Bibles Bible Studies Books

Elizabeth George always produces an excellent study. This one about Esther is no exception. This one is handy because the verses from the book of Esther are right there in text. There are other Bible verses that one needs to look up, but all of it helps bring the reader to the heart of Esther and reveals her dependence on God and her bravery. I am using this study in our girls' high school home school because it is so good.

This Bible study is such a blessing. I have read the book of Esther many times, but this is the first time that I have taken such a simple but powerful look at the real Esther and just what she was all about. She was a faithful servant and followed every instruction to the letter, but she had back bone like no other. To sit across a feast table and accuse Haman of his wrong doing showed so much strength. This book is truly a book of Strength and Beauty. So simply put and easy to apply to our own lives. Elizabeth George is a wonderful writer for today's women.

Great product, I bought these as a graduation gift for out pre-k who were moving up into the elementary class.

I wanted a leather bound Bible for my 7 year old boy that wasn't too childish, but that had large print. He always balks at even a 10pt. font size. It also had to be the NIRV translation. Not too picky, huh? This was the perfect fit. There are 10 or 15 full page pictures spread throughout the Bible, but that is about it. I was glad that this Bible was free from those annoying cartoony devotions that kids never read anyway. He is not embarrassed to carry it around because it has a plain navy blue cover, no obnoxious cartoons.

William Barclay has a great aptitude for explaining the Scriptures.

this book is really good...i especially enjoyed the depth of knowledge and insight. it tells you how customs and manners were relevent to that time period and why people did the things they did during that time. ive been looking for books of this nature for a long time and finally found some. it is a very good book and i will probably buy the entire series.

I have tried to read the Gospels several times, and had always come away dissatisfied, feeling that I was missing the true meaning. This book (and part two) solved that problem for me. Barclay takes anywhere from one to several verses at a time and discusses them in the contexts of the time they were written, the prevailing religious thought, and their admittedly proseletizing purpose. He demonstrates how Matthew took ideas from the Hebrew Scriptures and showed that they predicted the coming of Christ. He also tells that many of these references were inappropriate, but because Matthew was intended for the Jews, this method was used. Beyond this, though, Barclay explains the meaning of the words and deeds of Christ, making opaque parables and homilies clear and compelling. The love of Christ and his ministry to save mankind come alive in this book. Barclay elucidates the message of Christ in a powerful, heart-gripping and understandable way. I am a Jew, and recommend this book to people of any faith if they wish to understand Matthew.

According to one's view of the Bible and Christian beliefs, you will typically approach a commentator who shares your approach and viewpoints. Those who believe in literal interpretation will shun Barclay in favor of literal intepreters. However, if you are seeking a well-rounded and scholarly take on scripture commentary beyond a pastor's rendition or maybe a magazine's quick insights, here is a start with a simpler commentary for an alternative view.

Barclay is one of the most insightful commentators of the New Testament. Written about 50 years ago, much of the background information and schalorship in his commentaries are outdated. Sometimes he stretched historical/cultural background too much to explain the text. Conservative readers should be aware that Barclay was a universalist (one who believes that all people will be saved ultimately). He does not believe in miracles and tries to explain them away in his commentaries on the Gospels. However, his comments on the relevance of the Bible can still be very valuable for discerning readers.

Advanced students would not need to be told where to find more updated scholarship on NT Bible. Beginning students should get Tom Wright's two-volume "Matthew For Everyone" instead of Barclay's. The volume on Matthew by Michael J. Wilkins in NIV Application Commentary series and Craig Keener's volume in IVP New Testament Commentary series are both excellent for slightly more advanced readers. If you want to dig deeper, David Garland's Reading Matthew and Frederick Dale Bruner's two-volume commentary on Matthew are both superb.

I found this book to be exactly what I wanted. Studying Hebrew, I can know all the consonants, vowel marks, cantillation marks, structure, and so on. But if I don't know the vocabulary, I still can't read scripture. This book gives me the most frequently used vocabulary, so I can study, drill, practice those, and be that much quicker to being able to read on my own. Without knowing the vocabulary, Hebrew is just a lot of pretty squiggles. With the index in back, it also doubles as a quick lexicon. I recommend it for anyone beginning their study of Hebrew.

Unlike other Hebrew dictionaries such as BDB(Brown Driver Briggs or Koehler and Baumgartner, which are arranged according to word roots(BDB) or according to how the words appear in the Bible(Koehler), this one has several separate lists, each one arranged differently, such as by frequency, common root, identical looking words that have different meanings, by part of speech, and others. It also has an index of Hebrew Words in the back to help locate Hebrew words faster. Serves as a good go-between when trying to locate things in other Hebrew reference books. very practical!

What a great resource. This great tool is a Hebrew Bible word list in various forms. It is the book that gives me fits because there's always a vocabulary quiz coming out of it every day for class.

Any student of biblical Hebrew knows that one of the most important tasks in mastering the language is mastery of vocabulary. This volume is a helpful guide in trying to do just that. The authors provide two ways of learning the vocabulary: by frequency and by similar roots. Both arrangements certainly make it easier to tackle the sheer number of words one must learn to master the Hebrew OT. While nothing can replace regular study and interaction with the Hebrew text, this volume is sure to be a dependable guide in that process. Much smaller than any standard Hebrew lexicon, it is much more accessible than, say, BDB and the aforementioned layout makes location of words very easy. I highly recommend this volume.

This is a great book and a welcome addition for my library of Biblical Hebrew study aids. It will be beneficial to students (and teachers) of Biblical Hebrew at almost any level of proficiency.

The authors provide plenty of lists and ways to organize words to allow for multiple focused approaches to building up Biblical Hebrew vocabulary -- for example a frequency based word list for words appearing at least 10 times, a word list arranged by a common root, lists of nouns, lists of verbs (all verbs alphabetically and arranged by a verb type and stem...), statistical distributions of occurrences, etc..

Although I do wish it had even more list, such as a list of all hapax words for each section of the Tanakh for example, I do realize that it is beyond the scope of this book as intended by the authors. I highly recommend this book.

This is an excellent first bible for school-age children. This is not a bible story book, rather a full text of the bible. My first and second graders take turns reading from this bible, with occasional help from mom. They are able to understand what they are reading and this is really giving us an opportunity to discuss the bible. They are proud to have out-grown their bible story books and have a bible that more closely resembles that of mom and dad.

I teach Sunday School at church. When the kids saw the NIV Discoverer's Bible, they didn't hesitate to open it, and even glanced through it without me asking them to.

It is very kid friendly. It's not intimadating as the adult pew Bibles for the kids.

This is a great Bible for kids (and parents to read with them!)
The letters are larger, making it easy for those without lots of reading experience to see the words clearly. It's also been revised in such a manner as to use more understandable words in some cases, but IS the entire Bible, not simply paraphrased or only a group of key Bible stories. The kids love the brilliant pictures also. Our church buys these for any Sunday School kids going into the third grade each year, and they are treasured. Highly recommended!!!

A Real and complete bible. The print is large enough for my 2nd grader to read without much struggling. Some more difficult words are simplified but the text remains whole. It is suitable for my 5th grader as well. The quality is really good. This is going to last a long time.A Great Buy!!

This is a good bible for children. The font is large enough for easy reading,there are pictures and the front cover is colourful making ita very attractive bible. My daughter truly enjoys her first bible.
Couple shortfalls are that the words of Christ are not in red (which would be good for the reader to visually identify Christ's words) and the verses should be separated and not all joined together as is the case in the adult version of this bible.

This is a good first time Bible. I like the helpfinder pages as it is easy to locate scriptures for specific topics. Yet, there are printed errors I found that apparently someone was slacking on their job of detail. It states Abraham was born in 2006. The helpfinder pages are stated on a certain page and then not listed correct, etc. So, the designer, editor or who ever has the responsibility in checking that everything is correct failed to do so and it causes some concern in what else may be a typo throughout this Bible.

I first bought this Bible at Barnes and Noble book stores. I loved it and quickly showed it to my husband. He liked it so much that he started reading the Bible again, and it's been years!! The New Living Translation is easy to read-it's in plain english so that you can understand. I can't put it down! And..I don't spend hours trying to figure out a single statement-every scripture makes sense! Plus-the front of it has the Bible books both by Old and New Testement and by Alphabetical order. There are notes within that will focus on a scripture within that page and give you more depth. There is a section of Bible promises in the back but as each promise comes up in scripture, it is also separated out and wrote verly largely and identified as God's promise! The back has a HUGE section on feelings. Just look up how you are feeling and it shows you scriptures and where to go to to know what God says about it! I also haven't read the Bible in years and as I said, I can't put it down. I love the way it reads-great for new beginners and the experienced!!

THE NLT is easily understood and clarifies passages for me from the KJV. It is a great translation.

Re: The Hard cover edition...
I purchased one from Guideposts and was surprised and pleased, to find it on Amazon.com! I want to give a copy, to each of my families, for Christmas. It's written in a way which is understandable for all ages and I believe it will be the version, most likely to be read on a regular basis, by all of them.
It is riveting and hard to put down!
Each of the books of this Bible, is prefaced by an interesting introduction, putting it into perspective, telling something about the author, etc.; establishing the timeline and historical backdrop, for the characters portrayed. Each book of the Bible is a little novella in itself, which can be picked up and read alone; or, as a running narrative, in context with the other books. I would recommend this Bible, to anyone. Either as a lst read, or quick reference, or a stand-alone Bible, it can fill the need for all these purposes and more.
I am just so favorably impressed, it's difficult to express. It may be one of those things, which has to be experienced, to be believed...and even better, yet, than that. If you've never, before, been able to understand the Bible; when you read this one, you will finally, definately, "Get It".
I'm getting another one for myself, as a spare...I don't ever want to be without it, again.
It's THAT Good.

I have been in church all my life and have wanted to read the bible but couldn't understand a word of it. I am 21 years old and was givin this bible and for the first time in my life I am reading it. I have read the first two books of the Bible and want to read it all! I'm so scaried that I'm going to get fired from work because everytime my boss comes to my desk I'm reading the bible.

This book, though lengthy, serves as an outstanding introduction to the concept of inerrancy, an extremely important foundational truth concerning the Bible. It is used by seminaries but is important for all who are interested in how God inspired the writing of the Bible.

This book is a scholar's standard for a logical support of the doctrine of inerrancy. This doctrine is central to the Christian faith in supporting the reliability and authority of the Sacred Scriptures. This book is a MUST read for any who are wondering about the nature of Scripture, or have questions about the qualifications of inerrancy and inspiration.

I had to purchase and read this book for a seminary class that I took this past year. To be quite frank, I was very disappointed with it. There are only a few essays in the book that show substantial scholarship and solid writing (e.g. Walter Kaiser Jr.'s). Most of them tend to be reactionary in tone and contribute little to the discussion of inerrancy. I was especially frustrated by the ad hominem attacks on men like G. C. Berkouwer (c.f. Krabbendam's essay where he essentially says that Berkouwer either must have been living in great sin or not been a Christian to hold such a view of inerrancy).

A second problem I had with the book was its naive reliance upon Enlightenment philosophical categories to define the term "inerrancy." Most of the writers implicitly seemed to think that for something to be true it has to be "scientifically accurate" (granted, they would probably deny this; however, the underpinnings of Scottish Common Sense Philosophy are clearly there). The result is that the contributors often miss the point of the teleological thrust of Scripture. They are so concerned about proving the Bible to be a coherent, rational scientific text-book that they seldom stop to ask the questions: "what is the purpose of the Biblical text?" and "am I imposing an unwarranted philosophical framework upon the text which leads to unnecessary problems and dilemmas?"

In conclusion, I was also frustrated by the lack of real engagement with the topic. Most of the authors set up weak straw men of their opponents and talked past the real issues. As noted above the last essay by Henry Krabbendam degenerated into an ad hominem fist fight. While I understand why the authors are determined to defend their version of inerrancy (i.e. they are worried that Christianity will crumble from within if the God breathed character of Scripture is abandoned), I was still disappointed by what I perceived to be a mis-handling of the issues (compare the responses in this book to Millard Erickson's irenic, thoughtful discusion of inerrancy in his book Christian Theology).

This book, edited by Norman L. Geisler, is a compilation of Christian scholars who have gone to bat over the issue of the inerrancy of the Scriptures. With the traditional orthodox view waning, a book of this kind is much needed.

Some of the chapters and scholars included in this work are:

Christ's View of the Scriptures - John W. Wenham

Alleged Errors and Discrepancies in the Original Manuscripts of the Bible - Gleason L. Archer

Legitimate Hermeneutics - Walter C. Kaiser, Jr.

The Adequacy of Human Language - James I. Packer

The Meaning of Inerrancy - Paul D. Feinberg

Philosophical Presuppositions of Biblical Errancy - Norman L. Geisler

The Internal Testimony of the Holy Spirit - R. C. Sproul

The View of the Bible Held by the Church: Calvin and the Westminster Divines - John H. Gerstner

(and more).

The book is sponsored by the International Council on Biblical Inerrancy and contains some of the greatest articles by modern Biblical scholars in print. This book is a must for anyone who is interested in learning more about why the Bible is inerrant and how to defend such a position. Moreover, it is a necessary edition to any apologist's library.

The doctrine of inerrancy is, as the back cover totes, "an essential element of the authority of Scripture and a necessary ingredient for the health of the church of Christ." And this book is a definitive text on the issue of inerrancy and works as a great reference tool in developing a strong defense for Biblical inerrancy. I highly recommend it!

Geisler is a fundamentalist theologian who has written numerous apologetical and theological works. I will admit I'm strongly prejudiced against fundamentalism, but this theologian even actively takes creation science (the belief the Earth and universe are 10,000 years old) seriously and tries to dismiss any science which disagrees with this theological view.

He is familiar with Christian theological tradition, but on the whole, his works which try to prove fundamentalist dogmas are entirely unconvincing.

This book arrived in condition as stated but shipping took a little longer then I expected but, It was still received in time.

This is a text book, actually, but it is very well written and easy to understand. It is the perfect book for someone with an interest in the writings of the Hebrew Bible, but who is not a theologian. It puts the scriptures into the context of the time they were written and how the words are relevant today without being preachy.

This text is a thoughtful, informed overview of the Hebrew Scriptures. Useful for layperson or student. Easy reading.

I ordered this book for a Scripture course I will be taking. It is lavish and informative; like a small encyclopedia, actually.Coogan is known for readable work and in-depth scholarship. I heartily recommend this book.

I have used this book for my theological studies at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. The quality and readability of the book is excellent, it is easy to find your way in the book. Besides, it is handy to read, and also to use as a reference for later.
Actually that is why I bought the book: during the study of the particular exam, somebody lend me this book, so I did not need to buy it. Nevertheless, the sheer usability of the book made me decide to buy it after all, since I am sure I can use it later in my further studies!