Looking quickly at one resource (Robert Booth's <em>Children of the Promise</em>), the only comment that is made on this passage is to see this verse in its context. Baptism is being compared with the deliverance of Noah...in particular, to the deliverance of Noah and his family. So, a household context for this verse was noted.
In light of that household context, the appeal could be made by the head of the household, not by the individual member.
I would recommend The Orthodox Study Bible. At the very least use it for the Greek Old Testament.
Would it help if we just renamed ourselves "Followers of the Jewish Messiah?" Christianity is just the name of the collection of people who ended up following Jesus as the Messiah. Some of us strongly follow our Jewish roots in our practices under the New Covenant.
My recommendation is <em>Being Christian</em> by Rowan Williams.
I’d disagree with the top comments recommending Mere Christianity. Some homophobic stuff in that book.
I would strongly encourage you take check out Dr. Brant Pitre’s book “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist: Unlocking the Secrets of the Last Supper” (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385531869/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_cN-qFb5DWRCEX) There is a lot to unpack on this one central sacrament of the Church and it should also help clear up some of the conflicts u find with the old testament.
Preview: https://youtu.be/NFmgYbC3OYw
You can actually borrow the audiobook, as well as “Jesus the Bridegroom”, for free on Hoopla (if you’re in the US or Canada).
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 For example the NKJV which was originally made by Protestants for Protestants is also very popular with Orthodox Christians (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Orthodox-Study-Bible-OE-Some-NKJV/dp/0718003594).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.
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.
If you attended a Catholic Mass, than you will find the Episcopalian Holy Eucharist service almost the exact same. So if the Catholic mass didn’t click with you then I highly doubt the Episcopal Church’s liturgy will.
If you want to understand Christianity from the Episcopalian/Anglican perspective than I recommend Being a Christian by Rowan Williams.
https://www.amazon.com/Being-Christian-Baptism-Eucharist-Prayer/dp/0802871976
I use the Orthodox Study Bible, it's based on the NKJV, but with the Old Testament translated from the Septuagint instead of the Masoretic Text (The Hebrew bible written by the Jewish clan of Scribes known as the Masorets, it was probably translated between the 7th-10th century AD, That is the Most Common source for most Protestants' Bibles' Old Testament.
Wereas the Septuagint was written in 300 AD, when the King of Alexandria wanted a scripture in the common language of Greek. So, he has 70 Scholars (Septuagint is Latin for 70) each translate the entire Old Testament alone. And when they were complete and they compared their copies they were completely identical, this is why I said it was divinely inspired Greek translation.
This story is also repeated in the Jewish Talmud, which is why it used to be that you could read from either the Hebrew Tanack, or the Greek Tanack, both were fine. But when the Christians started using the Greek Tanach, they stopped that practice and only reading from the Hebrew Tanach was acceptable. Christians used the Septuagint explicitly, until St. Jerome, when he was writing the Vulgate, chose to translated the Vulgate's Old Testament from Hebrew.
One of the best intros is Rowan Williams’ <em>Becoming Christian</em>, which lays out the basics of Christian belief and practice. He is the former Archbishop of Canterbury, so he knows his stuff. One of the most important yet daunting parts of Anglicanism is the Book of Common Prayer. The best intro to it I’ve read is Derek Olsen’s <em>Inwardly Digest</em>. I highly recommend it. That’s where I’d start!
While I don’t want to call him a liberal theologian, he may be put in that camp by conservatives; Rowan Williams is the former Archbishop of Canterbury and has written some wonderfully accessible books (and academic books) from both a creedally orthodox and rather progressive Christian position. I highly recommend his <em>Being Christian</em> and <em>Being Christian</em> to start.
He’s a conservative, and you’ll read explicitly anti-gay stuff in that book. Another prolific and brilliant Anglican is Rowan Williams. I much more recommend his <em>Being Christian</em> instead.
I finished it a few months ago. Brant Pitre is a wonderful writer, and I didn't find anything at all questionable in the book. He writes at a very accessible level, and has done quite a bit of study into the Jewish culture at the time. Another book of his I'd absolutely recommend is "Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist"
>I've recently been getting in to orthodoxy and I've been doing things that I have knowledge on like using my prayer rope and saying morning prayers
Glory be to God! It's always nice to hear of a new convert.
>I want to go to my local church for liturgy but my parents are Jehovah's Witnesses and they won't take me to church also I'm 17 and can't drive yet
Can you walk to the nearest Orthodox Church, there might be people willing to give you a ride. Alternatively, you could be able to take the bus. I also don't drive, it's way too expensive. So those are methods that I've used to get to Church.
>I don't know what kind of bible to use
There is a wonderful translation in English known as The Orthodox Study Bible. You can order it Here if you live in Canada like me, or Here if you live in America. If you don't have a credit card, no sweat, most Orthodox parishes will have a copy that you can buy.
Quick and dirty answers (if you do a search of the sub, you'll find a lot of other responses to this question):
You can look at it so literally it exoterically
For example “The Mushroom and the Cross” this is a Hebrew scholar and a translator of the bible, they say that the word for jesus is actually a psychedelic mushroom and that it has been translated wrong.
Are they correct or wrong? Who knows, it’s probably a mix of both.
But the point is you can’t trust the texts to be quite literal as you say.
Look up the “council of Nicea” sketchy af.
I don't think there's one 'right' version. I lean to The New Kings James Version, myself. The Orthodox Study Bible which is reasonably popular with English speaking Orthodox is New King James, but has the added benefit of having the Old Testament corrected against the Greek OT. Also it contains all the book Orthodox Christians recognize as belonging to the Old Testament which a Protestant bibles don't. A lot of people like the English Standard Version and the Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version.
Bro, I highly recommend you read, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist it gave me a better understanding of Catholicism.
Go to the Mike Tyson of Catholicism, at least in my opinion Dr Brant Pitre. The book is a good grounding in understanding Catholicism. God Bless you OP.
First of all, it is very nice that you are interested in Christianity, even if you don't become a Christian. If you need to learn more about Christianity, you must do a lot of reading. I would recommend buying the Orthodox Study Bible which contains many notes about the biblical passages. You might also be interested in a book by Fr. Kallistos Ware titled The Orthodox Way, which explains much of the basic history and doctrines of Eastern Orthodoxy specifically.
Of course, as an Orthodox Christian, I have only recommended Orthodox books. You should also study other, non-Orthodox sources.
https://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Mushroom-Cross-Christianity-fertility/dp/0982556276
https://oratoryofmysticalsacraments.org/about/
Use your brain and simple logic. Why would Jesus be against drunkards in the very text the church is centered around, but then the sacrament to receive him is alcohol. Have a good Easter brotha may god bless you 🙏🏼❤️🔥😂
Jesus and the Jewish roots of the Eucharist. Dr Brant Pitre is a heavy hitting Biblical scholar, I think you may really enjoy this book.
It never was. See, e.g. Orthodox Study Bible, New American Bible.
https://www.amazon.com/Children-Promise-Biblical-Infant-Baptism/dp/0875521657 - this was the book that helped me. It was written by a Baptist-turned-Presbyterian pastor so he understands the Baptist perspective well.
Surely the early Jews who embraced Christ as the Messiah were able to make these connections for a variety of reasons. Whether there’s agreement over such interpretations (among many others) is another matter as it’s what essentially divides Judaism from Christianity.
For what it’s worth it’s understood that Jesus fulfilled the five criteria of the original Passover in the following ways. https://sjvlaydivision.org/new-paschal-lamb/
The above is a brief summary of what Dr Brant Pitre discusses in his book “Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist”, where he discusses this topic much more in depth.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385531869/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_PKJXV96Y7AGRQP0FXJ5F
You’d be overjoyed and thrilled to tears to know that you can listen to his book for free on Hoopla ;) The upshot is that you wouldn’t have to pay a single dime to get an even deeper understanding of just how confused we Catholics/Christians really are LOL.
Obviously this is a debate that transcends a mere exchange of comments on Reddit which isn’t the healthiest place to engage in such a dialogue anyway; not that I’m even capable of such a debate, nor do you likely believe one is even justified.
By the way, i know its not always, if ever mutual, and I completely understand why (especially more recently) but I’ve definitely come to really appreciate the Jewish faith far more deeply than I ever could have had I not investigated my own faith more deeply or had I not been raised Catholic. As ignorant and wrong as I (and Christianity in general) might be to yourself and other Jews, I know myself and many other Catholics do have a great respect for the Jewish faith and the Jewish people. Anyway, I don’t mean any disrespect.
In time we’ll hopefully see eye to eye, even if it’s on the other side death in the new creation (upon the fulfillment of Isaiah 2:4 and Isiah 11:6).
I tried to find something official from the same translation group but I couldn't find anything. I did find the Orthodox Study Bible but it has the Old Testament and Apocrypha translated separately. It may or may not be what you're looking for. This is your best bet.
There are some ESV Bibles that include the Apocrypha and the wording should be similar to the NKJV though it won't be exact and it's based on the Critical Text for the New Testament.
https://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Study-Bible-Hardcover-Christianity/dp/0718003594
The Orthodox Study Bible has commentary on almost every verse.
This podcast is also great. The priest goes verse by verse through much of the New Testament.