Geoffrey's Notebook

 Week 38—1st John Bible Nerd-Study *Missed last week?  Click here  for 1st John Bible Nerd-Study - Week 37 Week 38 - Moving along into manna and memory of 4:11-14 + Robert Law + normal translation. We've read through 1st John now with a good number of different translations. It's probably been enough to catch most of the possibilities though it's still interesting to see how other translations do this. If you have a suggestion for a new one let me know. I have a few more odd ones to share, but I also like to just use the normal translation that you use as a default.  Robert Law's commentary: The Tests of Life I like even the very title of this classic commentary. He brings out how throughout 1 John there are so many tests given to show that you have eternal life or are begotten or are in fellowship etc. "if we say" "he that saith" etc.  I also noticed that he purposed to group some subjects instead of the typical talk through each verse in its order....

Week 37 —1st John Bible Nerd-Study *Missed last week?  Click here  for 1st John Bible Nerd-Study - Week 36 Week 37!  NET + Manna & Memory with 4:7-10 + Findlay Let's try out the NET translation. Have you ever used it? I've noticed it but never read through it before. I may try to listen through the audio of it sometime soon, but it won't give its full value. This translation has an easy text with a nerdy bunch of footnotes. The translators wanted to show their reasonings throughout the text for certain words or passages coming out the way they did. They said it's a fresh translation (not based on another). I checked into some of the story and think it's pretty neat what they hoped to accomplish. We can see how we feel about it with 1 John, especially after reading through with other versions. With so many notes you may want to just read through the Scriptures (not checking notes) and then especially check the notes on the section we're focusing on (4:7-10). ...

Week 36 —1st John Bible Nerd-Study *Missed last week?  Click here  for 1st John Bible Nerd-Study - Week 35 Week 36 - normal + paraphrase 4:1-6 + FF Bruce!  Let's paraphrase this small interesting section (4:1-6) this time, and it actually goes well with the beginning intro notes from FF Bruce's book on John's Epistles. FF Bruce is possibly my favorite nerd-study teacher when it gets to the nerdiest of things. With his brethren background and ultimate scholarship he ties in belief and revelation in the Scriptures along with the study of those details of background, language, archeology, etc. that most associate with spiritual death. This man handled the most difficult aspects of study and became the teacher of modern times to all of the other teachers. Every book I've caught of his has been great. Some of them, like his books on the Dead Sea Scrolls, are great if you need something to put you to sleep at night 🙂 But others, like his book on difficult questions, are ones...

Week 35 —1st John Bible Nerd-Study *Missed last week?  Click here  for 1st John Bible Nerd-Study - Week 34 NASB (77' vs 95') + 4:1-6 + Westcott 1 John (NASB 1977 vs 1995 plus both versions) I know we're deep in the study now - but remember to always, first thing, devote the "searching" to the discovery of Christ. Only if the sword of the Spirit is able to slice into our depths will the same Spirit reveal the truth hidden within that sword. For the translation this time I'd like to settle the issue of 1977 vs 1995 with NASB (at least for 1 John). I remember talking with some like John Saunders (who introduced me to NASB) how they despised the updates in 1995. The more literal translations were still there but now in the footnotes instead of the text itself. Plus, if you're used to Thee's and Thou's then the update ruined it. The 1977 version kept that archaic language for things like Psalms and prayers. In studying 1 John I figured it'd be a gre...