Revised Douay-Rheims Bible ('you' version)

It looks like Msgr. Cormac Burke finished his Knox Bible ('you' version). Now he has started another project. It is a modernized version of the Douay Rheims Bible. As with his earlier project, he is changing mostly just the "thou"s and the resulting verb forms. It is called the Revised Douay Rheims Bible ('you' version).

The Expanded Bible

The Expanded Bible has been released. This is the entire Bible (the New Testament was published earlier).

The Brick Bible

The Brick Bible: A New Spin on the Old Testament has been released. This is the retelling of Bible stories use Lego bricks for illustrations. Some of the illustrations/text may be offensive. Many of the stories can be viewed online.

The Voice New Testament

The revised, updated version of the The Voice New Testament has been released. My copy is on its way to me, so I don't know what changes were made yet.

Christian Zombie Killer's Handbook

Jeff Kinley. The Christian Zombie Killers Handbook: Slaying the Living Dead Within. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011. ISBN 978-1-5955-5438-3.

I'm not sure if I thought I needed something for Halloween or why exactly I picked this book for a review. I was given a complimentary copy of this by Thomas Nelson for providing a review. Their gift does not affect my review in any way.

I found the author's approach and honestly to the problem of sin to be refreshing. It isn't an easy thing to read because sin is not a delightful topic. But it is a very serious problem that the author deals with very clearly. His descriptions of various aspects of sin and salvation are wonderful. He describes the awareness of the devil as detecting "An invisible stench in the space we occupy." I would gladly listen to sermons by Kinley if he is a preacher.

The sections on the problem of sin and the solution of salvation are interspersed with a fictional story about a protagonist named Ben. Ben (and his friends) are dealing with a plague of zombies. The story is very graphic at times - not something I would normally read at all. Reading this part of the book threw me so off the book that I really didn't want to finish it.

Of course, the author ties it all together in the end. The tie didn't work for me. However, I am certain I am not the intended audience for this book. For those who like the horror genre and are unwilling to read other Christian works, this might be a good fit. Certainly I think the Gospel is presented well. If the zombie story draws them in and gets them to hear the message it may be worthwhile. Because of the graphic nature of the zombie parts I will not recommend it to my parishioners.

The Christian Zombie Killers Handbook

The Names of God Bible

This is a new version based on the God's Word Translation. The changes are to provide the transliteration of God's name and Jesus' name throughout the Bible. The names are written in brown ink to make them stand out. It is from Baker Publishing Group (this link includes a video from the editor, Ann Spangler) and Revell. It is available on Amazon. There is a sample on ChristianBook.com which shows how the names are incorporated into the text. There is also a sample chapter in PDF for download at Ann Spangler's website.

Tyndale21 New Testament

I found another new project today. It is called the Tyndale21 New Testament. It is a modernized version of Tyndale's New Testament. The website describes the process this way:

Not merely a simple word-for-word substitution, this is a re-visioning of the Bible as if Tyndale's version was newly discovered and put into today's English.

So far the Gospels and shorter letters are finished. A PDF of the Gospels is available for $2.99 (USD). Samples of the first five chapters of each book are available for free.

Poetic Psalms Translations

There are some poetic translations of the Psalms being posted at the Better Bibles Blog. The translation is by Dr. Brenda Boerger.

Computer Bible Formats

There are many different readers available now for the PC/Windows format. I find that I cannot always get Bibles in a format that I prefer. As a result, I end up needing several different readers.

Some e-books will have DRM - Digital Rights Management. Those have embedded information limiting their usage to the your registered device. I won't attempt to go into the details, but the different software and hardware readers will let you know if you try to open a DRM e-book on an unregistered device/application.

Here are a few of the formats I've found and associated readers:

• PDF - Adobe PDF format is very popular. Their reader is a free download. For other systems such as Mac, Solaris, Linux, and Android click here
• MOBI - Kindle Reader as well as others. Click here for their free reading apps for iPhone, Windows PC, Mac, Blackberry, iPad, Android and Windows Phone 7.
• DJVU is a format that isn't widely used. However, I have found a few Bibles in this format. To view it (and convert to other formats), try the DjVuLibre program. It is free and available for several different systems.
• EPUB becoming much more common. One way to read it is with Adobe Digital Editions. When I purchased e-books from Borders they were in Adobe DRM Epub and PDF. Both of those were readable with Adobe Digital Editions. There are many devices and program to read e-pub format. I read them on my iPad using iBooks (a free application) if they are non-DRM.

  Online readers are becoming more common as well:

  • Christian Book Distributors has an online reader that allows reading of e-books (including some free ones) purchased at CBD.
  • Amazon.com now has the Kindle Cloud Reader.

Original Thought Sacred Scriptures

I think the correct title for this project is "The- Phayshe'ool't-Targum Trans-Literation and Restoration Project". In one file the translation is called "The- Original-Thought Sacred Scriptures" and in another it is referred to as The -1611 King James Version Corrected Version. A sample of the translation will give you a hint of its nature:

At the-first-instant of the-Darkness, there appeared, the-great-t’symbol-of-Lyghte, as a-roaring, Flaming-T’Sword of Fire. Now this, Royal-flaming t’Sword is with, Yahvehe’t, Ælovehe-God, and the-Royal-flaming-t’Sword is found within the-Æloveheim.  This identical-Principle is from the-very-beginning and is always found within the-Æloveheim.  All things are then made by Her; and without Her, there is nothing (John 1:1-3).

The Easy Study Bible

This is a new translation still in the works. It is the work of Trennis Killian. So far he has finished up to 2 Corinthians. Visit his website for more information. There is a free download of the book of James to give you a sample of his work.

The Disciples' Literal New Testament

I just ran across a new version of the New Testament early this morning. It is by Michael Magill, the creator of the New Testament Transline. I first read about it in an article on the Cypress Times. You can download PDFs of the NT at Reyma Publishing. Reyma also has PDFs of the New Testament Transline. Amazon.com has it available in hardcover or in paperback. By the way, remember how expensive the New Testament Transline got for a while? It is back in print again. Amazon has the paperback for $100. There are also some third party vendors with good deals on the hardcover.