This Will Not Be on My Christmas List
Thomas Nelson is publishing The American Patriot’s Bible. (Go to the web page now and see if you can spot the typo while it’s still up. Seven points to the first person who spots it.) I’ve never been a fan of the special interest Bibles—e.g., Men’s Study Bible, Women’s Study Bible, Power Forward’s Study Bible, Heirloom Tomato Farmer’s Study Bible—but the American Patriot’s Bible seems to go too far. My belief is that the Bible should continue to prophetically speak to all nations. In my understanding of the cross and the resurrection, ethnic and national boundaries mean very little to God. I don’t mind books and discussions about how the leaders of our nation have been shaped by the Bible or what they said about the Bible. I simply don’t think that such information belongs in a Bible.
(HT: Chris Spinks and Scot McKnight)
Unites States…
Wow… this just takes it to the next level for me. A quick perusal and it looks like it might have some cool features and vignettes. But the publishers are treading on dangerous ground of integrating the Bible with American History. Though it may include elements of standing against the tide of American history, the impression (and the marketing/packaging of it confirms it) is that it’s here to affirm American history.
Comment by Eddy E — June 2, 2009 @ 8:15 pm
I don’t think this Bible goes any farther than the Men’s Devotional Bible or the Green Bible. They are each geared to a specific market, and therefore reflect the consumerism of the early 21st century church.
Comment by Timbo — June 2, 2009 @ 9:36 pm
Huh, I can’t find the typo.
Anyway, I find this Bible abhorrent. Not so much from what’s presented on that website you linked to, but from the “look inside” content on Amazon. It’s eisegesis at its worst.
I’m reminded of Goldingay’s statement from one (or all!) of my OT classes: “If you’re reading the Bible and it’s not changing you, then you’re changing it.”
Comment by Chase — June 3, 2009 @ 7:11 am
Eddy found the typo. “The American Patriot’s Bible intersects the teachings of the Bible with the history of the Unites States while applying it to today’s culture.” He gets seven points and is now in the lead.
I agree that it’s another example of consumerism in the Christian world. I still find a difference, however, with this Bible and the other specifically-marketed Bibles. I think the Men’s Study Bible or even the Green Bible ask the question, “What does the Bible have to say about a certain topic?” In those cases, what does the Bible have to say about what it means to be a man or what does the Bible have to say about care for creation? The danger of the specifically-marketed Bibles is that the lenses through which they look at the Bible can actually turn into blinders. These Bibles run the danger of only focusing on the topic at hand to the exclusion of other matters the Bible addresses. The American Patriot’s Bible seems to go further and asks, “What does America have to say about the Bible?” As it stands, it does seem that the Bible contains eisegesis, as Chase said, and it is simply anachronistic. Again, if the creators of that Bible wrote a book with the same findings, I would have far less problems with their work.
Comment by Tyler Watson — June 3, 2009 @ 8:20 am
I think this book could go either way. As am amateur American historian I think it would be interesting to have a companion that outlines some of the passages the have affected policy or have been used at critical times to rally troops or even explore the darker translations that justified slavery. Something tells me that this is not that book however.
Comment by Derus — June 3, 2009 @ 11:31 pm
What would the underlying principle be that animates the discomfort with this Bible (which I share)? Is it not the conjunction of scripture with another entity that we can too easily elevate beyond its rightful place? Isn’t it that it flirts with mixing faith with idolatry?
If so, that might help delineate between acceptable niche bibles and questionable ones. That said, I think the “green bible” would be pretty close to the line, if not over it, given how the environment can also easily be elevated beyond its rightful place.
Comment by Micah — June 9, 2009 @ 5:27 pm
I’ve been thinking about your questions, Micah, and I do think the matter of idolatry is key here. There seems to be something unique about the idolatry of the state when compared to other forms of idolatry. History is riddled with nations assuming a divine mandate or special providential blessing, oftentimes reading themselves as the contemporary of the Bible’s Israel. When idolatry mixes with nationalism, when religion is used to give approval to a nation’s policies and history, we have seen doors for violence open. I try to be against idolatry in all its forms, but there seems to be something uniquely dangerous and violent about the idolatry of the state.
Comment by Tyler Watson — June 13, 2009 @ 1:49 pm