Bible Gateway Blog

To escape from Bibles that are “ubiquitously dense, numerical, and encyclopedic in format,” an energetic venture is underway to create an “entire biblical library in four elegant volumes, designed purely for reading. The text is reverently treated in classic typographic style, free of all added conventions such as chapter numbers, verse numbers, section headers, cross references and notes.”

Bible Gateway interviewed Adam Lewis Greene (@AdamLewisGreene) about his ambitious Kickstarter project, Bibliotheca.

[UPDATE: The set is completed. Delivery is estimated to be December 2016.]

Briefly describe your Kickstarter project. Why do you think the donations exceeded your goal in almost an overnight timeframe?

Mr. Greene: Bibliotheca provides a fresh alternative to reading the biblical literature. It presents the text in four volumes, designed for an optimal reading experience. The best way to get a handle on the project is to watch the video, which was masterfully done by my good friends Daniel Williams and Joseph McMahon.

Though it’s hard to know exactly why Bibliotheca has been so well received, I think it has a lot to do with the fact that readers are ready to enjoy the Bible as the great literary anthology that it is, rather than as a text book. The idea of the Bible as story is moving and spreading rapidly. I have been deeply affected by this movement, and Bibliotheca is my attempt to create an elegant vehicle for it.

What need did you see that compelled you to conceive this project?

Mr. Greene: In my informal studies of biblical literature, I’ve been reading the likes of Robert Alter, N.T. Wright, and Kenneth Bailey, among others. Their work has changed the way I read the biblical literature by revealing its depth and value as literary art—as something intended by its authors to be read and enjoyed. (Two titles in particular are Alter’s The Art of Biblical Narrative and Wright’s The New Testament and the People of God.)

As a book designer, I began to conceive of ways I could translate these scholars’ abstract ideas into concrete aesthetic expression. So, the project itself and the overwhelming response to it are, I think, built largely upon the foundation of these scholars’ work as it seeps into our culture.

What does “Bibliotheca” mean and why did you select it as the project’s name?

Mr. Greene: Bibliotheca is Latin for library, or more literally, book case or space for books. Obviously that ties into the word “Bible.” For a long time the biblical library was referred to, in Latin, as Biblia Sacra, which means Holy Books. Somewhere along the line the plural form got lost in translation and became the singular “Holy Bible” in English (or “Holy Book”). When deciding on a name, it was important to me to convey that this literature is an anthology, made up of books, poems, and letters widely varied in style and authorship, and spanning thousands of years. Again, I’m breaking with convention here because the word “Bible” comes much later than the original documents, and frankly I think the singular form of the word can be misleading when separated from its history. I think for many people, the word “Bible” has come to mean “enormous religious book that I’ll never read.” Presenting the anthology under the title “Bibliotheca” is intended to jolt some of those preconceived notions.

Why are you keeping the set to four volumes and not another number?

Mr. Greene: The Hebrew Bible is divided into three volumes, based on the three traditional divisions of Tanakh, with one discrepancy: It seemed natural to include the Former Prophets within the same volume as The Five Books of Moses (rather than the more traditional combination of the Former and Latter Prophets) because of their stylistic similarity and narrative continuity. The remaining sections—the Latter Prophets and the Writings—make up the next two volumes. The Greek Christian Scriptures (The New Testament) are contained in one volume because they are naturally manageable in size and represent a relatively short span of literary time.

Why do you feel compelled to be so detailed in your production that you invented your own typeface and have specific reasons for page proportion and text block dimensions?

Mr. Greene: My approach goes back to ancient Hebrew scribal tradition, in which every aspect of the manuscript—the preparation of the animal hide, the number of lines on each page, the mixing of the ink, the type of script used, the space between letters—was carefully thought through, executed in reverence, and considered holy or “set apart.” While I haven’t exactly applied specific approaches from this tradition, I have long been inspired by the intention and reverence behind it, and have sought here to duplicate that in some way.

Design can function simply to make objects “look nice” on a very surface level, or it can become an integrated part of the object itself, adding meaning, depth and singularity to the experience.

Why did you decide to use the American Standard Version of 1901 as the project’s Bible translation and yet modify it? How do you respond to people who wish you would use a modern translation and those who would like the Apocrypha included?

Mr. Greene: The American Standard Version, like so many translations, is a double-edged sword.

On one hand, I love it; it is an exceptionally accurate translation (much more committed to formal literalism than any contemporary popular translation); it is not currently affiliated with any particular denomination or theology; and its English is beautiful, nuanced, and sophisticated (which, for me, adds to its literary quality).

On the other hand, some people don’t love it; it is criticized for being “too” formally accurate (and therefore difficult); is indeed not one of the many fashionable translations of our day; and its English is certainly not colloquial.

As a way to offset it’s strangeness to modern readers, I’m replacing the redundant archaisms with modern equivalents (“thou” will become “you”; “doth” will become “does”; “sitteth” will become “sits”; etc.). Also, in cases where the Elizabethan of the King James (of which the ASV is a revision) is clearly an issue for intelligibility, I will be very minimally adjusting syntax by the authority of Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible; another excellent work of translation in its own right.

That said, this is still not going to read like The Hunger Games. It can be said that the English of the ASV is difficult, but it can also be said that the writings of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens are difficult. And they are, but most of us agree that they are well worth our effort. I knew going into this that the ASV wouldn’t please everyone, but it is my favorite complete translation. I appreciate it’s conveyance of the “otherness” of the ancient languages, and I posit that it is one of the last great literary translations of the Bible into English (though I believe we are on our way to seeing more, with Robert Alter well on his way to completing his translations of the Hebrew Bible, and with David Bentley Hart working on the New Testament).

Regarding the exclusion of the Deuterocanonical books (or Apocrypha), I simply chose to use Jerome’s standard, by which the canon is made up of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Greek Christian Scriptures (The New Testament). This is not to say that I don’t think very highly of these writings (I do), and it has not been my intention to offend Catholic or Orthodox readers. In fact, I am currently looking into adding the Deuterocanonical books as a fifth volume; perhaps available to order separately after the campaign.

In our correspondence leading up to this interview, you said, “I believe a combination of sites like Bible Gateway and editions like Bibliotheca are the future of how people will experience the biblical literature.” Explain what you mean.

Mr. Greene: Digital study tools such as BibleGateway.com, BibleStudyTools.com, Lumina.Bible.org, and Logos Bible Software are far surpassing the capabilities of even the most dense study-oriented printed Bibles. Now, we have at our fingertips the power to dynamically study the Bible with customizable annotation from varied theological perspectives spanning the entire history of biblical exegesis. And we can easily read several translations in parallel and alongside original language sources.

No printed Bible can compete with the efficiency, economy, and portability of these study tools. We should gladly welcome these new forms, and I see it as an opportunity to re-evaluate the goals of printed Bibles. We can begin to ask ourselves, what strengths are there in printed books, and how can we start reincorporating these into the biblical literature? There are plenty of benefits to the sensory experience of a well-made book that digital mediums are as yet unable to provide.

One thing we have to keep in mind is that Bibliotheca is merely a new expression of very old ideas. The numerical-encyclopedic nature of our Bibles is completely foreign to how the literature was conceived by its authors and experienced by it’s first audiences. We have simply taken it out of its original garb and forced it into a Post-Enlightenment guise. There have been occasional reversions to more pure literary expressions of the Bible in the past several hundred years (two relatively recent examples are The Verona New Testament and the Nonsuch Bible), but they’ve always been outweighed and overrun by the encyclopedic status quo. Now, however, we might see the scales begin to tip in the other direction. I don’t imagine this will happen quickly, but times are changing.

What’s your opinion of The Saint John’s Bible, especially as a typographer/book designer yourself? Do you see Bibliotheca fitting in with that same artistic approach to Bible publishing?

Mr. Greene: I think the Saint John’s Bible is beautiful. It’s a very direct stylistic reversion to medieval manuscripts, and yet it brings a lot of surprising newness to the table. Though it is more niche and less “usable” than what I’m aiming for with Bibliotheca, that does not detract from its value in the least. As I’ve said elsewhere, there is a time to treat these texts extravagantly and the ways in which this can be done are endless. This brings The Golden Cockerel Press Four Gospels to mind, arguably one of the most important and beautiful books of the last century. These two examples offer extravagance primarily through a stunning and expressive visual experience; Bibliotheca is more concerned with offering extravagance through fluidity in reading and simple elegance.

There is plenty of room for creative expression when it comes to this literature—history is clear about that— and I think new forms will continue to surprise us.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Mr. Greene: I am very grateful for the incredible response to Bibliotheca. It is allowing for what I thought would be a relatively small project to scale much larger. Professional editing & proofreading, future print runs, and perhaps alternate translations (to suit the preferences of others), are now very likely. There has also been a lot of interest in making Bibliotheca available in other languages. I’m absolutely thrilled, too, that the response is not limited to one sort of reader. I’ve read many personal messages, tweets and posts from people of all kinds of backgrounds and beliefs who are excited to read the literature for the first time. For me, there is nothing that could validate the project more.

[An extended interview with Adam Lewis Greene is published on Bible Design Blog: Part 1 and Part 2.]

Bio: Adam Lewis Greene is a freelance designer and illustrator living and working in Santa Cruz, California. He’s been professionally involved in book design and illustration for five years.

youngbloodjperszww275 We were saddened to hear that one of the original translators of the New International Bible passed away earlier this month. Ron Youngblood was a key figure in the initial creation of the NIV translation, as well as its continued development over the decades.

Biblica has posted an informative tribute to Youngblood’s life and ministry. Particularly noteworthy in that tribute is Youngblood’s lifelong commitment to making Scripture accessible to children:

Dr. Youngblood never lost his passion for making sure that even the smallest child can read God’s Word. In the 1990s, he led the development of the New International Reader’s Version (NIrV)—a special edition of the NIV which reads at a third-grade level. In other words, a Bible perfect for 8 year-olds.

The NIrV expanded the vision for accurate, readable translation to include children, those with difficulty reading, and those who are learning English as a second language. No longer would 8 year-old children read the good news and wonder if it was for them. No longer would archaic, obscure, or difficult language be a barrier to knowing God. An updated edition of the NIrV was completed in 2013.

Youngblood’s testimony is a moving reminder that the people behind all those Bible translations aren’t stuffy academics holed up in ivory towers; they’re men and women gifted by God with a special love for the Bible, and with the skills needed to translate it. It also shines a light on a type of Bible translation that is often overlooked when people debate the merits of different Bible versions: Bibles for children.

Youngblood worked on the New International Reader’s Version, which keeps sentences and vocabulary as simple as possible to make it accessible to children and to anyone who struggles with advanced English. It’s not the only English Bible translation that does so: the Contemporary English Version, Worldwide English New Testament, and Good News Translation are other translations that aim for accessibility. Here’s an example of a Bible passage in all of these translations alongside the NIV for comparison.

We’re grateful to people like Ron Youngblood, who devote their lives to making it easier for people to read and understand Scripture. And we salute Youngblood’s life and ministry—defined by an all-consuming love for God and His Word. What a testimony! Praise God for His “cloud of witnesses,” of which Youngblood is an important part.

The Old Testament book of Job can be mysterious, exhausting, and frustrating. Yet, for millennia, readers have also drawn comfort and hope from the story of Job’s extreme suffering.

Bible Gateway interviewed Rev. Christopher Ash about his book, Job: The Wisdom of the Cross (Crossway, 2014).

For those who are unfamiliar with it, briefly tell the story of Job.

Rev. Ash: The book of Job is one of the most astonishing books in the world. We don’t know when or by whom it was written. It tells a true and deep story, the story of Job, an upright and righteous man (Job 1:1,8; 2:3) who trusted God. He was a very great man (1:3). And yet quite suddenly he suffered the loss of all his wealth and possessions, all his children, and his health (1:6-2:10). After this catastrophe, Job has long debates with his three so-called “comforters” (chapters 4-26) about what is going on and why. Job then sums up his case (chapters 27-31). After that he hears two answers; the first is from a man called Elihu (chapters 32-37), the second (in two parts) from God himself (chapters 38-41). The book ends with Job’s final response to God (42:1-6), God’s verdict on the debates (42:7-9), and God’s final vindication and restoration of Job (42:10-17).

Why are you convinced that the book of Job “makes no sense apart from the cross of Christ”? And what is the “wisdom of the Cross” that your book’s subtitle speaks of?

Rev. Ash: If you believe in any kind of justice, this story would seem to contradict your beliefs. For in it a man who does not deserve to suffer finds himself suffering intensely and deeply. Read on its own it would seem to be, as someone has put it, “the record of an unanswered agony.” Job’s “comforters” can only make sense of it by supposing that Job is a secret and wicked sinner (e.g. 22:5). But we, the readers, know this is not true (1:1,8; 2:3; 42:7). In their world, good things only happen to good people and bad things only to bad people (e.g. 8:3,4). The Cross shows that at the heart of history there is undeserved suffering that makes possible undeserved blessing; that because a righteous man suffered, unrighteous people like us can experience mercy and grace. This is the wisdom of the Cross (1 Cor.1:18-2:5). Job foreshadows this great truth.

Briefly explain the three big questions you say Job raises.

Rev. Ash: A. What kind of world do we live in, and how is it governed? The most common answers are either that God runs it (full stop: what he says goes) or that it is chaotic, perhaps with a multitude of powers, gods/goddesses/spirits—call them what you will. The Bible’s answer is that God runs it entirely, but does so through the intermediate agency of a variety of supernatural powers, some of which are evil. This is a deep truth and one that Job explores, how God can govern the world making use in some strange way of evil to do it, without himself being tainted by evil.

B. What kind of Church should we want? The biggest dangers to church life worldwide are the “prosperity gospel” (if I follow Jesus, God will make me rich and healthy) and its close cousin the “therapeutic gospel” (if I follow Jesus and already have wealth and health, then Jesus will also make me feel good about myself). Job pulls the rug out from under both these distortions.

C. What kind of Savior do we need? Only the perfect obedience and suffering of Jesus Christ can bring grace to a needy world. Job opens up this truth perhaps above all.

Why is the book of Job so long? And why is most of it poetry?

Rev. Ash: Deeply to grapple with God in a messed-up world takes time. We cannot tidily sum up the message of Job on a postcard or in an SMS or Tweet. We need to let these truths soak into our souls and engage with us in our real human experience; there is no shortcut for that. Poetry touches us in our emotions, our feelings, our affections, our delights and aversions. We need to read it and hear it aloud to let God get to work on us through it. Beware the desires to summarize it, rush it, get through it quickly so we can get on to the next thing, boil it down to tidy propositions! You have not engaged with Job until, for example, you have been moved to tears by his lament in chapter 3.

What can we learn and model from Job’s perseverance?

Rev. Ash: Writing to suffering Christians, James encourages them and us to wait patiently for the return of the Lord Jesus; he says, “You have heard of the steadfastness of Job” (James 5:7,11). As we walk with Job through his trials, we watch as Jesus perseveres through his; and, by the Spirit of Jesus in our hearts, we are enabled the better to walk through our own troubles with patient faith.

Why do you say the book of Job is not fundamentally about suffering? Then what is it about? And how does it foreshadow Jesus?

Rev. Ash: Like every Bible book, Job is most deeply a book about God and specifically about Jesus Christ, the righteous man who suffers unjustly and is finally vindicated by his Father. It is a mistake to think the book speaks simply to human suffering as a universal experience; for the central character who suffers is very far from a typical or universal human being; he is conspicuously great, exceptionally upright, and definitively righteous. Job in his extremeness foreshadows Jesus in his uniqueness. It is therefore only about us if we are indwelt by the Spirit of Jesus and enter into some share of the sufferings of Christ (e.g. Col.1:24). And yet it is about us as believers in Christ; for Satan still demands to sift disciples like wheat to prove our genuineness (compare Job 1:8-11; 2:4,5 with Lk.22:31) and in the end our genuine faith will redound to the glory of God (1 Peter 1:7).

What do you recommend as a good way for people to experience Job?

Rev. Ash: I have four suggestions. First, that preachers have a go at longer sermon series on Job, perhaps 10 sermons rather than the skimpy two or three that some offer! Second, that individual Christians read Job aloud to themselves. Aloud is important, so you cannot read too fast and you cannot skim. If you find the language too inaccessible, try a vivid paraphrase like The Message. Third, you could try reading gradually through Job aloud with a small group. Fourth, you could try reading slowly through Job using my book as a friendly guide!

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

Rev. Ash: It may seem strange to say that I love the book of Job, given that it is so dark and intense. And yet I do. I find that immersing myself in it helps me appreciate more deeply the love of my Savior, the misery of being a sinner in a world under God’s curse, and the wonder of the Christian hope. I hope you will find the same.

Bio: Christopher Ash works for the Proclamation Trust in London as director of the Cornhill Training Course. In addition to serving on the council of Tyndale House in Cambridge, he’s the author of several books, including Out of the Storm: Grappling with God in the Book of Job and Teaching Romans. He’s married to Carolyn; they have three sons and one daughter.

The Bible devotes 50 chapters to the tabernacle, the portable tent complex that God instructed Moses to build and transport when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness in their escape from slavery in Egypt. It was meant to reassure the 12 tribes of Israel of God’s presence.

While the original tabernacle existed thousands of years ago, it’s being recreated today in a mobile life-size exhibit. Bible Gateway interviewed Jeanne Whittaker, founder and guardian of The Tabernacle Experience.

Your website says The Tabernacle Experience is not a museum or theater production. What is it?

Jeanne Whittaker: It is an encounter with the living God! This may sound a bit presumptuous, but it’s true. Our guests travel through a life-size tabernacle of the wilderness. The journey is audio driven allowing our guests to engage in the priestly rituals of the Old Testament times all the while revealing Jesus the Christ in every aspect of the tabernacle. Unlike a museum, the journey is hands on. Unlike a theater, everyone is a participant.

What need in the church prompted you to think up this traveling service?

Jeanne Whittaker: This may sound a bit selfish but it was my own personal need; my need to hear from God. While in Israel sitting in the very field the original tabernacle once stood, I was listening intently to my pastor as he relayed the story of Hannah and her deep desire to have a child.

Our pastor continued on, relaying Samuel’s life in Shiloh with Eli the priest, serving at the tabernacle and his encounter with God.

My thoughts went to Samuel: he was just a young boy and the Lord called out to him and Samuel heard his voice. This began his life-long relationship with God. With boldness and certainty I made a desperate and visceral plea to God: ‘I want to hear from YOU!’ Deep within I knew he heard me and would be answering.

How long would it be before I got an answer? Little did I know this was the beginning of a two-year-long wait; waiting to hear from the Lord as he had promised while in the town of Shiloh.

Finally, he broke his silence. At the time, we were making preparations for our women’s retreat; we were but four weeks out and without direction for a theme. As clear as the sky was that early autumn morning two years prior in Shiloh, the idea to build his tabernacle came with the same clarity. At the time I knew very little about the tabernacle.

Where in the Bible is the tabernacle described?

Jeanne Whittaker: When the children of Israel made their incredible escape from slavery in Egypt they lived in tents in the wilderness of the vast Sinai Desert. Being it has always been God’s desire to dwell with man he requested that his people build him a tent right in the middle of their encampment.

Here’s a Scripture quote taken from Exodus 25:8-9: ‘I want the people of Israel to build me a sacred residence where I can live among them. You must make this tabernacle and its furnishings exactly according to the plans I will show you.”

Within the tent the very presence of God was displayed with a cloud by day to provide shade and a fiery pillar at night to provide warmth. It was God’s presence that led the children of Israel on their 40-year journey throughout the desert. One of the 12 tribes of Israel, the Levites, were the custodians, so to speak, of the tabernacle and performed all the priestly duties prescribed by God.

How much space is needed to set up The Tabernacle Experience?

Jeanne Whittaker: The Courtyard measures 150’ x 75’. Within the measurements of the Courtyard is the Altar of Burnt Offering, the Laver, and the Tabernacle Proper, a tent measuring 15’ x 45’ housing the Lampstand, the Table of Bread, the Altar of Incense, and the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25-30).

What has been the response from people who’ve gone through it?

Jeanne Whittaker: We provide a journal at the conclusion of the journey for our guests to jot down their thoughts and prayers. You can read excerpts on our website. If I were to summarize in one word it would be Gratitude: for all God has done for us, is doing, and will do. Gratitude: for the gift and sacrifice of His Son. Gratitude: for Christ’s obedience. Gratitude: that Jesus has made a way from Ritual to Relationship.

Why do you think people who have experienced it get emotional?

Jeanne Whittaker: Emotions are part of our makeup. The journey touches all our senses: sight, smell, touch, hearing, and taste. Every part of our makeup, our Spirit, soul, and mind are stirred. The time spent within the tabernacle is an intimate and personal time with our Lord. As we know all Scripture points to and finds its fulfillment in Christ; it’s no different with the tabernacle as he is revealed in every aspect.

What logistics are involved in bringing the tabernacle to a city?

Jeanne Whittaker: Once the decision is made to host The Tabernacle Experience, just follow these simple steps:

Gather your prayer team
Choose a date
Sign and send the Tabernacle Experience Agreement along with the first retainer.

Although we require retainers to secure the dates and ensure the commitment of the host, it is our desire to provide the event at ultimately no cost to the host church. The Tabernacle Experience has set in place a viable plan for the host to regain their financial investment. One thing we do rely on from the host church is a committed group of volunteers to care and tend to the tabernacle for the ten-day event.

Over 200,000 guests have journeyed through The Tabernacle Experience! The Tabernacle Experience is a ministry of Capo Beach Church (@capobeachchurch) located in Capistrano Beach, California.

The new Bible Gateway has been out for several weeks now. Hopefully, by now you’ve gotten accustomed to the new interface and are happily searching and reading the Bible online.

But are you taking advantage of all of the features Bible Gateway puts at your disposal? There are a lot of tools you can use to enhance your Bible reading experience, most of them accessible right alongside your Bible reading—things like commentaries, social media sharing, formatting options, and more. Here’s a short tutorial video that goes over the most useful features:

How many of those features were you aware of already? Try them out for yourself by looking up a Bible passage (John 3, for example) and following along with the tutorial video. And when you’ve done that, here are a few other tips and tricks to try at the new Bible Gateway.

Most of us believe that when we “cry out” to God—that is, appeal to him through prayer—he always hears those prayers. “Ask,” we read in Matthew 7:7, “and it will be given to you.” But what about Bible passages that suggest that sometimes God doesn’t listen to our prayers?

Consider Psalm 66, in which the author gives thanks that God answered his prayer, but suggests that God might not have done so in certain circumstances:

Come and hear, all you who fear God,
and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
I cried to him with my mouth,
and high praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened.
But truly God has listened;
he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

Blessed be God,
because he has not rejected my prayer
or removed his steadfast love from me! — Psalm 66:16-20 (ESV) (empahsis mine)

And in Jeremiah 11, God warns a wayward people that he won’t listen to their cries:

So now I, the Lord, warn them that I am going to bring destruction on them, and they will not escape. And when they cry out to me for help, I will not listen to them. — Jeremiah 11:11 (GNT)

What are we to make of such passages? Will God always hear our prayers or not? What, if anything, might result in God rejecting a prayer?

For an answer, I turned to the Questions Answered devotional. Here’s what it has to say:

God sees, hears and knows everything—including our prayers. Nothing escapes his attention. Why then did God say he would not listen to the people’s cries for help? There are several possible reasons.

In this case, God did not respond because judgment was unavoidable. Judah had disobeyed God’s laws and ignored his pleas for so long that judgment was, in effect, already on the way. Their cries were too little, too late. God even told Jeremiah not to pray for the people (see Isa 14:11–12)—that not even Moses and Samuel could have persuaded him to offer further compassion to them (see Isa 15:1).

It’s also possible that people sometimes sabotage their own prayers. The Bible mentions several attitudes and actions that can short-circuit our prayers: sin (see Ps 66:18; Isa 59:2; Jer 14:10–12), disobedience (see Pr 28:9), hypocrisy and insincerity (see Isa 29:13; Mal 1:7–9), wrong motives (see Mt 6:5–6; Lk 18:11–14; Jas 4:3), lack of faith (Heb 11:6; Jas 1:6) and even marital problems (see 1 Pe 3:7).

Finally, what sometimes appears to be no answer to prayer may actually be a delayed answer (see Da 10:12–13). Other times God may deny our request in order to give us something better than what we knew to ask for. — “When Does God Refuse to Hear Our Prayers?, from the Questions Answered devotional

(The question is further explored in a separate devotional essay as well.)

If you’ve ever had the experience of praying for something and receiving no clear answer, it’s natural to wonder whether or not God heard the prayer in the first place. Did He ignore the prayer? Should God’s silence be taken as a “No” answer?

The good news is that the Bible doesn’t leave us wondering. The Bible passages above give each us a way to weigh our thoughts and motivations to discern whether or not we’re going to God in prayer with the right heart. And when we do approach God earnestly, we can rest confidently on this promise: “The prayer of the righteous person is powerful in what it can achieve.”

I promise we’re not going to forever bombard you with praise and acclaim for the new Bible Gateway. However, we were thrilled to see the Bible Gateway receive an extremely thorough review by Sam O’Neal at About.com, and I thought I would highlight a few items from the review.

Sam has a lot of good things to say about Bible Gateway, but he particularly likes the new note-taking and highlighting feature:

…what really caught my attention is the new ability for users to highlight different portions of the biblical text (in several different colors) and take notes that can be connected to specific portions of Scripture. This is huge! This what we love so much about the worn-out printed Bibles we’ve carried around for years — even decades. Those Bibles are a collection of our growing thoughts and maturing interactions with God’s Spirit and God’s Word. They are a testimony to our relationship with God.

And now, thanks to this new technology, we can have the same experience on a website that offers greater accessibility and more stability than the printed text. When you highlight verses or make notes on BibleGateway.com, the BibleGateway mobile site, or the BibleGateway app — those notes and highlights will be saved and accessible through all of those different access points.

That’s a big deal for me, and I think it will become a major new feature for many users — especially those in younger generations.

That is our hope, too—that this and other new features will close the gap between what you can do with your print Bible and what you can do with an online Bible. Earlier in his review, Sam notes that print Bibles lend themselves well to the practice of quiet, reflective study, whereas online Bible tend to be used more to just quickly look up verses or provide fast answers to questions. That’s a good observation, and one of our aims with the new Bible Gateway is to make it easier to do the kind of reflective reading online that you’re accustomed to doing with a print Bible.

Sam also points out the parallel Bible feature, which lets you read a Bible passage in several different translations side-by-side. This feature has actually been a part of Bible Gateway for some time, but we’ve found that many users aren’t aware of it. Here’s how to read more than one Bible side-by-side (it’s item #4 in the list). It’s very easy to do—whether you’re grappling with a challenging Bible passage, or are just curious to see how different translators approach the same text, you’ll find it a useful part of your Bible reading.

Take a look at the review for more praise (and a bit of constructive criticism, which we also appreciate). And if you’ve not yet stopped by to check out the new Bible Gateway, create an account, and explore its new features, why not take a minute to do so now?

According to a Harris Interactive poll, a majority of Americans believe humans have a soul and that it could survive after death. Speaker, author, and pastor John Ortberg (@johnortberg) goes further to say the health of a person’s soul is the hinge on which the rest of life hangs; the difference between deep, satisfied spirituality and a restless, dispassionate faith.

[Sign up to receive John Ortberg’s weekly email devotional, Care Instructions for a Life Worth Living]

Bible Gateway interviewed pastor Ortberg about his book, Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You (Zondervan, 2014).

What is the soul? Is there a difference between soul and spirit? How do our “souls” differ from our “selves?”

Pastor Ortberg: The soul is what integrates separate functions into a single, organic, whole creature. That’s why the search for harmony and integration and connectedness is a ‘soul’ function. So the soul is the deepest dimension of our existence. It captures the reality that we live before God in a way that the word “self” does not. Think of the difference between the word ‘soul-ish’ and the word ‘selfish’.

“Spirit” refers more generally to the power or energy that comes from our wills. This difference is still reflected in current language; we might speak of a ‘spirited’ horse but we would talk about a ‘soulful’ artist—not the other way round.

What does the Bible say about our souls? What role does the Bible have in building and maintaining a healthy soul?

Pastor Ortberg: The Bible speaks of the soul often—although more recent translations are much more likely to substitute words like ‘life’ instead of using the word ‘soul.’

One of the most striking and misunderstood statements about the soul in the Bible is Jesus’ observation: “What does it profit a person if they gain the whole world but lose their soul?”

I always used to think this meant it does no good to get a lot of money and pleasure if you end up going to hell. But that’s not what Jesus is saying.

If a soul is broken or mal-functioning, our wills and our values and actual behavior and our desires and our facial expressions and our secret thoughts will constantly be at war with each other. We will be incapable of soul satisfaction—let alone a meaningful or truly good life. Jesus was not telling people to commit to the right religion in order to get their afterlife taken care of. He was making a brilliantly diagnostic observation about the nature of human life.

What are the symptoms of an unhealthy soul? What are the signs of a healthy soul?

Pastor Ortberg: Persons are like cars, at least in the sense that you have to understand what the parts do if you’re going to take good care of them and keep everything functioning well. The essential parts of the person are the will (the freedom and creativity to say yes and no and bring things into being), the mind (including thoughts and feelings), our bodies (which are filled with appetites and habits that largely govern our behavior), and the soul, which ties these all together. In a healthy soul, the body has been trained to obey the will; the will in turn consistently chooses what the mind knows to be good, all the parts work together in harmony, and are peaceably connected with God, creation, and (to the extent possible) other people. The unhealthy soul is the opposite.

You say there are nine needs of the soul; unpack the most important one.

Pastor Ortberg: A great Old Testament scholar named Hans Wolter Wolff described the Hebrew word for soul (nephesh) as ‘needy man’. Sometimes when I think of the soul I think of the Bill Murray character in ‘What about Bob?’, whose mantra is ‘I need, I need, I need…’

The neediness of the soul is not an accident. Wise observers many centures ago noted that human beings are finite in every way except one: we have an infinite capacity to desire more. We are infinitely needy. In this way the soul is a mirror image of a God who has an infinite capacity to give.

Perhaps the greatest need of the soul is the need to experience gratitude. I’ve been working with U Conn sociologist Brad Wright on a project called SoulPulse (anybody who wants can log on for a two week spiritual discovery process); the one experience that increases both peoples’ awareness of God and of love joy and peace is the experience of gratitude.

What is the relationship between the soul and suffering?

Pastor Ortberg: A very old phrase that won’t go away is the expression: “the dark night of the soul.” Its often used in our day to describe any suffering. But as originally used it had a more specific definition: it was the condition of the soul when God’s presence and consolations seem no longer to be available. In the dark night, I suffer not only what ever loss or hurt may be going on in my circumstances, I suffer what seems to be the confusing silence of heaven as well.

Ancient wisdom—not least the wisdom recorded in many places in the Scriptures—suggested that this suffering itself can be redeemed by God, and that the soul itself is being kept and guarded an nourished by God even when the person may not realize it.

If you ask people when they grew the most spiritually, the number one response consistently will be a time when they suffered. But often in the church we have not done a good job of recognizing or talking about this.

The soul is both unbelievably fragile and incredibly resilient—when it’s connected to a power beyond itself.

What is SoulPulse?

Pastor Ortberg: SoulPulse is an idea that’s been fostered in the past two years by a team of researchers, clinicians, pastors, and programmers. Having been awarded a Templeton grant, SoulPulse uncovers associations between daily spiritual experiences and situations, interactions with people, attitudes, feelings, and behaviors. Participants track their spirituality for 14 days and get feedback customized to their interests. They can compare their data to the 2000 current users. Each person will receive a spiritual report/snapshot, and there will also be customized suggestions for developing a person’s God awareness and experience of love joy, and peace.

What’s the distinction between will, mind, body, and soul?

Pastor Ortberg: The ultimate enemy of a healthy soul is sin, because the soul cries out for wholeness within the person and between the person and God, others, and creation. It’s the nature of sin to dis-integrate the sinner. If I gossip unfairly about you, I have to train my face to disguise my contempt when I’m with you. I have to distort my own thoughts to rationalize my self-image. Over time gossip becomes a habit—and now my bodily habits are ruling over my will rather than having my body serve my will. My feelings of resentment toward you are inevitably at war with my desire to be at peace. And I cannot deeply commune with God while holding on to defiance of his will. My soul becomes dis-integrated at every level, all the time.

How is the Earth a planet of lost souls?

Pastor Ortberg: One of the indications of the depth of the soul is that in the ancient world people would speak to it as if it were a separate person: “Why are you downcast, O my soul?” Or “Bless the Lord, O my soul.” This is never done with other parts of the person; with the mind or the spirit.

In our day, the word ‘soul’ is increasingly unfashionable. People may think that science has proven it does not exist.

When people do not recognize their need to connect with God, or do have the various parts of their lives integrated with each other and with spiritual reality—the soul becomes lost. Dallas Willard said that the soul is not lost because its going to the wrong place; it may end up in the wrong place because its lost.

So the place to begin is simply to acknowledge that we have a soul. I’ve noticed that when the simple sentence: “You have a soul” is spoken to a roomful of people, they have a way of getting quiet.

In the book you say it’s the nature of the soul to need. What do you mean?

Pastor Ortberg: One of the classic books on Old Testament anthropology describes the soul as needy man. And, the idea is that the language of the soul reminds us that we exist before God, that we were made by God, and therefore we’re not self-sufficient. Ancient writers used to say that human beings are limited in every way except for one. We have an infinite capacity to desire more. And that’s the mirror image of God who has the infinite capacity to give to us, and so our souls always need, and what they need most is God.

How does “hurry” impede the healthy development of the soul?

Pastor Ortberg: Hurry blocks the development and health of the soul because the soul requires being rooted in the presence of God. And, hurry by its nature makes me unable to be fully present before God or fully present before other people. Hurry causes me to be conflicted and divided in my desires, and it causes my thoughts to jump around as Henri Nouwen used to say, “like a monkey in a banana tree.” There’s nothing that I can do that’s rooted in the kingdom when my soul is hurried.

What do you mean, “The soul is a ship that needs an anchor”?

Pastor Ortberg: The soul has to stay rooted. Our souls, because they mostly lie beyond our conscious control, can easily drift and slide along. We see this with many people and often with ourselves. We go from moment to moment, day to day without being clear about our deepest values, without being truly grateful for this day that we have received without being rooted in God. And the soul that is anchored in God is the only soul that can find peace.

Bio: John Ortberg is senior pastor at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church (@MPPC_ODC) in Menlo Park, Calif. He’s the bestselling author of When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box; The Life You’ve Always Wanted; and If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get Out of the Boat. He and his wife Nancy have three children.

NEWS RELEASE
News Release Archive | Newsroom

The Streamlined Design is Easier to Navigate

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (July 2, 2014)—The world’s most visited Christian website, the online Bible search engine Bible Gateway (BibleGateway.com; @BibleGateway), has remade its site to include new functions for users to personalize their online experience.

“We’ve worked a long time on this, to make sure we carefully and properly meet the expectations of the hundreds of millions of users of Bible Gateway,” says Rachel Barach, general manager. “Our new design now gives them a streamlined experience that’s easier to navigate, while retaining the reliable and fast Bible search engine they’ve come to know, love, and use every day.”

Features of the new site include all the attributes of the existing site that have led Christianity Today magazine to call it “the world’s leading Bible website” plus:

a responsive design that automatically adjusts to the proper screen size of the user, whether it’s a desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone
custom registration that allows users to set up accounts to begin taking personal notes on, and color highlight, the Scripture verses they read
easier navigation between pages
designed presentation of Bible, devotional, and reference content
synchronization of notes and highlights between a user’s multiple devices
a dropdown complete Bible book list on the homepage for easier browsing

BibleGateway.com was visited 456 million times in 2013, generating 1.5 billion views spread over 76 million hours by individuals whose majority ages were between 18-34. People from 242 countries and territories used the site last year, including Vatican City, Israel, Palestine, China, Vietnam, Cuba, and North Korea. The top 10 countries using BibleGateway.com are USA, UK, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Philippines, Colombia, Singapore, and South Africa.

BibleGateway.com is the number one search result for Bible-related matters on Google, Bing, Aol., YAHOO!, and other global search engines.

Celebrating its 20th anniversary, Bible Gateway is the original multilingual Internet Bible, offering Christian Scripture (including the Apocrypha) in more than 70 languages and more than 180 Bible versions, along with supporting Bible reference dictionaries and commentaries. It also publishes more than 60 free email Bible reading plans and devotional newsletters. It’s Bible Gateway App for iPhone, iPad, Android, and Kindle Fire, used by millions, is the winner of the Christian New Media Award for Christian Mobile/Tablet App of the Year. C|NET says the Bible Gateway App “is one of the cleanest, most efficient apps for interacting with the Bible that you can find for your Android” and “can’t be topped by other Bible apps.”

___________________________________________________________________________________

About Bible Gateway
As the Internet’s largest Christian website, Bible Gateway seeks to equip people to read and understand the Bible, wherever they are. Celebrating 20 years online, Bible Gateway offers free access to the Bible in more than 70 languages and 180 different translations. Bible Gateway’s website and app are visited by more than 18 million unique visitors per month. The company is part of HarperCollins Christian Publishing, Inc. Please visit Bible Gateway at www.biblegateway.com.

Links:

Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/
Bible Gateway devotional page: http://www.biblegateway.com/devotionals/
Bible Gateway newsletter signup page: http://www.biblegateway.com/newsletters/

When we saw that Americans spend most of their online time in social networking and emailing—according to an online survey by GfK and the Interactive Advertising Bureau—we thought it may be helpful to remind you of the many places you can encounter Bible Gateway’s daily Internet content.

The study says the average American interacts with websites like Facebook and Twitter for 37 minutes each day. The daily average for email activities is 29 minutes, while search and watching online video tie for an average each of 23 minutes a day.

Since almost half of all American adults who are online use the Internet for religious purposes, the above chart may reflect how people are engaging with Bible Gateway’s many services ☺. If you aren’t already, please connect with us in any and all of our online venues:

Social Networks:   Facebook   \\   Twitter   \\   Google+   \\   Goodreads
   \\   LinkedIn   \\   Pinterest   \\   Tumblr   \\   Instagram   \\   Scribd
   \\   Slideshare   \\   Paper.li   \\   Storify

Email: Email devotionals

Online Video: YouTube Channel

Search: Bible Search

Online Games: Bible Quizzes

Blog: Blog

Online Newspaper: Paper.li

Other: Website \\ Bible Gateway App (@BibleGatewayApp)

Bible Gateway Blog

Most Recent Blog Posts

A Bible Designed for Beautiful Reading: An Interview with Adam Lewis Greene

The Legacy of Ron Youngblood

Job is a Book About Jesus: An Interview with Christopher Ash

Experience the Tabernacle: An Interview with Jeanne Whittaker

Are You Getting the Most Out of Bible Gateway?

Does God Ever Refuse to Answer Our Prayers?

The New Bible Gateway Gets High Marks

How to Care for Your Soul: An Interview with John Ortberg

Bible Gateway, World’s Most Visited Christian Website, Revamps Its Site to be More Personal

What People Use the Internet For

Search the Blog

Search the Bible

Facebook

Polls

Topics

About Us