Gary Shogren's Blog
A few words from the heart about Bible versions in English, mixed with lists, parables, and personal anecdotes! Offered as proof that we might want to CALL A MORATORIUM on new Bible translations in English. One, the Parable of the Banquet. You and your family gather for a huge feast, perhaps American Thanksgiving. They wheel... Continue Reading →
Not everyone can read the biblical languages. Some of us can read them at a decently intermediate level, a few people at a higher level. But there is an entire army out there with little to no Greek, who claim to be able to reinterpret the Bible from the original language, usually based on the... Continue Reading →
This material adapted from 1-2 Thessalonians, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, from pages 161-66. The book is available from Amazon and as a discount from Amazon, and also from Logos, in Korean and also in Spanish. 1 Thess 4:4 is the most complex verse in the Thessalonian correspondence because of the difficulty of... Continue Reading →
There are hundreds of Bible versions in English. To express myself bluntly, that is hundreds too many, and we are pouring time and energy and resources into new versions that are not needed. I exclude the regular updating of the versions that already exist - and my friends on the NIV committee tell me are... Continue Reading →
There are way too many English Bible translations and way too many people claiming - as in this case - to have the very best guide to its interpretation. These are the stars that I sail by when I evaluate a Bible version or guide. Fortunately, one new publication, The Pure Word – New Testament... Continue Reading →
Bill Mounce is one of the evangelical experts in koine Greek, the dialect of the New Testament. He is also one of the translators of the New International Version. The other day he published this short article, which I found particularly useful. He shows that the work of translation is far more complex than translating... Continue Reading →
Have you seen the memes that go like this? A pastor friend just mentioned something that I had also wondered, that the figure 365 seemed high! So I ran it through my Bible software, and within a few minutes found that the number indeed was way, way off.[1] “Fear not” is a Kings-James-ism; the NET and... Continue Reading →
UPDATE! This was a one night special showing, but I am told it will be out as a video. You can sign up here to get the announcement when it is due out. I am extraordinarily excited about a new documentary on the manuscripts of the New Testament. This is a topic I teach on,... Continue Reading →
It is a common idea that doing Bible word studies is the method for digging deep into the Bible. A common enough idea, but a myth. One propagated by some popular "expository" preachers, in fact, who take a somewhat useful tool and use it on all the wrong jobs. To illustrate: if you were to do... Continue Reading →
When I first saw the title of the epic novel Cien Años de Soledad by Gabriel García Márquez, and got that it meant “one hundred years of solitude,” my heart leapt in anticipation. But 500 pages later, I finally grasped that the protagonists of the story didn’t get their promised seclusion; the title seems to... Continue Reading →
Open Our Eyes, Lord! 