Customer Reviews

The Contemporary Parallel New Testament: 8 Translations: King James, New American Standard, New Century, Contemporary English, New International, New Living, New King James, The Message

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There are eight translations in this book; KJV, NASB, New Century, Contemporary English Version, NIV, New Living Translation, New King James and The Message. There are 4 translations to a page so you can see all translations for the same passage at the same time. The open book shows you all eight at once. There is a 2 page preface for each version in the front of the book. It gives a brief summary of how we got that version. This book is easy to read. The format is great. It doesnt have any frills though, no concordance etc. Great book for the price. Makes comparisons simple and easy.

This Parallel New Testament is nothing more than a preface and foreward and the scriptures of eight more popular translations (with their preface and forewards). But that is great! The eight represent a strong cross section of translation styles, from the more literal word-for-word (NAS,NIV) to the more thought-for-thought (The Message, The Living Translation). I believe the variation of translations draws one closer to understanding what God is saying to us; this is the next best thing to reading it in the Greek (and having a Greek expert and 1st century historian available for interpretting those phrases that don't make sense in a word for word translation).

I like many others have a problem reading the bible. As a fairly new christian, I was only reading the King James version and it was boring and very difficult to read. I stepped up and got the NIV(new international version) Bible and it has helped me profoundly in the old testament. I still wanted to search if there was a better way to read, the New Testament. The Contemporary New Testament is the BEST. It is even funny!!! It gives you the new testament in 8 different ways. Now i'm meditating and I didn't even know it. Each version gives me so much clarity and I can pick which one is best read for me. I just love to see the different ways that they interpret the Bible and none of them are wrong. It helped me to enjoy reading the Bible. God Bless You and I hope you recieve a blessing in reading this by buying this Bible.

My belief is that no single translation of the Bible can be relied upon for accuracy. I prefer to use a "parallel" Bible which many translations, side by side on the page. By comparing various translations, one can detect some interesting biases and distortions introduced by the translators. This parallel New Testament is an excellent buy for the money, and in icludes an excellent selection of translations.

This Bible is New Testament only, which is it's only drawback. On a two-page spread, the reader can study a Bible passage in 8 different translations! Everything from the King James Version to The Message is included! My favorite translations are NIV and New Living Translation (NLT), but I enjoy reading the others as well. When a passage is hard to understand, reading all the translations can be extremely helpful. Having The Message side-by-side with the others is a great feature of this Bible!

One complaint I have is with the quality of the book itself. When you open the book, you can run your finger down the middle where the pages are bound together and it makes a crinkling sound. It's rather bumpy there where the pages come together and while it doesn't affect the quality of the text, it can be slightly annoying if you love books for their feel in your hands and the quality of the materials used, as well as for the content of the book!

I highly recommend this book - it sure beats having 8 different Bibles open around you while you're studying! Having this one leaves you more room for your Concordance, Bible Dictionary, and Commentaries!

Please check out my other reviews of Christian books and my Listmania List of "Great Bibles".

I use this parallel NT each time I am preparing a sermon or
Bible study on a passage in the NT. It is very good, the
translation choices are from the wide spectrum of English
translations, literal to paraphrase. I wish the publisher
had placed the NKJV next to the KJV and the NASB next to
the NIV. It would have made this resource even more useful.
But this deserves a place on every pastor's study desk.
Highly recommended.

Who *really* needs 8 versions of the New Testament? Maybe I didn't! But I *did* want 5 of the popular versions, and this was a very easy and effective way to get them. Here's a listing of all 8, from my very favorite to least...

1. NIV- New International Version '84: Accurate & readable- thank God for the NIV! I might not be a Christian today if it weren't for this version. It was the first time for me that the Bible truly came alive. It's *still* my favorite version!
*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.
2. NLT- New Living Translation '96: *VERY* readable- & still pretty accurate. It's not word-for-word, but I like it! This and the NIV together make for very profitable reading. Add the NASB or NKJV to the mix for *real* rock-solid study.
*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
3. NKJV- New King James Version '82: Great blend between accuracy, tradition & readability! A word-for-word translation, it retains the popular feel of the KJV. I like it! Many evangelicals insist that the NASB is more accurate, but I'll take the NKJV over NASB any day of the week. It's not that I'm a *fanatic* or anything- it's purely personal preference.
*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
4. NASB- New American Standard Bible '95: Extremely accurate. Extremely word-for-word. Extremely evangelical!
*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.
5. KJV- King James Version: 1611 Authorized Version. Amazing impact on history. Still valuable today.
*Matthew 5:13- Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

6. CEV- Contemporary English Version '95: *Very* pleasant surprise. This might actually grow on me. Maybe!
*Matthew 5:13- You are like salt for everyone on earth. But if salt no longer tastes like salt, how can it make food salty? All it is good for is to be thrown out and walked on.
7. NCV- New Century Version '91: Kinda plain vanilla. Not necessarily a bad version, but really- how *many* do we need?
*Matthew 5:13- You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its salty taste, it cannot be made salty again. It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and walked on.
8. TM- The Message '95: Goodness gracious alive! What book am I reading? Actually, it's really pretty interesting. :)
*Matthew 5:13- Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

I am extremely pleased with this "parallel" New Testament. My biggest (pleasant) surprise was the fact that this collection is actually quite compact in size and weight. (I was expecting the book to be much wider and heavier.) It is easy to carry around (unlike most hardcover books of this type).

Aside from that, it's great to have these particular translations "side by side," as it were. With the notable exception of the King James Version, each of these translations is written in modern (American) English; they are a joy to read and make studying the scriptures a meaningful experience.

I would recommend this volume to anyone who enjoys comparing (or who has an analytical mind).

I wasn't sure which version of the New Testament to buy, so I bought all the comtemporary versions in one book and I am extreemly happy! I enjoy reading the different translations and comparing. I also feel it gives me a more complete understanding reading through the nuances of all 8. The book is neatly designed and features all 8 on one open page (2 pages), 4 on top, 4 on bottom. I only hope to find a parallel Old Testament Bible.

Most of us are used to using only one Bible translation. After all, it would be laborious to carry more than one book to our meetins. And most of the time, one translation is just fine. But there can be differences in the translations that, if I have access to it, it might make a passage much clearer. That's why I recommend this book. I enjoy the NIV, but sometimes it's beneficial to see how the more literal NASB puts it. I also enjoy the NLT. But having memorized many verses in the old KJV, it's nice to check up here and see this too. Overall, I think every Christian should have this as part of his/her Bible study library.