China set to have world’s largest Bible printer
In Nanjing, China, the Nanjing Amity Printing Company is cranking out a bunch of Bibles and is on track to soon become the biggest printer of Bibles in the world.
Since its first Bible rolled off the presses two decades ago, Amity has printed more than 50 million copies in 75 languages and exported to more than 60 countries. With the help of a new hangar-sized facility, the company is on its way to becoming the biggest Bible factory in the world, cranking out 12 million copies a year. Read the whole story
While exciting, does this not seem strange when you consider stories like we covered a couple weeks ago?
If you’re interested, here are the conpany’s stats on how many Bible’s they’ve cranked out since 1988 (64,552,428). Also, here are some of the Bible’s they’ve printed.
Anyone got some thougts on this?
Free Commentary
If you are a Logos user, hurry over to the Logos site and pick up a FREE copy of the Matthew, Mark Cornerstone Biblical Commentary. (Use code: CORNERSTONE)
Not a Logos user? Here is a way to save 25% of the list price.
Dead Sea Scrolls Online
In case you haven’t heard, the NY Times ran an article about the Israel Antiquities Authority’s plan to digitally photograph and make available online all of the Dead Sea Scrolls.
In a crowded laboratory painted in gray and cooled like a cave, half a dozen specialists embarked this week on a historic undertaking: digitally photographing every one of the thousands of fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls with the aim of making the entire file — among the most sought-after and examined documents on earth — available to all on the Internet. Read the whole article.
It is pretty amazing to think that anyone, anywhere, will be able to have access to these documents… especially when you consider that, until now, it was difficult for even renowned scholars to gain access.
Invite John Piper to Your Bible Study
enjoy
Reading the Bible for Personal Application
James Grant has posted an interview between Michael Spencer (Internet Monk) and Dr. David Powlison about his contribution to the ESV Study Bible.
The interview is helpful to all readers of the bible. I appreciate question number 3, “What are the safeguards for insuring good personal application?” People can often get some crazy things when reading the Bible. His answer reminds me of Bruce Waltke’s book, “Finding the Will of God. A Pagan Notion?“
China Confiscates Bibles
A group of American Christians had over 300 Bibles seized by Chinese officials when they attempted to bring them into the country. The group has now refused to leave the airport until their Bibles are returned.
Articles covering the story can be found on:
AP
CNN
LA Times
Guardian
ChristianToday
To Translate or Not to Translate
There is a great article at Christianity Today on the controversy surrounding the translation of the Bible into patois, Jamaica’s Creole language. The debate stems around a couple points. First, paois is a primairly a spoken language and has no standard writing system. Along with this, the official language of Jamaica is Standard English. Some Jamaicans feel that translating the Bible into paois would undercut the country’s efforts to properly teach and learn English.
It is an interesting debate and something worth thinking about. Any thoughts?
Who Translated Your Bible?
Temper Longman has a helpful article on the NLT Blog (New Living Translation) pointing out why it is important to know who translated your Bible:
So why does the NLT list the names of its ninety translators? It’s not to stroke the egos of the scholars. Indeed, I get embarrassed when people ask me to autograph their NLT because they see my name up front.
The main value of knowing who translated the Bible you are reading is to let you know the theological perspective of the work. (Yes, it is also to tell you that the people who did it are highly trained specialists in the language and literature of the Old and New Testaments). But what difference does the theological perspective of the translator make?
A big difference. (Read the entire article)
Students Protest Bible Burning and are Locked Up
Several High School students in Eritrea, a small country in East Africa, were locked in a metal shipping container after protesting the burning of hundreds of Bibles.
The students had objected when military authorities at Sawa Defense Training Center near Eritrea’s border with Sudan began burning more than 1,500 Bibles that were confiscated from new students enrolled in the upcoming academic year on Aug. 5, a source told the persecution watchdog agency Compass Direct News.
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Eritrea, a small country in East Africa on the Red Sea, is one of the worst persecutors of Christians in the world. The government is highly suspicious of newer Christian movements such as the Evangelical and Pentecostal churches and frequently harasses their followers.
Win a FREE ESV Study Bible
There is a lot of buzz around the internet about the October release of the ESV Study Bible. This Bible looks to be a great resource to all students of the Bible and we’re so excited about it that we’re going to give one away!
If you want to win a FREE ESV Study Bible, here are the rules:
- You will get 1 entry for every review you write on Best-Bible.org (There is no limit, however, please only review Bibles and products you are familiar with… also, leave helpful reviews, not just “I like this Bible.”)
- You get 2 entries if you link to Best-Bible.org from your blog or website (links will be tracked via technorati)
- Contest ends August 30, 2008 at 11:59 EST
- Winner will be selected at random on August 31
- The ESV Study Bible will be pre-ordered for the winner and delivered after it is officially released in October
Let the games begin!
