Book reviews 8/21
It has been several months since last time I reviewed a book here. I expect it will happen more often now, as two of the books were different translations of the Bible, which require a bit more than reading straight through. ;)
The Message Remix: The Bible in Contemporary Language (MSG) (Eugene H. Peterson)
Rating: 
Years ago, our previous church started quoting Bible verses in a way I did not recognize: “MSG”. It took a while for me to realize it was referring to a new translation of the Bible. Honestly, I was annoyed every time I saw the references at the time. Last year I finally broke down and purchased a copy to start checking it out, more with the plan that I could note to others when they pull a quote from the Message and apply it incorrectly (assuming the other translations were more correct). Anyway, after having spent four of the past six months in this translation, I feel I can firmly say: “wow.” It continued to amaze me how well this translation maintains “the message,” if you will. I use Logos Bible Software heavily to compare Bible versions in areas where I am unsure on the meaning of certain passages. There were several times reading the Message when I read a verse and thought “boy, I really don’t remember it that way,” pulled up Logos to check all the other translations, and found that the Message actually did a great job capturing the meaning of the passage. The language is so modern that things simply jump right out at you like they perhaps never did before. While it is not a major study Bible, the introductions to each book give you enough to understand the context, especially for anyone who has never read a study Bible (or any Bible, for that matter). If you have never made it through the Bible before, this just might be the version to finally get you hooked… and then you can move on to some more literal translations (ESV, NASB, etc.) for more intense study.
Ignatius Catholic Bible: Revised Standard Version (RSV: CE) (Ignatius Press)
Rating:
You might ask why I throw a rating on Bible translations? I think if I rated every one I spent time in, they would all be 5 stars (except maybe the “Good News” version I had growing up). In the case of this one, I wanted to try out a Catholic translation, especially since I had never read any of the Apocrypha, or deutero-canonical books. If you don’t know what those are, spend some time at BibleDudes.com. They have an outstanding, entertaining summary for each of the books (click here, you will not be disappointed). I found the actual books themselves quite interesting, though I don’t feel I got much more out of them when compared with the canonical portion of the Old Testament. I’m really glad I spent the time reading them, though. The nice thing about this version is the lengthy discussion on the differences between the RSV and the RSV: CE, including notes for all differences between the two versions in the New Testament. Here is a link to the Compact Edition that I purchased, which is a very handy size to fit on the bookshelf. My only annoyance with it was the Mary medallion on the zipper which, honestly, I pried off. I may never understand Mariology, and may God forgive me if what I did was wrong.
Prison to Praise(Merlin R. Carothers)
Rating: 
It took me quite a while to get through this book, even though it’s roughly 100 pages in length. T’s aunt, Vivian, sent a copy to me after reading my last post on my health. To summarize the book, Merlin found at some point in his life that God wants us to praise him for everything. Everything. Yes, everything. Good stuff… bad stuff… normal everyday stuff… etc. He backs things up with personal experience, testimony from others he ministered to, and quite a bit of Scripture. If you’ve spent serious time studying Job, you will find this is not a new message. All I can say is that I find it hard to praise God every moment like Merlin states we should. I certainly will keep working on it, though, and I expect it to be a life-long struggle.
More Power to You(Merlin R. Carothers)
Rating:
This was another book Vivian sent to me in the same package. It was another along the same lines of the previous one. I rate this one lower because it simply didn’t have the same impact on me as his first book. Based on reviews of his later books, it appears many others out there have felt the same. It was still well worth the read. Thanks again for all the books you loaned to me, Vivian. :)
Descent into Hell (Charles Williams)
Rating:
Sorry, Rae, but I didn’t really like this book. I think you mentioned you hadn’t read it yet, so I guess I would suggest skipping it. Anyway, it was written in 1937 by a guy folks claimed to be quite a genius, and that combination resulted in a book in which I couldn’t actually understand half the sentences. I had a similar feeling back when I attempted to read Moby Dick probably 10 years ago. In other words, this book seems like it would be best read by English majors. By the way, the book is about two people who make seemingly insignificant choices that eventually lead one towards Heaven, and the other to… you guessed it, Hell. There is a great Casting Crowns song about the latter, by the way… Slow Fade. You can listen to/watch it here on Youtube. Here’s the final chorus in case you don’t have the time to watch it.
It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away
It’s a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day
It’s the build up of all those bad choices that lead you too far down the wrong road. It’s not just some single, cataclysmic event you think will never happen to you. That’s the point of the song, and from what I could understand in between really big words, I think that was the point of the book.
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August 21st, 2009 at 5:46 am
Important note: The Message is not a translation. It’s a transliteration (basically it’s closer to a commentary than it is a translation). Peterson is a linguistics scholar and basically transliterated the greek and hebrew into a sort of commentary in modern language.
It is an interesting work and some of the verses are excellent. I personally do not believe it should be your main study Bible. You’ll miss a lot of stuff from a more detailed translation (like the NASB and NKJV).
August 21st, 2009 at 7:35 am
That’s a better way of putting it than I did, thanks Jared. I’m hoping a few of my friends I know who have struggled w/ the Bible in the past would at least give this a shot to get them excited again. My primary “paper” Bible is a copy of the NASB (I think it’s the Life Application version), and I’m moving on to checking out an ESV Study Bible next. I much prefer doing all study through Logos, though.
August 21st, 2009 at 1:15 pm
One translation that isn’t bad is the TNIV,they cleaned up the NIV and it’s very readable. It’s a dynamic translation rather than a literal translation, but it’s pretty decent.