I. Choose one book of the Bible to "study" over a period of time. (I'd probably recommend a book from the New Testament). Read this one book in multiple translations. Level one might be to commit to reading it in three different translations. Level two might be to commit to reading it in six different translations. Level three might be to commit to reading it in ten different translations. Level four--if anyone is that committed--might be to read it in fourteen translations. There are so MANY places to find the Bible online, that you wouldn't even have to *own* that many different translations.
- English Standard Version (ESV) (2001)
- Holman Christian Standard Bible (2004)
- New International Version (1984), NIV (2010), TNIV (2005)
- New King James Version (1982)
- New American Standard Bible Update (1995) (Original NASB 1971)
- New Living Translation (1996) New Living Translation, Second Edition (2004)
- King James Version
- Contemporary English Version (1995)
- New Revised Standard Version (1990)
- Revised English Bible (1989)
- The Message (2002)
- Revised Standard Version (1946-1977)
- Good News Bible/Today's English Version (1976)
- The Living Bible (1971)
- New Century Version (1987)
- Geneva Bible
- Tyndale New Testament
- Wycliffe New Testament
You might find this site to be of use. Bible Gateway offers twenty-five versions in English. Bible.Logos offers quite a few as well. Including the Lexham English Bible and the NET Bible. And then there is this Online Parallel Bible.
II. Read some theology. Level one: you might commit to reading two theological books. (I'll give a list of suggested topics below.) Level two: you might commit to reading four theological books. Level three: you might commit to reading six theological books. Level four: you might commit to reading ten theological books.
- books about God
- books about the birth, life, death, resurrection of Jesus
- books about the Bible
- books about prayer
- books about worship
- books about church life
- books about missions
- sermon collections (sermon note collections), essay collections
- biographies/memoirs of theologians, preachers, missionaries, etc.
- books about pain, suffering
- books about apologetics
- books about evangelism
- books about end times
Did I leave out a category you think 'fits' for the challenge? Ask me about it, and it might just fit.
Want to sign up for this one? Leave a comment. (It will probably go to comment moderation. But I will approve comments as I have the time.) You don't have to stay committed to a level. (You can read more or less.) Those are just general guidelines.
© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible
15 comments:
Merry Christmas my friend! Hope the holiday's are wonderful for you and family. I will be back to sign up for this challenge in about a week.
Merry Christmas, Annette! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with your family!
Yes, I am signing up!! Definitely! I'm not sure where I will begin, but I am in. I need this in my life. I am going to blog about it just now too. So check me out.
http://mydevotionalthoughts.blogspot.com/
Becky
I'd like to sign up for the challenge of reading a book from the Bible in various translations + reading a couple of theological books. Thanks so much for hosting a challenging challenge!
Guess I need to commit to which # of translations of Isaiah I'll read. I'll do three (3).
I may do this, but am about at my limit of challenges for next year. So am going to see how things go. I will probably end up reading at least 2 books that would qualify for theological books.
I am gonna join you in this challenge at level 4. Books I am considering are Galatians, Phillipians and Hebrews. In the past when I participated in a Bible book challenge, I always chose Ephesians. I am still heavily attracted to it for its what we have "in christ" statements.
I am planning on doing Ephesians for the Bible reading part - at least 3 different translations but may try for 6. I hope to read at least 2 theological books - one I'm considering is God's Glorious Church by Tony Evans.
Thank you for starting this challenge! I'm excited to get started. I'll be aiming for level 3 on the Bible reading (tackling Genesis) and level 4 on the theological books.
I downloaded the new version of e-sword and now I can compare translations side by side. I downloaded 9 different versions to read alongside my physical Bible, which is a NKJV.
Happy reading in 2011!
Will be joining this challenge - I also need this. I'm not sure which book of the Bible I'll pick yet, and I have plenty of reading material from which to select - our local Cokesbury store is going out of business and I've been going through my book list for the clearance sales. (80% off this week). I'm over at
http://yoursummonsechoestrue.wordpress.com
I'm working on a post now about this challenge and my commitment to it. I am committing to reading the book of Romans 10 times in 10 different translations. I've started with the NASB MacArthur Study Bible.
I am committing to reading 5 commentaries on Romans.
Becky I'm excited about studying Romans this year!
I have finally decided on the book of Hebrews. With 14 translations to read, I will read 2 versions per month for 7 months. Then I will tackle the theological books.
I decided on Hebrews and have already read it in the NIV and NLT translations. I also listened to podcasts of sermons on Hebrews by Jhan Moskowitz, North American Director for Jews for Jesus.
Awesome blog, I'm in! My church has a Bible reading chart. We basically start in Genesis and read right through to Revelations. The more people I am accountable to, the better, as I have tried this many times before. I feel much more committed this year as one of my resolutions this year is to read a book a week, so if I can do that and blog about it, I can certainly read the Bible through!
Dear Becky, I know this is late but I just found your site and I decided to join in on this operation. Hope that's okay. Will do level three on both parts and reading Romans :)
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