Monday, June 30, 2008

Suggested Resources for Basic Bible Study

Suggested Resources for Basic Bible Study
I've put together some resources pages for those looking for basic Bible study tools. I am making the following assumptions about those who would be most interested in such tools:

  • You are likely a lay person who does not know Greek or Hebrew (though you wouldn't mind at least understanding a bit of what is going on in the original Greek or Hebrew).
  • You don't really have the time or the means to accumulate a large, scholarly library of resources. What you really want is accessible, reliable, and understandable information regarding basic questions that arise as you read the Bible.
  • You may be willing to spend some money to get good resources, but FREE is good!
  • You are interested in physical (i.e., real books) AND / OR digital (i.e., software or online) resources.
With these premises in mind, this site will help you answer the following questions:
  • Where should I buy these resources?
  • What Bible should I get?
  • What other study resources should I get?
  • What about Bible software and online resources?
The site will be an ongoing work in progress intended to complement my earlier posting on Best Resources for Original Language Bible Study which was composed for my seminary students. As with that post, I'm interested in hearing what you think of this one. Please note that I am not angling for a theological fight here. You can probably guess from my list of resources and recommend Bibles that I am some flavor of moderate Protestant (ELCA Lutheran to be precise with a Missouri Synod Lutheran background). That is, I don't think that any of the primary resources I list have any theological bias, but my inclinations are probably indicated by my preference for the NRSV as the 'neutral' English translation with which I make comparisons. Okay, so I am open to suggestions, and I am also hoping for a show of charitableness.
Again, here it is: Suggested Resources for Basic Bible Study

Posted by MGVHoffman at 1:16 PM

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2 comments:

  1. JakeJuly 1, 2008 at 5:49 PM

    It looks like you've developed a very helpful site! It's comprehensive as far as websites and materials, and it's easy to navigate with your resources well organized. I posted about a note taking software called NoteScribe awhile back, and I think it might help your readers with organization of all of their notes and research. Anyways, I just wanted to briefly mention that, and compliment the current collection you have. Thanks!

    Jake

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  2. Tim BulkeleySeptember 12, 2008 at 2:03 AM

    While in principle I agree with you, pastors should be doing serious exegesis of the sort the student feels is only appropriate in academia, in practice today I am sure very few pastors actually do such heavy duty exegesis often :(

    How far do we develop cut down approaches to meet the needs of/pander to the contemporary need for speed?

    I know this does not answer your question, but I think (at least where I work) it is a necessary prior question!

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