The best Christian Bible Study books: Reddit reviews

From 3.5 billion Reddit comments

Except that’s not what happens. They eat of the fruit of knowledge which is what kicks them out. It’s an allegory for adulthood/leaving behind innocence, knowing the difference between right/ wrong and being self aware enough to feel shame (hence covering the body.) The creation story is an explanation why humanity isn’t childlike, and living in paradise. A lot of modern translations have tamed down the sexual language in scripture but there is a shit ton of sex, and sex play going on in the Bible. The Book of Genesis by Robert Crumb is a silly read but good at shocking people into realize how much sex goes on in the Bible.

Read The Bible Unearthed. There isn't even any archaeological evidence for the genocide of Canaan or the Exodus. So now ya get to have Christians not only argue that the genocide happened because the Bible said so, but that it was morally justified. Fun!

Neither. The Hebrew word for "day" there definitely means 24-hour time period, but that doesn't mean the universe was made in 6 literal days.

Genesis 1 is complex and beautiful, but ancient Near-Eastern people don't think like modern Western people, and ancient Near-Eastern people wrote Genesis 1. It's way too much to explain here. Read The Lost World of Genesis One, by John Walton.

> history is my weakness

Then work on this. We actually have an abundance of historical evidence in favor of Christianity. I find it’s actually one of the stronger areas for apologetics.

You could read NT Wright’s book: The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 3) https://amazon.com/dp/0800626796/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_5WRAZC5BGKX1YSS65K5V This book is probably the strongest argument I’ve ever encountered.

Otherwise, you can ask questions here.

An accessible work written about this subject is Did Jesus Exist?: The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth.

More about this subject can be found at the wiki/FAQ pages here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskBibleScholars/wiki/faq

Specifically, numbers 12, 32, and 34.

Zenz is a religious nutcase.

The last blurb on his Wikipedia page is this:

> Zenz is a born-again Christian, and has stated that he feels "led by God" in his research on Chinese Muslims and other minority groups.[1] Zenz co-authored a book in 2012 with his father-in-law, Marlon L. Sias, titled Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation.[1]

Here's the book just for fun:

Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation

According to secular historians?

Yeah...not a chance.

The consensus is that pre-Exile, the Bible is entirely unreliable. Post-Exile it has a lot of fact, but it's heavily propagandized.

Here's a great book to read on the matter: https://www.amazon.com/Bible-Unearthed-Archaeologys-Vision-Ancient/dp/0684869136

Along with everything listed here, your friends may be inclined to listen to Bart Ehrman. He's an atheist New Testament scholar who has written and spoken quite a bit against Jesus mythicism. Be aware that as an atheist he has many claims about both the historicity of certain parts of the bible and the figure of Christ himself that I find problematic, but he does a good job refuting the idea that Jesus never existed period. If you or your friends enjoy reading, his book Did Jesus Exist? is a good presentation a secular case for the historical figure of Jesus. He has also been on the radio show/podcast Unbelievable?
If you like podcasts, then Unbelievable? has a ton of great episodes debating this issue if you search through the archives. (And, might I add, if you're doing any kind of apologetics it's a great resource to listen to Christians having fantastic apologetics discourse with people from all kinds of belief systems.)

I second this. I got R. Crumb's Illustrated Book of Genesis to read with my daughter. (Highly recommend! The illustrations are perfect, and he actually chose a decent translation. Given his history, I expected something entirely different.)

Such silly stories. Such interesting discussions. We got about 2/3 of the way through Genesis before we gave up. Her comment was, "They call it the good book, but it's not a very good book."

To start this off I’m not religious at, but all faith is definitely compatible with science. Anyone who says otherwise is plain wrong.

The creation story in Genesis is not meant to be read literally. Even some of the Fathers of the Church, like Saint Augustine, didn’t take Genesis literally. Instead, he thought everything was created in an instant. Of course this position isn’t really taken seriously anymore, but it goes to show that young-earth creationism is not and has never been the traditional position of Christians. Augustine said that if one’s interpretation of the Bible conflicted with well-established scientific findings, that interpretation must be revised.

Likewise, anyone who says that Christians cannot be successful scientists is also wrong. Nicolas Steno, the founder of stratigraphy, was a devout Catholic. Georges Lemaître, who devised the Big Bang Theory which is the foundation of modern astronomy, was a priest. Einstein was a pantheist. And to top it off the man who led the Human Genome Project, Francis Collins, is a Christian. Many faithful scientists believe that science can enhance, not deteriorate, faith.

The philosopher Thomas Aquinas believed that faith and reason could never conflict, since the same God created them. If God exists, he would likely create a world that people could study and interpret.

>is there any scientific evidence for Jesus' resurrection?

Yes. NT Wright lays this out well in The Resurrection of the Son of God

The overwhelming academic consensus is that there was a historical Jesus, the mythicist hypothesis (which is the main competitor) is really fringe (not that there aren't biblical scholars and peer-reviewed papers that support it, but they're treated kind of like climatologists who deny anthropogenic global warming).

Bart Ehrman (an extremely respected NT scholar who generally identifies as an agnostic) wrote a book for non-scholars on the topic, Did Jesus Exist?, but while I recommend Ehrman's work generally, I haven't read that particular book.

Hello TheEvilAlex! Search google and find a local Catholic Church! Call them and ask to speak with a priest or the parish youth minister! Explain your situation and they will help you!

The best bible out there right now is the RSV:SCE from Ignatius! You can get the hardcover for under $20 here on amazon. You can download the bible for free on your iPhone/iPod/iPad here.

You don't have to sing the Psalms. Most people read them as poetry.

If you have questions, feel free to ask here or you can even text questions to 'Catholic Facts" a small ministry I run that answers questions about the Catholic faith. Our text line number is 810-37-FACTS.

Cheers!

The best option is Amazon; other sites will have the same price around it but they won’t include the shipping price until you check out. As for Amazon, if you have prime it’s free shipping. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0898708338/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Wy1TAbCBTCVS4

Best one is the one you'll read.

The King James Version, while being highly influential on the English language, isn't recommended due to the language used being several centuries out of date by this point and most don't contain the deuterocanonical books.

The NRSV: CE and Jerusalem Bible both contain the full Catholic canon. The NRSV is controversial due to its use of gender neutral language. I've read portions of it and it doesn't flow well where the editors have stripped out non gender neutral language. I don't have any experience with the Jerusalem Bible but from what I understand, it was the source of the lectionary for Mass in the UK.

What's read at mass is a modified form of the New American Bible, which isn't a terrible translation but the footnotes in the latest edition are... controversial.

Personally, I read the Revised Standard Version, 2nd Catholic Edition. The translation has been thoroughly reviewed and it highly readable.

>Erm, you can read the full report here. It say quite clearly that the data on birth control and sterilization came from publicly available publications from local and national government institutions. So if you think the data is wrong then you have beef with the CCP, not Zenz.

No. Zenz is the one who lied about the data.

Adrian Zenz is literally paid by the American government. Is a crazy religious nutjob who wrote this book "Worthy to Escape: Why All Believers Will Not Be Raptured Before the Tribulation"

>https://www.amazon.com/Worthy-Escape-Believers-Raptured-Tribulation/dp/144976908X

>Many Christians follow the popular pretribulation rapture view. They expect that Jesus will rescue them "just-intime" before the tribulations of the Antichrist. However, few people realize that every single biblical promise of being raptured at that time is conditional on personal spiritual readiness. Eminent Christian leaders such as A.B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, as well as Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, first taught this biblical perspective of a conditional rapture.

>In their captivating account, the authors take their readers on a fascinating journey through the pages of the Bible, showing how biblical prophecies from Daniel to Revelation point toward not just one but two raptures: a conditional first fruits rapture for the ready "wise virgins" of the church, and a later rapture for "foolish virgin" believers who are spiritually unprepared.

1) the historical consensus is that Jesus did, in fact, exist. Bart Ehrman, the world's leading atheistic Bible scholar, even wrote a book dedicated to explaining to other atheists that Jesus did in fact exist: https://www.amazon.com/Did-Jesus-Exist-Historical-Argument/dp/0062206443

2) So what if every religion thinks they're right and the others are wrong. the same is true of political ideologies. That's just how a debate works.

I'd go with the Revised Standard Version - 2nd Catholic Edition. It is my favorite version.

https://www.amazon.com/Ignatius-Bible-Revised-Standard-Catholic/dp/0898708338/

While approved for usage, I would also recommend avoiding the similar named New Revised Standard Version, as it is historically revisionist.

If you're interested in HOW the bible was put together, by who, and when, the The Bible Unearthed is a great resource. It uses known history, archaeology, etc. not religious views. It's well sourced, and interesting.

>He is associated with the victims of communism foundation

He works there.

>has been quoted as saying that he has a mandate from god to eliminate China.

His idiotic views is available for purchase on Amazon.

>His methodology for the 1 million comes from 8 anonymous interviews from one area of xinjiang (actually the hottest area in Xinjiang for terrorism that way he could inflate the numbers as much as possible) and he asked them how many of their neighbors have gone missing.

Impossible. BBC is credible. Media Bias Fact Check says so.

>He then extrapolated from that to arrive at 1 million which isn't a good methodology.

His methodology is anti-science, it is closer to wishful thinking. But what else can we expect from our favorite christian fundy?

>To further explain why Zenz is a really bad source.

You really shouldn't have. I was waiting for him to send me another link with the exact same source. It probably doesn't matter in the end. He'll probably fail to do his due diligence and continue to send me more Adrian Zenz crap.

^(Will he send some ASPI, World Uyghur Congress, China Tribunal, or some Falun Gong shit next? Stay tuned.)

There are many that have been approved by the Church. A favorite in this subreddit (and my personal favorite) is the New Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition. Ignatius Press sells copies on Amazon.

For all 4 of those groups there are differences in the number of books translated, this is only in the Old Testament though. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_canon#Table

I can only speak for the English language but 'most' Christians generally use the same couple of bible translations which became the most popular, with Catholics/Orthodox adding their own books when printed. For example the NKJV which was originally made by Protestants for Protestants is also very popular with Orthodox Christians (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orthodox-Study-Bible-OE-Some-NKJV/dp/0718003594). Likewise the RSV while being 70 years old is still used and updated by all groups of Christians, the Orthodox really like it because it was the first English translation with the whole Orthodox canon, there is also the RSV Catholic edition in print and the ESV revision for Protestants which is currently super popular.

I also think there are some traditional Catholics who would advocate only translating and reading the Latin Vulgate over the original Greek also but they are a pretty small minority today.

You have the Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE) Bible and it is pretty good. Also if you like more old style version than I recommend Douay Rheims Bible, even for me as a non native English speaker it's not that hard to understand it but I would say read it a little bit online to see if it suits you.

By the way now I remember that Ignatius press publishes RSVCE, you can check it here:

https://www.amazon.com/Ignatius-Bible-Revised-Standard-Catholic/dp/0898708338

I wouldn’t say that telling people to Just believe will not help them that much. There are a lot of philosophical and historical arguments that can get you to the fact that Christianity is true. But one of the worst ways to do it is just to ignore the questions and tell people to just have faith. People doing that is one of the number one reasons why people leave the faith. Also I would say that those books you recommended are good popular level apologetic books, but one of the foremost scholarly texts on this issue is NT Wrights book The Resurrection of the Son of God (Christian Origins and the Question of God, Vol. 3) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0800626796/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_AG7BPWGNJ7A1GAJR421Y.

InspiringPhilosophy has many videos on Genesis which collate and summarize some relevant Biblical scholarship on this issue. Check them out!

We of course need to realize that Genesis is an ancient text, written by ancient prescientific people for prescientific people. If we think Genesis is teaching modern science, we are missing the point and missing what God is trying to show us through the text today. Biblical scholar John Walton's The Lost World of Genesis One should be required reading for Christians in my opinion and will also more than adequately answer your question.

This is the Orthodox Study Bible. It was based on earlier English translations (mainly the NKJV) that were edited in places where they disagreed with the standard Orthodox Bible. So it's not perfect, but it's the best full Orthodox Bible available in English.

On the other hand, for the New Testament - not the entire Bible, just the New Testament - there is a better Orthodox translation available. You really should start reading with the New Testament anyway, not the Old, so I suggest buying this one first.

The best way to read the Bible is to start with the New Testament (minus the Book of Revelation; that will make no sense without extensive study), then read the Old Testament, then read the New Testament again.

The reason to do it this way is because the NT contains the core message of Christianity, so you need to read it first in order to get the main points first. The OT is important background information, so read that second. Then read the NT again because you will understand more of it after you've gone through the background information.

Two books I would recommend on this topic: The Lost World of Genesis One and Genesis Unbound.

One author was a professor of Old Testament studies at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary and was president of the Evangelical Theological Society. The other author is an Old Testament scholar and professor at Wheaton College/Moody Bible Institute. Serious, Jesus-loving Bible scholars, who are doing some really in-depth exegesis and work with the original language and cultural context and not some fringe YouTube wingnuts.

Genesis Unbound dives into the opening of Genesis 1 and explores why it might not be talking about the planet as it is modernly understood. The Lost World of Genesis One dives more into the cultural context of Genesis and how ancient audiences might have understood and comprehended it.

the historical and scholarly consensus is that Jesus did, in fact, exist.

Bart ehrman, the world's leading atheistic Bible scholar, wrote a book dedicated to explaining this to other atheists. https://www.amazon.com/Did-Jesus-Exist-Historical-Argument/dp/0062206443

> Sure, I think that there is some historical evidence in the Bible

The Bible is not a historically accurate document. It's a fairy tail. I wouldn't look for answers there. Also, check out this book (also available as an audiobook): "On the Historicity of Jesus: Why We Might Have Reason for Doubt" by Richard Carrier. The best damn deconstruction of the New Testament I have ever listened to. You will learn more about how the Bible was constructed than any Christian in bible study. It should be required reading for this sub.

I suggest for a first time read (if one wants to sacrifice some accuracy for some readability the New Living Translation, or even better the New Living Translation Catholic Edition) (for example NLT CE REGULAR (BONDED LEATHER) - Joy of Gifting)

If you do not want to sacrifice accuracy but still want a good and quite readable bible and you are willing to read a Catholic bible I suggest the Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition (my favourite english bible) (The Ignatius Bible: Revised Standard Version - Second Catholic Edition: Ignatius Press: 8601419460274: Amazon.com: Books)

A thought maybe you want a study bible? A bible with a lot of explanatory notes.