Customer Reviews

The Life with God Bible NRSV (Compact, Ital Leath, Brown): with the Deuterocanonical Books

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

The Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible is just out. This reviewer may add more material later, but here are the 'first' glance remarks.
First, the print in the Bible is larger than most Bibles, both in the text and the notes, a great thing.
Second, the introductions for the most part are well written and insightful. The General Introduction is good in that it sets the tone for the rest of the notes throughout the Bible.
Third, it is uneven. Some authors have many insights into spiritual formation, others do not. For example, Marva Dawn's work in John bypassed a wonderful opportunity to really talk about the Eucharist in spiriual formaiton, but there was an extreme lack of depth there.
Overall, I have given it 4 stars.
PART II
To some readers of this Study Bible, some of the concepts, like the 6 streams of the Fatih may sound new. The beauty of Renovare is its wholistic approach to spiritual formation. We tend to work on one area, but that gets us out of balance to the other critical areas of the faith. While this Bible can be used as a stand alone Bible, it is helpful to use some other Renovare publications with it. "Streams of Living Water" by Richard Foster along with his most famous "Celebration of Discipline" will help put you into the heart of the Renovare philosophy of Spiritual Formation. Dallas Willard's "The Divine Conspiracy" and "Renovation of the Heart" will aid you as well. One of the most helpful Renovare publications is James Smith's "A Spiritual Formation Workbook". This publication will help you begin and sustain a small group for Spiritual Formation. That, after all, is one of the goals of Renovare. Spiritual Formation is not a solitary thing, it works best in a community faith that will encourage, challenge, and hold us accountable for our spiritual life.
Use this Bible and the helpful publications from Renovare and begin a small group and find that in the process, Christ is indeed being formed in us.

Personally, I am glad the Renovare editorial board asked those of us involved in the project to provide material that was inspirational, in-depth, thought-provoking, intricate and complex. I have never been of the opinion that Christianity ought to be reducible to a bumper sticker or a t-shirt slogan or that a Bible had to be compact and portable to be of any value. Other generations had no problem with Bibles that weighed a pound or two and had no issue with being afforded the opportunity to access copious amounts of inspirational material. They only asked that it be written with piety and integrity and that it not skate the surface. They expected to work their intellects and their spirits when they cracked open commentaries by Luther or Calvin or the Cappadocian Fathers or Matthew Henry. I believe the Renovare Study Bible lies happily within that tradition of the deeper life. It is jam-packed with essays and meditations and spiritual insights that will keep you thinking and wondering and praying and wrestling for months and years. Look, you have Walter Brueggeman of Old Testament fame, you have Eugene Peterson of The Message and Christ Plays in Ten Thousand Places, Virginia Stem Owens with all her wonderful literary ability, William Willimon of Duke Chapel with all his refreshing eloquence, Dallas Willard of The Divine Conspiracy, Richard Foster of Celebration of Discipline, Thomas Oden with his love of the old Christian writings, an incredible and eclectic gathering of believers spading the verdant earth of the Holy Bible. I am going through this excellent tome from cover to cover and there is lots of good stuff. They could never have included so much solid material by putting out a slimline Bible. I wouldn't miss this spiritual journey for the world. All these writers and perspectives. It works for me.

I won't speak to the content, but was the quality of the binding, print and pages ever cheap and poorly done. I appreciate this bible was inexpensive but it does not excuse the shoddy workmanship. For example, pages folded over and inproperly cut, a page from Jeremiah tucked into the blank pages at the end, and type print that appears to (my eyes at least) vary in thickness from page to page.

A few years back, a large group of biblical scholars and devotional writers pooled their collective talents to birth the "Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible". The project was headed up by Richard Foster, the author of the modern-day spiritual classic "Celebration of Discipline". The "Renovare Bible", while praised for its content, received mixed reviews because of its gigantic size; it looked more like a dictionary than a daily study Bible.

Well, the fine folks at HarperCollins have fixed that. In what popular writer and pastor John Ortberg calls, "the most spiritually-impactful Bible our time", the "Renovare Bible" has been re-released in a smaller size and has been renamed "The Life With God Bible".

I went through a period of a couple of year in college when I was infatuated with study Bibles. At one point I probably had at least ten different versions. The more I became drawn into theology and serious study of the Bible, as opposed to light, devotional reading, the more I hungered for a Bible filled with insights, commentaries, and notes. However, it seemed to be an empty pursuit. I never was able to find a Bible that was had enough study material to satisfy while also being practical enough to lug around and use for daily readings. Thus was the paradox: the better the content, the bigger the Bible. Also, the more academic the content the less relevance and practical the Bible tended to be.

So after discovering the "Renovare Bible" a few years back, I was intrigued by its content but immediately put off by its bulkiness. I doubted very much that I would be able to use the huge book as my every-day Bible. Yet, the names of the contributors at least matched the Bible's own weight and were still hard to pass up. After reading the who's who in the list of authors, I couldn't help but lick my chops. Spiritual heroes like Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Walter Brueggemann, and Eugene Peterson--some of my favorite writers, even now--beckoned readers to open the "Renovare Bible". Those men are the modern day Apostles in the Evangelical world. It was tempting not to purchase the "Renovare Bible", but I eventually passed because of its sheer bulkiness.

Fast forwarding a few years, the "Renovare Bible" has been reborn--or "born again" to use a more explicit Christian phrase. The folks at Harper Collins have solved the greatest problem with the Bible--its overall size--and have accentuated the change by offering a few different cover styles for the new rendition. I was mailed to a copy of the "Life With God Bible" through HarperCollins Publishers--the version I received is enclosed by a dark brown, imitation leather cover. There are, in addition, paperback and hardback editions available.

Aside from the size and cover changes--which again were the only downside I saw to the original "Renovare" version--the "Life With God Bible" is loaded with the same spiritual richness that was found in the "Renovare Bible". The Bible itself is aimed at one thing: fostering intimacy with God. This Bible doesn't seek to provide the abundance of scholarly notes that other study Bibles do, nor does it offer quaint, feel-good reflections on the texts. It instead approaches the words of the Bible through the spiritual disciplines--which include fasting, prayer, chastity, celebration, etc.--in order to nurture authentic spiritual formation in the reader.

Richard Foster and Dallas Willard are probably the two biggest propagators in the resurgence of interest of the spiritual disciplines, primarily through their two books "Celebration of Discipline" and "The Spirit of the Disciplines", respectively. The purpose of these disciplines is not necessarily to aid in the `knowledge' of God--though some surely do--but to aid in the transformation of our life into that of Jesus. Intimacy and transformation are at the backbone of this "spiritual discipline" movement.

In addition to viewing the main text of the Bible through the lens of the "spiritual disciplines", the "Life With God Bible" also features many articles, background information, and profiles of major Biblical characters. As a Catholic I also strongly appreciated the inclusion of the Deuterocanonical books in the Bible. These books add to broad audience that this Bible serves; after reading a few articles and the entire chapter of Mark, I found nothing that would be considered "unorthodox" or disagreeable to the teachings of the Catholic Church. So while the editors--and the main audience--of the "Life with God Bible" seem to all be Protestants, this Bible can be used just as fruitfully by Catholics as their 'daily-Bible'.

In short, I think this is the Bible I will be using for my daily readings, at least for the near future. It is academic enough for a scholar and practical enough for a disciple. It is serious while not being overly difficult. Rare is the Bible that balances both aspects of the Faith. If you are looking for a study Bible filled with historical and cultural insights, this is not be the best choice for you. And if you are looking for a Bible that offers comforting notes or quotes alongside the text, this may not be the best Bible for you either. But if you are looking for the best of both worlds, check out the "Life With God Bible".

I bought this book looking for a good study Bible. I was very impressed by the previous literature of Richard Foster and Dallas Willard. The Renovare Study Bible has essays that are profitable and the introduction to the books and different sections of the Old and New Testament are well written.

However,the in-text commentary really falls short of its goal as a "Study" Bible. There is little or no cultural, historical, or practical context in the various authors' comments to aid the explication of text. This Study Bible succeeds in highlighting Biblical principles of Formation outlined by the Renovare group, but little intellectual stimulation is offered for the curious mind.

Read the Celebration of Discipline to procure with pith and cogency what the in-text commentary of the Renovare Study Bible offers with cursory and inadequate explanation.

Note, I am coming from the perspective of wanting a STUDY Bible, the Renovare Study Bible could very well be what you are looking for if you desire a Devotional Bible.

The notes are good, the material is good, but I don't know, I felt like I was still lacking something.

If I were you, I'd just invest in some Renovare books on spiritual development instead. Sure it's more expensive, but it's worth it.

Start with devotional or spiritual classics. You get alot of content for a low price.

Then get spirit of the disciplines.

For more indepth stuff get renovation of the heart, or the divine conspiracy.

Read those books along with your regular bible. You'll get more depth than what's in here.

I was delighted to find Richard Foster's Renovare Bible in the public library. As a born again Catholic Pentecostal I was pleased to see the Deuterocanonical books included and the devotional commentary is helpful in opening them up. For anyone
desiring to mine the riches of unfamiliar scriptures, I heartily recommend the Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible.

Having this provides one with a fine translation and solid opportunity for interpretation and application.

I was leary about the last part, since often that can be sappy. Not so here.

Selecting a Bible is hard. I have decided that for me, a hard bound book is best and worth any extra cost. Get one like this and add tabs. It is one big book.

Shortcoming: No index. But with so much else, an index may have been hard to add.

A great find after much looking.

In Galatians chapter 4 and verse 19 the Apostle Paul expresses his deep concern for people in whom he had invested much of himself: "My little children,for whom I am again in the pain of child-birth, until Christ is formed in you...." What does it mean to have Christ formed in you? Why and how does one accomplish this objective?
I believe this study Bible answers that question by offering the most encouraging approach and a wealth of material to accomplish that goal.
I am 80 years young and have been a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ for nearly 50 years. In that period of time I have owned numerous Bibles...none can compare to the work of Renovare and its staff that have created this profound study Bible...the heart of which is the "Immanuel Principle" - 'God is with us' guiding the sincere seeker in the how-to experience His presence on a continuum.
I am certain that as I remain faithful to the directions and teachings of this work, I will grow in His grace and knowledge. Thank you, Renovare.

The "The Life with God Bible NRSV" Is a great resource for anyone who is interested in growing spiritually in his or her Christian faith.