J. W. Pasham's Edition of the King James Bible

A recent article in the Bible Review Journal (the publication of the International Society of Bible Collectors) mentioned an edition of the King James Bible printed by J. W. Pasham in 1776.  I wanted to add this footnote:  this edition of the Bible is available for reading on Google Books!

Mini Review: World Publishers Classic Companion Bible

Classic Companion Bible
ISBN 0-529-11060-1
World Publishers, Inc.
1,460 pages
Bonded leather, gold edging.
1 ribbon

This is a handy sized (5.8x8.5") single column text Bible.  I believe it is a glued binding.  Textual notes are at the bottom of the page.  Page numbers are at the top inside margin; Verse references are at the top outside margin.  The paper is average - I did not find the show through distracting.  Red letter text.  Print darkness varies on some pages.  Column width may be too wide for some readers.  Overall this is a nice Bible though it may be a bit difficult to find (check eBay, Amazon, Abebooks, etc).

Cambridge Bibles in the U.S.

Since July 1990 Baker Publishing Group has been the North American distributor for Cambridge Bibles.  Sales have now been moved back to Cambridge.  I suspect we will still be able to buy Cambridge Bibles from Evangelicalbible.com and Christianbook.com, perhaps even Amazon.com.  Read Baker's news article about the change here.

Personalized Bibles: Love them or hate them?

I thought I had previously posted about personalized Bibles, but cannot find any such post. By "personalized Bibles" I do not mean those that have your name imprinted on the cover. Instead, I mean Bibles that replace pronouns in the Scriptures with one's name.  For instance, the Your Personalized Bible site has this sample:

The Lord is Chris’s shepherd; Chris shall lack nothing. He makes Chris lie down in green pastures. He leads Chris beside the still waters. He restores Chris’s soul. Psalm 23:1

This website offers printed Bibles or New Testaments with your name inserted for $89 (USD) for the NT and $119 (USD) for the full Bible. For $15 you can get a PDF of the King James or "Modern English" with your name inserted. I did not find any mention of what version is used for the modern English.

Another website (it isn't clear if it is affiliated with the site above) offers a free sample of Ephesians. That site's prices are much higher for the printed works. A more recent work, called the To You Bible offers an app for your device. Though it is only $0.99 (USD) I did not purchase a copy. After reading through the permissions that the app requires I decided it sounds like it includes targeted advertising.

All these Bibles include gender as part of the personalization. They can also accommodate a spouse's name. This is especially evident in the Song of Solomon and Ephesians 5.

Some love these Bibles saying it makes them feel that God is speaking directly to them. But one of my friends said that this process puts self above God and His word. Another said he is offended to the point of not including them in his exhaustive bibliography of Bible versions.