Book Review: Wycliffe New Testament

I'm so excited to have finished this one, the Wycliffe New Testament, 1388! The project did take six months--but they were an incredible six months. This little book got me excited about reading the Bible again. The time I spent in the four gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--was wonderful. (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) I never got around to sharing my favorite quotes from John, so I'll take a bit of time (and space) here to share with you:

Be not your heart afeared, nor dread it. Ye believe in God, and believe ye in Me. In the house of My Father are many dwellings. If anything less, I had said to you, for I go to make ready to you a place. And if I go and make ready to you a place, eftsoons I come, and I shall take you to Myself, that where I am, ye are. And whither I go, ye wit, and ye wit the way.

That was from John 14. This is from John 15:

I am a very vine, and My Father is an earth-tiller. Each branch in Me that bears not fruit, He shall take away it. And each that bears fruit, He shall purge it that it bear the more fruit. Now ye are clean for the word that I have spoken to you. Dwell ye in Me and I in you. As a branch may not make fruit of itself but it dwell in the vine, so neither ye, but ye dwell in Me. I am a vine, ye are the branches.

I could go on, but I think that may suffice.

I just love this New Testament. I love the size--it's very compact. I love the language. I love the phrasing of it...phrases like 'nil ye dread' and 'love ye together more busily'. Words like beclipped and disturbled. Each time (or almost each time) an unfamiliar word is introduced for the first time (and only the first time) it is defined in the margins. Familiarity with the New Testament is a plus, of course. Reading this edition can be like putting puzzle pieces together. Your knowledge of the New Testament + the glossary + the context of the verse/passage = readability and accessibility.

From Hebrews 4 in the Wycliffe Bible:

For the word of God is quick and speedy in working, and more able to pierce than any twain-edged sword, and stretches forth to the departing of the soul and of the spirit, and of the jointures and marrows, and deemer of thoughts and of intents and hearts. And no creatures is unvisible in the sight of God. For all things are naked and open to His eyes, to whom a word to us. Therefore we that have a great Bishop that pierced heavens, Jesus the Son of God, hold we the acknowledging of our hope. For we have not a bishop that may not have compassion on our infirmities, but was tempted by all things by likeness--without sin. Therefore go we with trust to the throne of His grace, that we get mercy and find grace in covenable help.

The edition I read is excellent. It is "The Wycliffe New Testament 1388. transcribed by W.R. Cooper Into Modern Spelling." It is published by The British Library in association with The Tyndale Society.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Just Another Girl

Carlson, Melody. 2009. Just Another Girl.

For as long as I can remember, I've been stuck in the middle. Like being dealt a loser's hand with no more turns to take, my luck seemed to run out even before I was born.

What's a girl to do when the guy she's crushing on doesn't love her God? Meet Aster Flynn. The girl in the middle. One older sister, Rose, one younger sister, Lily. One mostly neglectful work-driven mother. One completely (well-mostly) absent father. Seventeen and tired of not having a life--a life complicated by the fact that her younger sister has a mental disability--the mind of a five year old in the body of a fifteen year old--Aster is more than thrilled when a popular guy, Owen, starts paying attention to her. It's summer. And the timing seems right, Owen is there right when she needs. Right when she thinks she can't take another day of life "as is." But is Owen--cute and dreamy though he may be--really the answer to her prayers? What about his reputation? What about his lifestyle? What about his beliefs? Life is definitely complicated for Aster. She knows that she needs a break, a life; she knows that she should not be shouldering the responsibility for caring for her sister all alone. But how can she make her mom and dad listen to her? How can she find her voice?

I liked this one. Aster's narrative is strong and mostly authentic. It did have a few moments where it felt a little bit like an after-school special. And there were a few more places where it felt like an episode of Full House. (Minus the make-up-with-your-sisters-and-hug music.) But all that being said, I liked it more than not. And I'd definitely recommend it to teens and tweens looking for clean reading material. While it is a Christian book, it is more of a morality-values kind of book. Not a bad thing--not at all. It's refreshing to read a book now and then that shows a teen girl happy to be herself, who would choose to be herself instead of falling for the "everybody's doing it..." trick when it comes to drinking and dating, etc. Her life isn't perfect. Her life will never be perfect in that sitcom-ey way.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

What's On Your Nightstand (February)

Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Translated by Samuel Putnam. I'm on page 862. There are 1170 pages of the story--and 1239 if you include the foot notes...but I'm not reading those. The story itself is interesting--dry in places, but hilarious in others.

Dune by Frank Herbert. I'm on 255 of this one. I haven't been giving this one my full attention. I think I've read it two or three times this month--several chapters at a time each time. But I'd like to get it finished soon. So I might bump it up in priority.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I'm on 209. I did finish the audio book of this one earlier in the month, but I wanted to read it too since it was so good.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris. I'm on page 68. This is supposed to be the book club read of the month, but I'm running so behind...I don't know if I'll get it done by the 28th or not. Oh well, I think it an appropriate read for Lent anyhow!

North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley. I'm thirty pages into this YA book. It is very good so far.

In Bible reading...I'm still in the Wycliffe New Testament, I've only got a handful of books left to read: 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, 3 John, Jude, and Revelation.




© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Question of the Week #8

Welcome to the ninth 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.

Do you participate in Lent? Do you give up anything for Lent? If so, what? Why? What do you hope to gain from Lent this year? I don't know if 'gain' is the right word...what I'm asking is what are your goals this year, what are you hoping to accomplish or learn? Do you think that Lent is important? Or not so much?

Lent has never been a big deal at my house, in my church, in my life. Though I recognize that for some people, many people it may be significant. (Much more important is Passion Week.) There have been times where I set a goal of reading the Bible or the New Testament during these weeks of Lent. I think I did that once or twice. But as far as giving up anything...not much comes to mind. I'm not 'officially' making any goals for this year, but it sure would be nice to finish up in the Wycliffe New Testament (I think I have five or six books left) and get started in the Tyndale New Testament. I think Lent can be important if you use these weeks to develop new habits--if you use it as a time to draw closer to God, to see Him more, to spend more time with Him. It should always--in my extremely humble and subjective opinion--be more about what you're gaining or adding, then what you're giving up.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Heart of a Lion

Morris, Gilbert. 2002. Heart of A Lion. Bethany House. 344 pages.

The sun's white disc still burned brightly in the sky as it settled toward the western horizon.

Heart of A Lion is the first book in a series, the "Lions of Judah" series by Gilbert Morris. The series seeks to novelize the ancestors of Christ, trace his family tree so to speak. The front cover reads, "Enticed by the world's pleasures, humanity's common ancestor fights the spiritual battle of the ages."

When the reader first meets Noah, he is sixteen. Curious about women, about girls, certainly. The fact that he is tempted--and does in fact succumb to lusty pleasures is interesting. But what he discovers--and rather quickly, perhaps too quickly?--is that this doesn't lead to a happy life, a satisfied life. He's repulsed--not so much by the woman he was with, but by the lifestyle of those around him. Idol worshipers. Those that believe in human sacrifice. Those consumed with pleasure and greed and power. He both regrets his dalliance and relishes it. This fictional Noah holds onto this love--tainted as it may be, the product more of lust than true love--for many many decades--maybe even a century or more.

But for the most part, the Noah of the book is older and wiser. His teen years only get a couple of chapters. Soon Noah is listening to his God-worshiping friend, Zerah, and his grandfather, Methuselah. Noah is a carpenter. A craftsmen. A man who lives apart from almost everyone. A man with a good reputation. But not many friendships--as the years pass, he realizes that there are fewer and fewer people worshiping God and more and more people worshiping false gods. Noah is the one of prophecy--in this story--he's the one from his clan whom Methuselah feels should have the lion medallion. This lion medallion signifies the promise of redemption. It is to be given to the man in the family whose life and heart belongs to God the most. It's a sign that one day a Redeemer will come. This is of course purely a work of fiction. I'm not saying it's a bad thing....or a good thing. It's there; it's a theme. (Noah towards the end of his life does have a vision of Jesus, of the Savior who will come from his line.)

This one doesn't have a horribly fast-moving plot. We meet Noah at several different stages in his life--probably five or six different ages or stages. A little over a third of the book deals with the flood--building and preparing the ark, the last fifty or sixty pages deal with the Flood itself and its aftermath. Most of the book seeks to show life before the Flood--the sinful cultures, societies, and peoples that populated the earth. Noah's willingness to worship God--the Strong One or the Ancient One. Relationships. A lot of the book was devoted to getting each of Noah's sons a wife.

The Bible never claims that Noah was perfect, that he was sinless. It just says that he found grace in the eyes of the Lord.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sunday Salon: Week in Review (February 15-21)

Happy Sunday everyone! Sorry I'm posting so late in the day. But I've been busy redesigning Becky's Book Reviews. (That and we had a super-long church meeting.)

What I read this week:

Genesis 37-50 (I finished the first book in my ESV Study Bible. One down, 65 more to go!)
Exodus 1-5 (ESV Study Bible)
Acts 1-19 in the Wycliffe New Testament (I'm so glad I'm not getting bogged down in this book. I thought I might.)
Psalms 1-20 in the 1599 Geneva Study Bible (I didn't know if this translation would work for me. I hoped it would. But the text actually reads easier than some modern-day translations. In my very humble opinion this reads easier than the New King James.)

My goals for the next week:

Read in Exodus.
Finish Acts.
Maybe get to James.

I've got a few books that I should get to reviewing this week:

Heart of a Lion by Gilbert Morris
Just Another Girl by Melody Carlson


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Faith 'n Fiction Saturday: Biblical Fiction

Amy's question for us this week...

Today's Topic
One of area of Christian fiction that is thriving is Biblical Fiction. Biblical fiction, in case you don't know, is when an author takes a story from the Bible and imagines more of the details. Tosca Lee's Havah would be a recent example of Biblical fiction.

What I want to know today is how you feel about Biblical fiction. Have you ever read any Biblical fiction? Did you enjoy it? Do you think Biblical fiction helps us to understand people who lived during Biblical times better or do you think that it's unnecessary? Have you ever read any Biblical fiction that offended you?

My answer:

I've read a handful of books classified as biblical fiction--probably a dozen. I've got two favorites. The Prophet by Francine Rivers. The second is God & Kings by Lynn Austin. Both are series books, by the way.

I don't always enjoy it. But I enjoy it more often than not. Like Amy said it has to be feasible as a could-have-been, and it can't outright contradict Scripture or Christianity.

For example, a few years back I read a book--and this was a book that had been translated into English--the title does honestly escape me--that was just awful, awful, awful. It was existential and sexually graphic. Noah's flood. It was narrated by a young woman--a woman who in a way 'snuck' aboard the ark and became the ninth person saved from doom and destruction. She did not worship God. Far from it! The book set it up that everyone was restricted from sex while on the ark, one of God's commands to be obeyed. But somehow all three of Noah's sons and one of Noah's wives became sexually involved with this narrator. Awful. Awful. Awful. And Noah's character wasn't really "Hall of Faith" material--he turned into a big doubter, more agnostic than anything else. After that experience, it would be hard to top it. So almost every biblical fiction I pick up is bound to be better than that!

I just read another Noah book. One by Gilbert Morris. I'll be reviewing it next week. While there were some things that I questioned--most of the scenes could have been set anywhere, anytime--I enjoyed it well enough. I just don't know that much about pre-Flood cultures: what they wore, what they ate, what kind of buildings they lived in, what tools they had, what furniture/furnishings they had, their courtship/marriage rituals, etc. It just seemed odd--though maybe possible--to have the whole family sitting around the table with chairs and having knives to cut their food with. Maybe I'm just clueless. Maybe knives have been around that long. I'm not an expert. And I'm not one to judge.

I think good biblical fiction can educate and entertain. But all I really ask is that it entertain. It needs to show me that these were real people with real feeling with real conflicts with real struggles.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible