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The Life with God Bible--NRSV
Rediscover Scripture as living text and learn to live a "with-God life" The NRSV Life with God Bible combines the depth of a study Bible with the warmth of a devotional Bible, offering a new way to discover the full riches of the Scriptures. According to Richard Foster, bestselling author ( Celebration of Discipline ) and the project’s editor, the Bible is all about human life “with God.” As we read Scripture, we should consider how God is with us in each story and allow ourselves to be spiritually transformed. Many people are looking for a new way to read the Bible, not as a text to be mastered. but as a story to enter into and a lifestyle to pursue. This unique Bible, spearheaded by Foster and author Dallas Willard ( The Divine Conspiracy ), introduces the concept of life with God - or the “with-God life” - a model for seeing the whole of Scripture as the unfolding story of God’s plan for our loving relationship with the Creator. This central theme weaves throughout the essays, introductions, notes, and exercises, powerfully revealing how God is present to his people today and throughout history. Yet our relationship with God should not be passive. Concrete practices - Spiritual Disciplines - have been used throughout church history to guide disciples of Jesus. The NRSV Life with God Bible integrates the Spiritual Disciplines into the Christian life by showing how they are central to the Bible’s teachings and stories. Abraham and Ruth, Moses and Deborah, Jesus and the disciples all provide amazing examples of the life-changing power of prayer, worship, fasting, celebration, and many other Spiritual Disciplines. Scripture thus becomes a primary means for the discovery, instruction, and practice of these disciplines as well as a tool for spiritual formation. Combining the highest possible biblical scholarship with the deepest possible heart devotion, this NRSV Bible seeks to nourish inner transformation by unlocking and revealing the profound resources within Scripture for changing our hearts and characters and bringing them in line with what God wants for our lives.
2048 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1999
51 people are currently reading
194 people want to read
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* They are officially published under that name
* They are traditional stories not attributed to a specific author
* They are religious texts not generally attributed to a specific author
Books whose authorship is merely uncertain should be attributed to Unknown.
See also: Anonymous
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
December 12, 2010
Update, Dec. 12, 2010: I've read the entire Bible!
Obviously, this is a long-term project. So far, I've read Genesis, Matthew, Ezra, Acts, Nehemiah, Mark, Esther, Romans, Job, Exodus, Luke, 1 Corinthians, Leviticus, John, Proverbs, 2 Corinthians, Numbers, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, James, Joshua, 1 Peter,
Judges, 2 Peter, Jeremiah, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Lamentations, Ruth, 1 Samuel, Jude, 2 Samuel, Ezekiel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Daniel, Hosea, 1 Chronicles, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 2 Chronicles, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Revelation.
I really liked this translation and think it's a good, clear one for anyone who, like me, is reading the entire Bible for the first time. I'm divided about the notes in the margins. For example, I'd never write a play or paint a picture about my faith. I'm not that type of creative. But I loved the quotes from great religious scholars. Lots of highlighting went on there.
Obviously, this is a long-term project. So far, I've read Genesis, Matthew, Ezra, Acts, Nehemiah, Mark, Esther, Romans, Job, Exodus, Luke, 1 Corinthians, Leviticus, John, Proverbs, 2 Corinthians, Numbers, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, James, Joshua, 1 Peter,
Judges, 2 Peter, Jeremiah, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Lamentations, Ruth, 1 Samuel, Jude, 2 Samuel, Ezekiel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, Daniel, Hosea, 1 Chronicles, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 2 Chronicles, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi and Revelation.
I really liked this translation and think it's a good, clear one for anyone who, like me, is reading the entire Bible for the first time. I'm divided about the notes in the margins. For example, I'd never write a play or paint a picture about my faith. I'm not that type of creative. But I loved the quotes from great religious scholars. Lots of highlighting went on there.
January 21, 2024
Coming from a protestant background, I enjoyed engaging with the Deuterocanonical books (apocryphal) with commentary from scholars from my protestant tradition. That made these texts more accessible when starting, as when starting I didn't have a solid understanding of the purpose or place of these texts in light of my own protestant traditions approach to Scripture.
The introduction is worth its weight in gold if you are learning how to approach scripture, or if scripture has become so familiar it has lost vitality. Foster and his associates did a brilliant job with the opening pages on this count. Likewise, each book has an introduction, most of which are very helpful in gaining context for the text before diving in. As expected, these use the lens of each book's utility to spiritual formation.
As for the notes on 'Spiritual disciplines', and the notes on the texts found on each page - I didn't find them particularly helpful... but I have a close friend who is very well acquainted with the Bible, and who has had the opposite experience, finding them very helpful for his own devotional life -- on that count, I would say I missed part of the gold here and look forward to re-exploring, and finding, what he found in the future.
An easy-to-read translation, yet still faithful to the interpretation process, it has a very similar feel to both the RSV and the ESV in phrasing, but is a touch more accessible for those who didn't grow up with those translations and might find them a little wooden.
As the translation itself goes, It seems to attempt to be gender inclusive (eg. using phrases such as 'sons and daughters' to replace 'sons') which I can understand can convey what may be closer to the intended meaning when pitching to a modern audience, but it does feel unfaithful to the actual text.
If, like me, you're thinking of engaging with this on some level to acquaint yourself with the Deuterocanonical texts, I would say it is worthwhile. This has given me far more respect for scripture, and made more sense of the New Testament, seeing as these books were part of the liturgical life of 1st century Jews, and thus the worship life and worldview of Jesus, the apostles and thus the New Testament itself. If this interests you I would further recommend an author; Stephen de Young, who has a series of books on the bible, 1st-century Judaism & Christianity that have been greatly helpful to me.
The introduction is worth its weight in gold if you are learning how to approach scripture, or if scripture has become so familiar it has lost vitality. Foster and his associates did a brilliant job with the opening pages on this count. Likewise, each book has an introduction, most of which are very helpful in gaining context for the text before diving in. As expected, these use the lens of each book's utility to spiritual formation.
As for the notes on 'Spiritual disciplines', and the notes on the texts found on each page - I didn't find them particularly helpful... but I have a close friend who is very well acquainted with the Bible, and who has had the opposite experience, finding them very helpful for his own devotional life -- on that count, I would say I missed part of the gold here and look forward to re-exploring, and finding, what he found in the future.
An easy-to-read translation, yet still faithful to the interpretation process, it has a very similar feel to both the RSV and the ESV in phrasing, but is a touch more accessible for those who didn't grow up with those translations and might find them a little wooden.
As the translation itself goes, It seems to attempt to be gender inclusive (eg. using phrases such as 'sons and daughters' to replace 'sons') which I can understand can convey what may be closer to the intended meaning when pitching to a modern audience, but it does feel unfaithful to the actual text.
If, like me, you're thinking of engaging with this on some level to acquaint yourself with the Deuterocanonical texts, I would say it is worthwhile. This has given me far more respect for scripture, and made more sense of the New Testament, seeing as these books were part of the liturgical life of 1st century Jews, and thus the worship life and worldview of Jesus, the apostles and thus the New Testament itself. If this interests you I would further recommend an author; Stephen de Young, who has a series of books on the bible, 1st-century Judaism & Christianity that have been greatly helpful to me.
November 23, 2011
The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible is formatted like a lot of study Bibles. It has chapter introductions, study notes at the bottom of each page, and occasional text boxes in the midst of the text. What is different is the intent. As I understand it, this Bible is an attempt to bring a combination of contemporary Biblical scholarship and suggested spiritual practices to the reader seeking to be changed by the scripture.
All of the scriptural books are grouped in larger sections, each with an introduction on how that particular grouping of text fits into a broader scriptural narrative, which is referred to as "The With-God Life". Each book then also gets its own introduction, written by a different Biblical scholar, who I think is also responsible for the study notes within that book. This means that the commentary on each book is being written by a scholar with particular insight on it. It also means that the introductions and notes for some books stand out as much more helpful than others. My favorites were Job, Jeremiah, Amos, Matthew, Luke, Romans, Corinthians, and Hebrews. I found all of these interesting and helpful. It should be noted, though, that the notes on most of the books aren't very thorough. Unlike a more standard study Bible, there is no attempt to address every verse, or to provide help for every question. Frequently in reading the scripture, seemingly obvious questions and concerns came to mind, but when I checked the bottom of the page I found no notes addressing them. Instead, the commentators seem to have been given the liberty to comment primarily on the themes and issues that stand out most to them, or seem most relevant for encouraging the spiritual growth of the reader. Themes are definitely favored over minutia.
The Bible notes also focus a lot on spiritual disciplines. Wherever possible they highlight the disciplines described in scripture (in "Responding" sections), and there is an appendix with a list of all the disciplines they have highlighted.
The translation is the very excellent NRSV, and it includes the Deuterocanonical books (aka the Apocrypha), which I had never read before, but enjoyed exploring.
I'm not sure how to think of this Bible, or to whom to recommend it. I think I learned a lot just reading through it, and reading all the notes along the way, but that was also a major project. Previously I had been trying to read the Bible once each year, but with my desire to read all the notes and chapter introductions, along with my new role as a dad, it took me about three years to get through this one. I'm planning on going back to it as a resource in my own teaching, or when I have questions. As I said, some of the material is really good, and I definitely appreciated the overall themes and narrative structure highlighted by the editors. However, I wouldn't recommend it as a primary resource since it doesn't attempt the same thoroughness as a typical commentary or study Bible.
All of the scriptural books are grouped in larger sections, each with an introduction on how that particular grouping of text fits into a broader scriptural narrative, which is referred to as "The With-God Life". Each book then also gets its own introduction, written by a different Biblical scholar, who I think is also responsible for the study notes within that book. This means that the commentary on each book is being written by a scholar with particular insight on it. It also means that the introductions and notes for some books stand out as much more helpful than others. My favorites were Job, Jeremiah, Amos, Matthew, Luke, Romans, Corinthians, and Hebrews. I found all of these interesting and helpful. It should be noted, though, that the notes on most of the books aren't very thorough. Unlike a more standard study Bible, there is no attempt to address every verse, or to provide help for every question. Frequently in reading the scripture, seemingly obvious questions and concerns came to mind, but when I checked the bottom of the page I found no notes addressing them. Instead, the commentators seem to have been given the liberty to comment primarily on the themes and issues that stand out most to them, or seem most relevant for encouraging the spiritual growth of the reader. Themes are definitely favored over minutia.
The Bible notes also focus a lot on spiritual disciplines. Wherever possible they highlight the disciplines described in scripture (in "Responding" sections), and there is an appendix with a list of all the disciplines they have highlighted.
The translation is the very excellent NRSV, and it includes the Deuterocanonical books (aka the Apocrypha), which I had never read before, but enjoyed exploring.
I'm not sure how to think of this Bible, or to whom to recommend it. I think I learned a lot just reading through it, and reading all the notes along the way, but that was also a major project. Previously I had been trying to read the Bible once each year, but with my desire to read all the notes and chapter introductions, along with my new role as a dad, it took me about three years to get through this one. I'm planning on going back to it as a resource in my own teaching, or when I have questions. As I said, some of the material is really good, and I definitely appreciated the overall themes and narrative structure highlighted by the editors. However, I wouldn't recommend it as a primary resource since it doesn't attempt the same thoroughness as a typical commentary or study Bible.
July 19, 2012
I wish that Zondervan would bring this book back into print. It has by far the best bible notes I have ever read. They really take you deeper into the scriptures and help you to come closer the the Divine. I have given many copies to friends and family. I have both the NIV translation as well as the NRSV. They are both terrific. I wish I could get this on my iPad or Kindle too. It would be great to be able to have it with me.
January 16, 2009
Solitude and Silence, Frugality and Fasting, Secrecy and Sacrifice, Study and Prayer, Service and Submission, Worship and Celebration, Fellowship and Confession...
I have the version with the Apocrypha though. Not sure it's the "protestant version"...as a matter of fact I don't think it is. BUt it's great.
I have the version with the Apocrypha though. Not sure it's the "protestant version"...as a matter of fact I don't think it is. BUt it's great.
November 9, 2012
Beautiful. Well written introductions for each book. please note: this is not a study bible but focuses on spiritual formation. Pages are thin and there is some bleed through. the typeset is easy on the eyes but on the small side. I have the leather edition.
April 4, 2016
Love this translation and the manageable amount of notes. Just as I read and wonder "what in the hizzy heck does that mean?" I will notice the note below. Good reflection questions make me want to read more and read again.
December 31, 2022
I read through this bible in 2022 according to the M'Cheyne schedule. It contains extra books, the deuterocanonical books that are used by some denominations.
October 29, 2023
As far as Study Bibles go, this was not a favourite of mine. I found it very repetitive and finally stopped reading through the study notes because they were not saying anything new. As a disclaimer, I love Richard Foster and even have read through two of Renovare's Spiritual devotional books—which I enjoyed and which led me to pick up this Bible—unfortunately, this was not of the same weight. I ended up reading through and simply doing my own inductive bible studying.
August 25, 2012
This is truly the finest bible I have ever encountered. The margin notes and essays are really wonderful. They call me to examine myself and the scripture I am reading. I am drawn deeper in to the text and closer to the Divine.
In my Quaker meeting we call these kind of notes "queries". Questions without answers but that cause us to ponder more fully and explore more deeply our thoughts and feelings. It is sustaining and uplifting to meditate on these queries. They bring the bible alive.
With this bible I look forward to bible reading and what it will bring to my day and my life. I am saddened that it has fallen out of print. I do wish Zondervan would bring it back. I buy used copies whenever I see them to share with friends.
I have both the NIV translation as well as the NRSV. They are both terrific. I am hoping that it will be made available electronically so that I can carry it with me everywhere. I wish I could get this on my Kindle and iPad. It would be great to have it with me always.
I wish I knew how to contact Timothy K Jones to thank him for this fantastic resource.
In my Quaker meeting we call these kind of notes "queries". Questions without answers but that cause us to ponder more fully and explore more deeply our thoughts and feelings. It is sustaining and uplifting to meditate on these queries. They bring the bible alive.
With this bible I look forward to bible reading and what it will bring to my day and my life. I am saddened that it has fallen out of print. I do wish Zondervan would bring it back. I buy used copies whenever I see them to share with friends.
I have both the NIV translation as well as the NRSV. They are both terrific. I am hoping that it will be made available electronically so that I can carry it with me everywhere. I wish I could get this on my Kindle and iPad. It would be great to have it with me always.
I wish I knew how to contact Timothy K Jones to thank him for this fantastic resource.
December 3, 2008
I bought this as a gift for all the college graduates in my college ministry a few years ago. It continued to be something of a fashion for the serious followers of Jesus in my ministry to get their hands on this incredible resource. Then one of my students actually went out and bought me one. I was elated. I hope to use it for many years to come. The downside is that it's pretty bulky for a Bible. It's not real handy. But it is definitely great as a desk resource or to be used in th quiet moments of your home or office. I also love the list of contributors: Dallas Willard, Eugene Peterson, Walter Brueggemann, and of course Richard Foster among others.
Read
February 24, 2016First, what is spiritual formation? As defined in the introduction, "Spiritual formation" is the process of transforming the inner reality of the self (the "inward being" of the psalmist) in such a way that the overall with-God life seen in the Bible naturally and freely comes to pass in us. It's wesome! Jessica inspired me to read through the Bible like she and Andy are doing right now. I am following the same reading plan called Eat this Book from the YouVersion Bible on my phone. Ironically, this is the title of a book I read in the last couple of years written by Eugene Peterson. He is also the author of the Message which is my favorite Bible paraphrase,
Currently reading
December 31, 2007we received this from Mom Miller for Christmas. Actually, we have the Catholic version with the apocrypha (same price) but it doesn't show up on the Goodreads book choices. The intro by Richard Foster and the general editors is a nice intro to the "with-God life"- a term that they use throughout the commentary. I also like Foster's explanation of why the NRSV is a great version to use- ecumenical, accurate, good English flow, etc. If you could just buy or read the intro, you could use it with whatever Bible you are already reading. If you aren't reading one, this one is very accessible.
December 15, 2015
I own so many Bibles, always looking for the one that's just right. This may be it! Or at least it's right for me right now. My history in Bibles: The Bible as Literature, the King James, the Scofield NIV, the Recovery Bible, the Oxford New Revised Standard, the Lutheran NSRV, and now, this version of the NSRV with its emphasis on spiritual formation.
June 28, 2007
Fairly good as a second Bible only. Some interesting insights to add while doing Bible Study.
August 7, 2007
I like this edition of the Bible, as it contains many extras and explanations in the footnotes. Its thick and hard to carry around, though. You might want it as a second Bible.
November 8, 2008
I'll never learn everything in this book! Probably the #1 thing -- God is God, and I am not!
December 30, 2008
hands down my favorite bible and i own quite a few.
September 25, 2009
This is my favorite Bible. The idea of spiritual formation that permeates this version, as well as the quality of the commentary has blessed my spiritual life in great measure. I love this Bible.
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August 6, 2011Oneof my favorite Bibles!
December 18, 2015
Wonderfully put together by a group of famous spiritual leaders. The intro's and comments are life-changing. It is the best version of the Bible I have ever read and studied.
March 20, 2017
I really like the spiritual disciplines index and notes. They've helped me read scripture for devotion again.
May 25, 2009
One of the best study bibles I've come across with focus on disciplines that deepen spiritual life
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews