Glenn on Beliefnet, John and Paul are heading Nashville
Glenn's article on de-versifying the Bible is up at Beliefnet. Here's an excerpt. Bible additives like these left philosopher John Locke complaining that the scriptures “are so chop’d and minc’d, and as they are now Printed, stand so broken and divided, that...the Common People take the Verses usually for distinct Aphorisms,” and “even Men of more advanc’d Knowledge in reading them, lose very much of the strength and force of the Coherence, and the Light that depends on it.” In other words: we’ve adapted the Bible to the point that it’s nearly impossible to understand.
Locke was right. The modern form of the Bible has compelled us to read it in bits and pieces. But the Bible is not made up of these bits and pieces. It’s really a collection of whole books. There are lots of books in the Bible and they are quite different from each other. There are letters and short stories, historical narratives and apocalyptic visions. Collections of song lyrics are included alongside prophetic oracles. The Bible’s wisdom literature includes books of short, pithy sayings as well as longer, ponderous explorations of life’s quandaries. Head on over to read the rest and leave a comment. John and I will be in Nashville for NYWC with a ton of free stuff and a chance to win New Testaments for your whole youth room. If you're around, either in town or at the conference, let us know. We'd love to get together and talk TBoTB. We're at Booth 122.
Preview of Glenn's new article at beliefnet
Reading through TBoTB
David McKay just finished reading through The Books of the Bible. Over the last 50 years, David's read many Bibles and in the last four has made a point of reading through various translations and editions. With TBoTB, David took the approach of reading a section each day from the History, Prophets, Writings and New Testament. He had this to say about TBoTB: "I found the introductions to books very helpful, and the lack of references and footnotes enticing, and completed this project faster than my previous read-throughs." David has a bit more to say about this, and a number of other things, on his blog: gontroppo.blogspot.com.
UK Invasion! And some rave reviews.
A number of folks have emailed us asking when The Books of The Bible will be available in the United Kingdom. We're very pleased to let you all know that Wesley Owen bookstore is now pre-ordering The Books of The Bible online for the low price of £4.99. If you buy five, they'll even ship them free within the UK!Thanks to all of you who have been asking for it in the UK. We couldn't have done it without you. Now you and those you care about care experience what so many people have been here in the states. We recently received a few reader responses on IBSDirect.com:  ""
Did you catch that in the last one? "I can't put it down". This is the kind lights our collective fire: People engaging with the Bible in a substantial way. Thanks to all these folks for their comments and the accompanying encouragement. You can share your experience as well at IBSDirect.com.Oh, and what was that Dale said about a better cover? Nothing to announce yet, but keep your ears open and your eyes peeled. —p Labels: bible, Comments, tbotb, TheBooks of The Bible, UK, United Kingdom
Big news
One year ago tomorrow, we asked you to let your favorite publisher know that you want The Books of The Bible. Looks like it worked.Zondervan is releasing a number of electronic formats of TBoTB next month. Let Zondervan know that you like what they are doing, both by contacting them and by purchasing it on whatever electronic format is conducive for you when it becomes available next month. Be sure to read the post below for some great deals on de-versified products. Two of my favorites products of all time just went on sale. They're great for your own personal use, in a group study or with Christmas rapidly approaching, they really do make great gifts. To more and better Bible reading, now from more places, —p Labels: Adobe Reader, ePub, Microsoft Reader, Mobipocket, Palm Format, Sony eReader, Zondervan
It's not Christmas yet, but.... (or good deals on de-versified Scriptures that have me buying as many as I can)
If you're like me, you're not even thinking about Christmas. It's too early. I don't want Halloween candy in the stores yet, let alone cordial cherries. If you're like Glenn, you're actively working against early Christmas celebrations. He's emphatic about Christmas being celebrated on the proper Christian calendar. My wife feels similarly not placing Jesus into our nativity set until Christmas morning. But despite our attempts to hold it off, the season marches forward. And while I'm certainly not going to advocate hanging your stockings next week, I've got to tell you guys about a couple of things that could help you get ready to share Scripture this Christmas.  First, the Encountering Jesus New Testament. Back when I first started working in Product Development in 2004, John Dunham was working on this idea that sounded crazy and wonderful all at once: a New Testament that would be geared toward reading large chunks with sparse notes throughout. Here's the rundown: - No Chapter or verse numbers
- No Subheadings
- Single column
- Wide margins
- Study notes
Wait, what was that? Study notes? It's true, this is not in pure TBoTB format. It doesn't reorder the books and or display the books' literary structures through spacing. And it does have study notes. But the thing so impressive about these notes is that they rarely stand alone. Reading the notes alone doesn't really get you anywhere. To make sense of the notes, you have to go into the text (which isn't marked with chapter and verse numbers) and search for what in the world it is talking about. See the type sample below and click for a larger size.  So here's the ridiculous part. They're on sale for $1.25 each. Seriously, this is as now almost inexpensive as our newsprint outreach New Testaments. Having used this in youth ministry and evangelism I can tell you for certain that it is a great tool. I'm getting them for our youth group and book table.  And then there's The Book of Psalms. While we were gearing up to release TBoTB, we were developing a few other materials with a similar philosophy. We wondered physical parts of the Bibles we publish—maybe even the height, width, texture, color and font—change the way we read those books. We started asking questions like 'How does a certain font make reading more enjoyable?' or 'How might the texture of the book change the way we understand its message' The result was a de-versified copy of Psalms that not only shows off the poetic structure you see in TBoTB, but also reinforces four-color art, cream-colored/high quality paper, tall and narrow. It's a softcover book, but the quality of this book would easily go for $12-15 in a retail market. We're now selling this book at $1.99 each. I thought it was low before it went on sale, but now you can get these for an entire group of friends for less than it would cost to take your family to the movies. You can check out a type sample or place an order at IBSDirect.com. If we can answer any questions, leave us a comment or head over to the contact page and drop us a line.Labels: NewTestament, Psalms, Sale
The Books of The Bible: Year One, Part Three
On this last day of August, here are a few stories of people and their interactions with The Books of The Bible. As always, we invite your feedback as well both via email and in the comments section. It is this kind of feedback that will help as we produce new editions of TBoTB: Lenae, a mom from Minnesota, told us: "One of the most noticeable differences in my personal Bible reading is catching things within passages that I never noticed before. What a difference in understanding the big picture of a Bible passage or story when there's no chapter breaks. It has its original flow and magnifies my understanding of the passage. I use the reading plans you have available on the web site. It doesn't feel like a chore to check off those boxes . . . I often read more pages than what is suggested on the Bible reading guide. Blessings in your research and promotion of this wonderful book!" Andy Crouch, author of Culture Making, on the impact it has had on his children: "The most surprising beneficiaries of my enthusiasm for The Books of the Bible have been my children (ages 8 and 11). Both of them have always been interested in reading the Bible, but since we got several copies of TBoTB I have noticed them picking up the book spontaneously, spending much more time reading, and reading much more extensively. I just asked my youngest, Amy, what she liked, and I quote (transcribed directly!): "It doesn't have all those little things down at the bottom, they're at the back in a sort of glossary thing. Also the typing is clearer; I've noticed that some others have small typing and it's kind of hard to read." In other words, TBoTB has removed several barriers to my children being able to read fluently and extensively. It's a joy to watch them immersed in the narrative of Scripture just as they might be in any other book." Troy, a pastor from Indiana: "I would echo the comments of those who have found themselves reading more and larger sections of scripture at one time. I liken it to the difference between reading a novel and reading an encyclopedia. An encyclopedia is formatted so that you read a little. A novel captures your attention, stimulates your imagination, and you end up reading more. But here is the thing: you could take the actual text of a novel and format it in an encyclopedia-like fashion and the result would be that you would read less and read it differently. Form and content are tied. That is why I love The Books of The Bible. Finally, the Bible is formatted as it should be. When that happens it is read more freely and with a different perspective. I do want to add this: don't ever stop publishing this tool. The church has been taught an incomplete way of reading the Bible, tied to numbers and verses, etc. which has often led to misinterpretation. It will take a reeducation for us to realize that isn't how the Scriptures were written and meant to be read. Your product is very helpful toward that end." Brad from Minnesota, regarding his friend, a dechurched 19-year-old whose previous "exposure to 'the gospel'" was "sparse, snippet-driven, and high-holiday-centered": as they read Mark together out loud on a drive from New York to North Dakota, 'Austin was routinely bewildered that "this whole Bible thing" wasn't "totally [expletive] after all"—that it wasn't simply Captain Kangaroo (i.e., Jesus) spouting platitudes about sharing and being good little boys and girls, that it didn't sound like 1611 English, etc. At the end of the one book, he proclaimed that, due to that singular experience, he had changed from thinking of the Bible as a weird thing in motel rooms to something he wanted to read in its entirety.' 'These are the sorts of conversations, reflections, etc. that were facilitated as a result of our reading through entire books, in a readily understandable translation, in one sitting—something which had never been the natural direction of any of his prior attempts at finding anything resembling profundity within the text's pages.'
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