22. KJV Center Column Reference

22. King James Version, Center Column Reference. Nelson 4505 BG. 1120 pages. [Source: Bought] [5 stars]

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

Start date: August 18, 2024

End date: October 14, 2024

I thrifted this lovely King James Version center column reference Bible a little over a year ago. If you've been around very long, you'll have realized that I love and adore the KJV. I do. I am not KJVO. I'm not. But at the same time, I just can't stay away from it. I just love it so much and find it so wonderfully majestic, beautiful, and rhythmic. It just sings to me. 

This edition that I bought is Nelson 4505 BG. It's hard to find exact books on GoodReads. Its dimensions are similar to a thinline Bible. It was published in 1989. It is two column, red letter, center column reference. The font is on the smaller side. But it is light weight. There is minimal ghosting. In other words, it could be better but it could also be a lot worse. The ghosting is not a distraction. It is verse by verse with "self-pronouncing" text. YET with the self-pronouncing text it is on the minimal side. Many proper names and place names do not have this breakdown into syllables. It's there for the longer, more obscure words, and not so much the more common ones that most people would already know. Speaking of obscure words, there are some words defined in the center column. There are short book introductions to each book of the Bible. There is a small concordance and a reading plan in the back.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #41

Bible reading

NASB 77 (Topical Chain Study Bible)

• 2 Samuel 10-24
• 1 Kings
• 2 Kings
• 1 Chronicles 1-9

KJV (Center Column Reference)

• John 12-21
• Acts
• Romans
• 1 Corinthians
• 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians

LSB

• Psalms 90-150
• Luke 11-24
• John

ESV

• Genesis 17-50
• Job
• Exodus 1-10

CSB Baker Illustrated Study Bible

• Romans 12-16
• 1 Corinthians
• 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon
• Hebrews
• James
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Jude
• Revelation

KJV Names of God Bible & Alexander Scourby Audio

• Genesis 1-11

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

21. CSB Baker Illustrated Study Bible

21. CSB Baker Illustrated Study Bible. God. 2019. 11, 411 pages. [Source: Library] [5 stars] 

First sentence: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 

Start date: August 27, 2024

End date for Old Testament: September 23, 2024

End date for New Testament: October 12, 2024

This was the FIRST time I've ever checked out a Bible from the library in order to read and review it. To be fair, it was more with reviewing in mind than reading. I checked out the digital e-book from the library. 

Things you should absolutely know about the CSB Baker Illustrated Study Bible:

It was first published in 2019. It is now out of print. Since a popular Bible reviewer on YouTube made a video about it in December 2023, it went from a fairly unknown, slightly difficult to find study Bible to incredibly impossible to find unless you want to over-pay by several hundred dollars. Copies are being listed for about $350 to $450. The digital e-book is of course still available to buy...for under $20. 

There will definitely be differences in layout between the digital and print. This is impossible to avoid. I reviewed the digital copy, of course. 

It is single column. It is red letter. It does feature study notes and book introductions.

It uses the Christian Standard Bible.

Observations and thoughts (my own):

Long story short: do I personally think it is worth hundreds of dollars????? NO, NO, NO, NO. I think it would have been worth the original selling price. 

I do think it is PACKED with information, with "bells and whistles." At least in the digital edition, it seemed the study notes had study notes. Links to definitions from a dictionary and links to longer articles. The study note section of the digital book was packed with "illustrative" "goodies." Illustrations, charts, photographs, tables, etc. Was every illustration helpful or necessary? No. Some were extremely very helpful. Others were pure clutter. (Unless you are into that kind of thing.) 

It had longer articles. It starts out strong with "The Grand Story of the Bible," and "How To Read, Interpret, and Apply the Bible." It has introductions to the Old Testament and New Testament. It had introductions before each new section/genre. (Pentateuch, Historical, Poetic, Prophetic, Gospel and Acts, Letters and Revelation. Of course, each book of the bible has its own introduction. 

It had shorter articles. These "mini" "many" articles are several paragraphs in length apiece and address themes, subjects, topics, issues from within books of the Bible. These are the ones I mentioned being study notes to the study notes. I'd be curious how these are arranged and laid out in the print edition. (Are they in the back of the Bible???? Are they in the text of the Bible???? Who knows.)

It had definitions, oh so many definitions. These help clarify--at least--how the men (and perhaps women) who worked on the Bible feel about certain subjects, topics, etc. 

Each chapter has study notes. What I will say--for better or worse--is that each book seems to have its own  way about it. That's a horrible description. What I mean is that the tone, the style, differs greatly book by book. For example, you might have book of the Bible "X" have study notes that are extremely intellectual, scholarly, filled with LONG multi-syllable words, convey complex ideas, a bit intimidating. You might have book of the Bible "Y" be super laidback, casual, all summarizing, strong doses of speculation, no true insights or information to learn. 

What bothered me was the strong SPECULATION in places. I found this mostly to be true in Genesis through 2 Kings. It was like there was an enormous shift between the first half and second half of the Old Testament in terms of how the study notes were done. One place of speculation was that David never specified Solomon was to be heir to the throne and that Bathsheba was manipulating behind the scenes to get the job done. Bathsheba wanted HER son on the throne and David was weak and dying so she was able to wink, wink, wink hey remember when you promised Solomon the throne. The note writer claims that if David had such thoughts on who should be the royal heir, it would have been mentioned in 2 Samuel directly. That is just one example. 

Speculating happens. Granted. It's just you don't need outside help with that. Every reader can read the biblical text and ask speculative questions because they are curious. It doesn't mean they should brainstorm an answer up out of thin air and include it in a study Bible.

As I mentioned the study notes seem to stop summarizing and speculating after the history books. It then went to a more scholarly, information-filled approach. 

Now ALL study notes have a varying degree of theological-denominational bias. And sometimes the study notes from one book of the Bible seems to be at odds with the study notes from another book of the Bible. The study notes seem to offer a bit of contradiction--in places where there is no contradiction in Scripture. (And by bias, I mean taking "a" position about something.) 

The Ephesians notes reveal, for example, that the writer of those study notes (at the very least) are NOT in any way shape or form REFORMED. (Though other places that talk about predestination and election and foreknowledge seem to have varying degrees of interpretation/meaning. So perhaps not every one who worked on the Bible feels exactly the same on this subject.) 

The speculation weirded me out in several places. The un-Reformed position left me wanting--personally. Of course, there will be a large population that will rejoice in its un-reformed-ness. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

47. Strong Psalm 1

47. Strong: Psalm 1. Sally Lloyd-Jones. Illustrated by Jago. 2024. 18 pages. [Source: Library] [Board book] [5 stars] 

First sentence: By a stream

is a good place

for a little tree 

to be.

She reaches down

her roots

to drink.

And the water never dries up.

Premise/plot: Sally Lloyd-Jones' newest book is a board book retelling or adaptation of Psalm 1. The illustrations are by Jago. This is the pair that produced the Jesus Storybook Bible. After the adaptation of the psalm, it transitions into a family-friendly prayer for little ones. 

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I do wish that there was both a) more quantity and b) more quality books for little ones by Christians. This is quality. I wouldn't mind seeing more psalms done by this author-illustrator pair. I think it is a great starting point because Psalm 1 can in many ways describe the Christian life. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon #40

Bible reading

NASB 77 Topical Chain Study Bible

• Joshua 6-24
• Judges
• Ruth
• 1 Samuel
• 2 Samuel 1-9

KJV (Center Column Reference)

• Matthew 21-28
• Mark
• Luke
• John 1-11

LSB (Giant Print Reference)

• Psalms 25-89
• Mark
• Luke 1-10

ESV (Giant Print Personal Size)

• John
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Jude
• Revelation
• Genesis 1-16

CSB (Baker Illustrated Study Bible)

• Luke
• John
• Acts
• Romans 1-11

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

46. Tracing God's Story

Tracing God's Story: An Introduction to Biblical Theology. Jon Nielson. 2024. 384 pages. [Source: Review copy] [christian nonfiction; theology] [5 stars]

First sentence: Biblical theology is a discipline that seeks to discover theology (truth about God and his work) through the gradual and progressive revelation of his saving plan in the story of the Bible. This is often done by tracing certain themes or ideas through Scripture from beginning to end--Genesis to Revelation. The core conviction of those who practice the discipline of biblical theology is that the Bible is a unified work--a book inspired by one divine author (God) and given to human beings to help them understand his broad saving plan, which ultimately was accomplished through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. 

Tracing God's Story is one of three books in an introductory theology series. Two have been published so far. The first book, Knowing God's Truth, I reviewed last month. It was an introduction to systematic theology. Though written by the same author, the approach, of course, is different. 

The book "traces" the big picture story of the Bible in eight scenes:

1) God's creation and a crisis

2) God's promise of a people

3) God's people grow

4) God's kingdom--rise and fall

5) God's people--captive and coming home

6) God's salvation

7) God's church

8) God's eternity

The tracing centers on redemption and salvation. It neither follows the structure of Genesis through Revelation nor a chronological approach. It is a blended approach. 

There are suggested memory verses for all sixteen chapters. Each chapter is broken into smaller sections or chunks. 

There are also suggested readings for each section of each chapter. These readings reminded me of the old school reading guides found in The Student Bible (and the like). It does not assign readers chapters from every book of the Bible. But it does at least assign chapters from all the major genres. 

The narrative style is accessible, well thought out, clear. 

I do think Tracing God's Story would be a good choice for curriculum. 

How does it compare to Knowing God's Truth???? Honestly, I like Knowing God's Truth better. Not necessarily because I love systematic theology more than biblical theology, but perhaps because I am personally already so familiar with the story of the Bible--reading it cover to cover--that I got less out of it. I do think it would still be great for almost every reader. The goal is not necessarily to have readers read every chapter of every book of the Bible in order to grasp the big picture. It picks a few chapters here and there from all the major categories and then summarizes how they fit together. Of course, it encourages readers to go back and read more, more, more. Perhaps this is enough so readers can taste and see. Whenever I see reading plans that pick and choose which chapters from individual books to read, I always can't help thinking but you're missing out on this and this and this and this and this and what about that how can you skip that. But again, I think this is a me problem. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

DNF, On the Spectrum

On the Spectrum: Autism, Faith, and the Gifts of Neurodiversity. Daniel Bowman, Jr. 2021. 256 pages. [Source: Library] [DID NOT FINISH] [no stars given] 

I am not rating this book because I did not finish the book. I read *some* of the book. (I'll detail which chapters in a bit.) This is not a proper review. It is a partial review of what I did read. It is not meant to reflect the book as a whole because I did not finish the whole book.

On the Spectrum is a collection of essays written by an autistic poet who is a practicing progressive Episcopalian, a husband, a father, a lover of literature. (Personally, I thought he came across as a literary snob. But to each his own. Seriously. Love whatever authors you love. No judgment. His tastes aren't my taste from what little I read, however, again to each his own.)

The essays I read include: "Autism and the Church" (8 pages); "Service and the Spectrum" (12 pages); "The Insidious Nature of Bad Christian Stories" (8 pages).

Are those three essays enough to judge the book as a whole? NO. Of course not. That's why this is NOT a proper review. It was enough for me to taste and see that this book was not what I wanted. It would be horribly unfair to judge a book based on what it isn't. What the book is: Personal memoirs in the form of a collection of essays written by a man whose first love is poetry and *literature*.

Essays are not my typical read. I didn't understand that this is what the book is, a collection of essays. So while I was expecting the traditional format/structure of more traditional Christian nonfiction or christian living or dare I say even theology, this is a collection of personal essays. I think the subtitle is slightly misleading in that it doesn't really clarify that this is a book of essays.

Poetry is not my typical read either. Even though the book is not a book of poetry, you can't take the poet out of his writing style, his narrative. And that's not a bad thing, it's an authentic to himself thing.

Personal memoir. I believe that it would be safe to say that ALL of the essays are personal.

It isn't that faith is completely and totally absent from this one. It isn't. But based on the subtitle AND the fact that this is listed under the category or label Christian living, I was expecting another kind of book. I read chapters whose titles might indicate the presence of faith as a subject. It is entirely possible that other essays might reflect faith as well.

I will say that his faith--PROGRESSIVE EPISCOPALIAN--does not align with mine. He seems more likely to quote some of Oprah's favorite authors (in particular there were scores of Richard Rohr quotes If not scores, it felt like it. I only read a handful of essays but his name kept popping up. I just used the search feature to search, eleven times he is quoted and/or referenced)

"Autism and the Church" is an essay detailing the author's history with the church...the elements of church that were NOT working for him (though he couldn't quite put his finger on the why until his diagnosis) and his present experiences in his local church. One quote, "Since my diagnosis, I know I don't have to feel ashamed anymore. And that's perhaps the key takeaway I'd like to offer to fellow Christ followers: as you live and worship alongside your autistic neighbors, you can help free us from the shame we've carried." I think my favorite bit of this one was seeing how the Book of Common Prayer could be *extremely* comforting because of the structure and familiarity.

"Service and the Spectrum" is an essay all about BALANCE. How does one balance the need for self-preservation (taking care of one's self to avoid meltdowns and overwhelming the mind, the senses, etc.) with the need to "serve" the church and "bear fruit." This is a thought-provoking chapter with plenty of questions and one man's solution to those questions.

"The Insidious Nature of Bad Christian Stories" is an essay about how terrible, horrible, no good, very bad anything labeled "Christian" is. Which is perhaps slightly ironic since this one is I believe published by a Christian publisher. The main point of this one seems to be that the only good art is secular art. Are there bad Christian movies? Yes. But where I would disagree is the generality that ALL, no exceptions, are bad. It seems impossible to him that a good Christian movie could ever be made. But it isn't just films, he is criticizing anything and everything specifically "Christian." He first says that Christian art doesn't even deserve "serious critical attention" because obviously it is so poorly done and obviously bad. Actually the word he uses is CHILDISH.

What are some childish attitudes that bad Christian stories feed into and encourage?

• The immature need to have correct beliefs, as opposed to the adult need to consider and examine diverse voices to develop critical thinking, empathy, and love.
• The immature need to be continually comforted, rather than the adult need to be comforted when afflicted, but also afflicted and challenged by difficult art when one has become too comfortable, even complacent, in one's faith, relationships, work and leisure.
• The immature need for clear answers to questions that have none, as opposed to the adult need to learn to live creatively with mystery and paradox.
• The immature need to separate good and evil into clear camps at all times, as opposed to the adult need to learn to let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest
• the immature confusing of real emotion and true empathy with shallow sentimentality and greeting card cliche, as opposed to the adult need to feel deeply through encounter and catharsis while confronting our own contradictions
• The immature need to romanticize the past as opposed to the adult need to recognize the complications, flaws, and entrenched injustices of every era--and in that recognition, to nevertheless work in faith to love God and our neighbors.
• The immature need to be in control as opposed to the adult need to wait on God through ambiguity. 

It would be easier to evaluate if he'd lowered himself enough to comment with specifics instead of generalizing everything and condemning it one and all.

Christian works [be they art, movies, books, music] will always, always, always have haters. That's true enough. Even within Christian circles you will find haters that slam on Christian stuff. For better or worse. Again often condemning anything and everything in a generalized grouping. So while plenty of readers would probably agree with Bowman, I cannot. Because generalizations just don't work for me.

So this last essay I read was a big NO to me.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible