Study Materials?

[Craig]

Hi Ray,

I'm very intrigued by your web site. It's been a long time since I've desired to read and study the bible for myself. And after reading many articles on your site, that desire is back!

I would love to be able to study the Bible as you do. Which materials would I need? So far I have 2 bibles that I do my reading:

1. New International Version
2. The Living Bible.

I know you're very busy now days, and I thank you for your response in advance.

Best,
Chaz



Dear Chaz:  That's GREAT that you are desiring to study God's Word.
First you need a good Bible translation.  The Living Bible and the NIV
are not among the best translations.  The Living Bible can be either
extremely helpful or extremely misleading, and a novice will have a
lot of trouble telling the difference, so do not use these for your main
study bibles.

There are no perfect translations,
but there are some good ones. One of the easiest to find in any good Bible
Book Store is, THE EMPHASIZED BIBLE  By Rotherham.  We have got
to get out of our heads the idea of eternal torment, and eternal judgment,
and eternal damnation. You will not find a word of any such heresy in a
good Bible translation.  The Concordant Translation is another good one.

If you want to learn how a word is used "concordantly" in either the Greek
New Testament or Hebrew Old Testament, you need to have THE
ENGLISHMAN'S HEBREW AND GREEK CONCORDANCE By
Wigram (it comes in two volumes).  This will show you how every word
in the Bible is used in all the Scriptures in which that particular word is used.

I would also get a copy of STRONG'S EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE BY
Dr. James Strong.  This will show you were to find every word in the King
James Bible.  You can use this in conjunction with Wigram's seeing that
his two volume concordance is based on Dr. Strong's Concordance.

If you have a computer, your very best Bible aid will be e-Sword.  It is FREE,
and can be downloaded from the INTERNET.

Although not essential, there are times when a good Bible Dictionary can be
extremely helpful.  I would recommend VINES Concise Dictionary of Bible Words,
or  WYCLIFFE'S Bible Dictionary.  Hope this helps you.

God be with you,

Ray