Question of the Week #4

Welcome to the fourth edition of "Question of the Week"...please answer in the comments OR write a blog post of your own and leave me a link to your answers! Feel free to borrow the graphic as well.

Answer at any time, Tuesday is just the day I post a new question.

Do you prefer reading Bibles in paperback, hardback, or leather? Do you prefer red letter or black letter? Do you have a favorite translation of the Bible? Why? What is it that you love? Do you prefer reading text-only Bibles? Or do you prefer reading study Bibles? Do you have a favorite study Bible?

These are all personal preference type questions. So while it's fun to see all the different answers we might come up with, there are no right and wrong answers.

Most of the time I prefer leather Bibles. I do own a few (okay, more than a few) hardback Bibles. But I like the leather-experience best.

I'm a bit passionate on the red-letter/black-letter issue. I would prefer that all Bibles (aka all Bibles that I own) to be black letter. I just don't like reading red letter Bibles. I think there are several reasons...sometimes the red ink is too bright, too red, too orange, too dark, too light. It can be hard on the eyes if you have certain vision problems. (Like I have.) But I also find red letters to be distracting. Your mind could tend to jump to the red letters and let the surrounding text--the context--blend into the background. Your mind could lose interest maybe. Or the reverse could be true, your mind could come to jump over the red letters and they begin to lose their significance because you think you already know what it has to say. Either way, they could prove distracting. I also have some issue with 'red letters' being mistakenly identified as more-special, more-holy, more God-breathed than the other text, the surrounding text. I don't expect you to agree with me. That's why I said there were no right and wrong answers to these questions.

My favorite translation of the Bible....that would be the ESV...no...the NASB....no the ESV. I can't make up my mind. Those two are my favorites though. I read several different translations though. I own many. So I might use one translation this year and another translation next year. So I don't use only one translation. I have many New King James Bibles because that publisher--Thomas Nelson--has so very many study Bibles that it has published over the decades.

I like reading text-only Bibles. I do. But I like study Bibles too. I think both are necessary. It's good to have study notes on hand so you can find answers to your questions. And if you're in a Sunday school class (or happen to be a Sunday School teacher) or Bible Study, the study notes can be extremely helpful. I think it's important to read the Bible both as a devotional book--gentle reading, pleasure-time-with-the-Lord...and to study the Bible...to take time to read something slower, to put more thought, more effort, more energy into it. To dig deeper and seek to learn. Both are important.

I have several favorite study Bibles. I love the MacArthur Study Bible--both NASB and NKJV. I love the Nelson Study Bible (NKJV). I love the ESV Study Bible. I love the Reformation Study Bible (ESV, NKJV), the Spirit of the Reformation Bible (NIV).