The NIV Bible is for everyone and to prove it Zondervan will make a version for you. The version differences? You’ll get a different cover and a bunch of topically sorted comments/devotions. Do you enjoy the outdoors? Got you covered: NIV Outdoorsman Bible. Are you a young girl? NIV Faithgirlz! Bible. Teen? NIV Teen Study Bible. Teen guy? NIV Revolution: The Bible for Teen Guys. Married? NIV Couples’ Devotional Bible. What if someone in your family is in the military? Even that: NIV New Testament – Military Family (with Psalms). And a million more.

NIV College Devotional Bible
Zondervan
February 2013

I’m not against the Bible being printed as many times as possible; quite the contrary! I am concerned about the over-specialization that we’ve seen in the last decade or so. When you print all these Bibles at some point you have to think you’ve run out of great things to say and you move in to the mediocre then the lame things to say.

This version is definitely in the mediocre (bordering lame) side of the so-called devotional spectrum. Many of these devotionals don’t actually work to encourage, engage, teach but instead they simply exist. Consider Why Ask Why? on p 563, which talks about suffering and Job. It is a conversation between a husband and wife about why she got cancer. The man finishes with, “I think if God was going to give you cancer because of something you did, he’d have the decency to let you know what it was.” A question that misses the point of Job and sounds more like Job’s friends than Job or God. What does the devotional do with this issue? It simply asks “Why does God allow good people to suffer?” then asks – but does not answer – “Why is the previous question so hard to answer – especially for Christians?” Great question Zondervan! Why don’t YOU answer it?

When I was in college I wanted answers to tough questions not reiterations of my pre-existing questions. I think this version misses the mark.

Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.

When the text hasn’t had anything new to say in 2000 years I guess some feel you have to spice it up with margin notes and devotionals to sell it. I just don’t see the difference and I don’t a compelling reason for this book being printed.

NIV One Impact Bible
by Terry Squires
Zondervan
October 2012

This Bible is the NIV but with devotional notes. While the notes are good – expecially for new believers or seekers – they don’t add as much to your devotional life as an actual devotional might. Consider [[ASIN:0929239571 My Utmost for His Highest: Updated Edition]] for an in depth, truth stuffed devotion. Compare that to the devotions in this Bible and you see that they fall far short. And this isn’t to say you gotta go with a great historical devotional. Most of today’s devotions are much better than the content added in the margins and text of this Bible.

So is the point to carry only one book? If so, why not carry a Kindle or just use your smartphone or tablet apps? You can have hundreds of devotionals and Bible versions at your finger tips.

I’m for printing as many NIV Bibles as possible and getting them in the hands of anyone who wants to read them. But I’m not for printing Bibles with different notes so that people who already own five Bibles can buy one more.

Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.

At first blush, it seems unclear why we need yet another Bible + [fill in the blank advice, features, topics]. How many Bibles does an average Christian need on their shelf? Apparently, Zondervan and other Bible publishers feels that there is no limit because there seems to be no limit to the Bible + topic craze.

NIV Life Journey Bible
Find the Answers for Your Whole Life
by Henry Cloud, John Townsend
Zondervan
July 2012

The good? Printing Bibles is never a bad thing and if someone who may be going through or has gone through tough psychological issues picks this up and reads it then it was worth it. It is a hard bound, large size Bible with the current version of the NIV, which is also a plus. Also, the inserted info from the writings of Cloud and Townsend is solid advice and fits well into the test.

The problem? This is merely a Bible with clippings from Boundaries and other Cloud and Townsend inserted into it and if someone already has a Bible I’m really sure what they from buying this as opposed to simply adding Boundaries to their library. I’m also not a fan of the subtitle, which implies that the Bible itself can’t provide answers for your whole life.

The bottom line is this: if you need a Bible or you prefer not to read the full Cloud and Townsend library (or don’t want to buy the books separately) or you prefer to have your commentary inserted in to the Bible then this is a good Bible. If you are worried about the trend of Bible + topic and (like me) are starting to wonder if these Bible options have saturated the market, causing more confusion then maybe you ought to pass.

Finally, I want to be clear that my criticism about the commentary added to this version of the Bible should not be construed to mean that I have an issue with or believe that the commentary is not valuable, only that I wonder at the reason for the current glut of Bible + topic and found this version to be acceptable but not necessary in my opinion.

A note about this version of the NIV: This NIV features the most current version of the NIV (2010), which is based on rock solid textual criticism and exegesis from the perpetual Committee on Bible Translation that brought us the original 1978 and 1984 NIVs that so many in the English speaking world trust and also 2005′s TNIV. Some may complain about the pronoun changes in this version compared to the older version but it is important to point out that all versions have pronoun (and other) determinations made by the translators. Each time the decision is made based on the common language and culture of the reader and the fact is that in 1978 “a man” would commonly be understood to be “a person” while in 2012 that is simply not the case. A “man” in today’s language is a “male” and a “person” could be either. All that to say that this version of the NIV is an extremely trustworthy translation into today’s English vernacular.

Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.

With the current glut of feature Bibles one has to wonder whether there is actually value to another one of if this is merely a way to make more money. In the case of True Images, the answer is firmly in the adds value category.

True Images
The Bible for Teen Girls
Zondervan
June 2012

This NIV features the most current version of the NIV (2010), which is based on rock solid textual criticism and exegesis from the perpectual Committee on Bible Translation that brought us the original 1978 and 1984 NIVs that so many in the English speaking world trust and also 2005′s TNIV. Some may complain about the pronoun changes in this version compared to the older version but it is important to point out that all versions have pronoun (and other) determinations made by the translators. Each time the decision is made based on the common language and culture of the reader and the fact is that in 1978 “a man” would commonly be understood to be “a person” while in 2012 that is simply not the case. A “man” in today’s language is a “male” and a “person” could be either. All that to say that this version of the NIV is an extremely trustworthy translation into today’s English vernacular.

Why a featured Bible focused on Teen Girls? Frankly, I think this is a long time coming. We’ve seen for years the proliferation of Bibles for Men and Women, for students and apologists, and for kids and generic teens, but one specifically built for teen girls and the trials they deal with was missing. (This version is an updated version of the True Images Bible from 2007 with the newest NIV and articles.)

What I especially liked were the full color pages with quizzes, to-do lists, and interactive panels. Zondervan took a page out of any teen magazine here and flips the script from worldly “can-do-ism” to “what-God-did-ism.” The Truth or Dare sections are inserted on to the page where the text deals with a truth that sometimes we forget to apply to ourselves. For instance, Judges 11:34-35 includes a quick note saying:

“Lord, if you’ll only do this, I promise I’ll…” In desperate times, spouting pledges to God is all too easy. However, God takes your words seriously. So should you.

The Genuine inserts bring the truth of the Gospel home by challenging teens to be real. Mirror Image pages tell stories of women from the Bible and how their stories intersect with the teen reader.

As the father of a teen daughter this Bible comes at just the right time. She struggles with how to respond to quite a lot of the issues that this Bible highlights for readers. Those tips and insights along with a reader-friendly excellent translation make this a top notch Bible for teen girls.

Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.

The name of this Bible doesn’t do it any favors. This is a full NIV version of the Bible and it probably should be clearer to prospective readers. Other than the name, though, it really is just another Bible (which may be why the name was chosen.)

The Story: Going Deeper, NIV
Find Your Place in God’s Redemptive Plan
Zondervan
March 2012

This is a pretty standard NIV Bible with some interesting commentary boxes interspersed within the text. Unlike study Bibles, though, this one is very light on the additional content. In fact, after reviewing half a dozen Bibles in the last couple years this one is by far the one with the least new content.

What you get, along with the new NIV, are small storyline inserts that explain the text and how it goes together with God’s overall redemptive plan. It works well as it does connect the dots for new believers or seekers, but it doesn’t “Go Deeper” for veteran believers as it says in the name. Also, some of the inserts are from God’s perspective and do seem a little weird since they are in first person, e.g., “The reason I did this was…” I didn’t find it creepy, but it doesn’t fit with the rest of the content as it changes perspective. I found it abrupt.

Unlike some reviewers of the New NIV, I don’t have a problem with the gender neutral pronoun changes. If you do, then this Bible isn’t for you (and you find benefit from books like [[ASIN:0310246040 How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth]], which can help with correctly interpreting the Bible and becoming comfortable in translating it into our modern culture – which doesn’t refer to male pronouns the same way the Biblical cultures did.)

Bottom line, this is a Bible. Not a study Bible and not a Bible with a lot of commentary. It has a little bit of commentary, which means it is also not a regular Bible either. As such, it’s hard to justify another version like this one since there are so many other nicer looking (this is a huge, thick hard back book) and so many other better study versions. I give it three simple, quiet, and almost unnecessary shrugs.

Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he turns real life into stupid cartoons, writes on Christianity, Zombies, and whatever else he wants and posts Bible studies from his classes at church.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.

Thomas Nelson hopes for a redo with the Voice New Testament: Revised and Updated.

The Voice New Testament
Revised and Updated
Thomas Nelson
November 2011

A lot has happened since I last read and reviewed the Voice New Testament. When reviewing a Bible I take a book and base the review off that book. Since there are some key passages under attack from liberal theologians I tend to focus on those books that have the most passages under fire. For instance, I check Romans 1:26-31, in which Paul lists out sins including the most blatant condemnation against homosexuality. Take the NIV:

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

And the Voice:

This is why God released them to their own vile pursuits, and this is what happened: they chose sexual counterfeits—women had sexual relations with other women and men committed unnatural, shameful acts because they burned with lust for other men. This sin was rife, and they suffered painful consequences.

Clearly, the Voice doesn’t dodge the hard stuff. But in the past versions, it did pervert some verses causing clear theological bias to pass for scripture. Unlike most Bibles, the Voice adds the context and comments into the actual text of the Bible, identified only by italics. This can make it very hard to tell when the Voice is speaking sacred Scripture or biased theology. Consider this massacre of the Biblical text:

Though the Voice utters only truth, His own people, who have heard the Voice before, rebuff this inner calling and refuse to listen. (John 1:11)

Note that the italics are when the Voice adds commentary to help readers understand the context of the passage. Notice also that the original Greek doesn’t say anything like the bold section, yet it was not italicized. The actual verse says:

He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. (NIV)

The new version of the Voice removes the inserted bold statement and pulls back on the editorializing, leaving a normal and orthodox translation:

Even though He came to His own people, they refused to listen and receive Him.

The good news is that the Voice is taking care to respond to the criticism surrounding the first release. The bad news is that there really isn’t much distinctive about this version. With so many other new versions, what makes this one special? The Common English Bible is great for clear translation. The [Expanded] Bible is great for study.

Now that the Voice is focused on fixing some of the issues from the original version it is an acceptable version to read. But with so many other versions out there, many easier to read and more scholarly, like the New Living Translation, there really isn’t much reason to pick it up.

Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he cartoons and writes on Christianity, Zombies, and anything else he wants to.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.

In the last couple years there has been an explosion in new translations of the Bible. The New American Bible, Revised Edition (NAB) is the first new Catholic Bible in 40 years. The New NIV (NIV) is the first major update to the New International Version (NIV84) in nearly 26 years. There have been new versions for the New Living Translation (NLT) and the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) in the last two years as well. Add to these the not yet fully completed (there are New Testaments, but not yet Old Testaments for these versions,) The Voice and The [Expanded] Bible. If there were too many versions to keep up with previously, then these last few years have not been kind. And now there is another completely new version, the Common English Bible (CEB).

Common English Bible
A Fresh Translation to Touch the Heart and Mind
2011

I originally received this new version in November 2011, and was going to review it for Bible Week at the end of November, but when I got it and started reading it I realized this was going to be much harder to do so I took the last several months to really get to know this translation. And after a time I grew to enjoy it!

The CEB is unlike the most recent versions of the Bible, like The [Expanded] Bible, which could be described as a newer, more authentically translated Amplified Bible, and the Voice, which could be described as similar to The Message, although with more emphasis on translation rather than a single interpreter. The CEB is a completely new translation by more than a hundred scholars from 22 denominations and field tested for realistic English common language (something the Message could have used!) The results are passages that are completely different sounding that what I was used to.

Consider the Lord’s Prayer from Matthew 6:9-13:

Our Father who is in heaven,
uphold the holiness of your name.
Bring in your kingdom
so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven.
Give us the bread we need for today.
Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you,
just as we also forgive those who have wronged us.
And don’t lead us into temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

Awkward at first I found that I started to get the point of the new translation: accuracy over tradition. Most of us who have been in church for any amount of time have that prayer memorized, but the version we have memorized draws heavily from the King James Version, a Translation that is now over 500 years old. This tradition has been preserved in some of the most well known passages even in so-called current versions like the NIV84, where that first verse reads: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name…”

The question is: does anyone know what “hallowed” means? Follow-up question: if we have to translate the translation for it to make sense are we really speaking in a common, normal language?

Much of the New Testament was written in Koine Greek – the street language version of Greek. (As opposed to high Greek, which philosophers used.) Clearly, the writers were focused on making the New Testament accessible to as many readers as possible. And while many translations and interpretations have attempted to do this for modern Christians, the CEB is one of the few that I’ve found to be successful, although not the best.

Take the Message, which I enjoy for what it is – a single person’s attempt to make the Bible accessible – and consider that same passage in Matthew 6, which reads, “Our Father in heaven, Reveal who you are.” While that makes sense and doesn’t need a secondary translation to understand, it isn’t what the original says.

A version that is most similar to the CEB is the NLT, which I also use regularly and believe does a slightly better job of making the Bible accessible, which translates Matthew 6:9 as, “Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.” Comparing the NLT and the CEB I find two things to be true: both are exceptionally clear and both use English in a way that is easy to understand without secondary translation.

But the NLT does a slightly better job of trying not to sound foreign to the reader. It can be quite a shock to read some of the CEB passages when used to the NIV84 or HCSB, as I am. But the NLT doesn’t suffer from such a huge distance between traditional translations and more correct common language interpreting.

That said, the Common English Bible is clearly one of the better new versions around and I applaud the scholarship and cross-denominational support that came together to lead this project. The more excellent translations that there are available the better.

Scott Asher is the Editor-in-Chief of BookGateway.com. His personal blog is AshertopiA – a land flowing with milk and honey… and a lot of sticky people where he cartoons and writes on Christianity, Zombies, and anything else he wants to.

This book was provided by the publisher as a review copy.