

For a peek of what this version has to offer you can have a look here.  The contributors are a veritable who's who including  :

• General Editors - Gayle Beebe, Richard J. Foster, Lynda L.Graybeal, Thomas C. Oden, Dallas Willard
• Old Testament and Deuterocanonical Editor - Walter Brueggemann
• New Testament Editor - Eugene Peterson
• Character Sketches - Brenda Quinn

Here is a sample of what it has to offer:

Living in Christ
Colossians teaches that we must be rooted and grounded in Christ (2:7). Only in that way will we come to the fullness of our relationship with God and service to Him. Colossians 2:6-7 offer a pithy summary of the Christian life.

I like the way the language is put into today's context and there are many examples at Renovare's website. This excerpt got me really excited:

Elizabeth was well acquainted with waiting. She and her husband, Zechariah, were “righteous before God, living blamelessly” (Luke 1:6), and yet they were childless, a condition that was often considered a disgrace and sign of God’s displeasure. As the years passed, Elizabeth could no longer hope to conceive. Yet like Abram and Sara, God surprised his faithful followers late in their life, reversing barrenness and bringing forth a child he would use in a great way, who would come to be known as John the Baptist.

I look forward to using this Bible in life group and for some Sunday readings.

Comments

[adeline]

It is an amazing version. It even gives the cultural context in the verse, stating barrenness as something frowned upon by society then. I just compared the passage of Luke 1:6 with NLT and The Message. A good buy indeed. Thanks for recommending it.

[Sivin Kit]

praise be to God ... better late than never! I'll be driving over to your house immediately tomorrow! :-) I need my dosages! (from the scriptures I mean)