What shape is your Bible in?
Submitted by tcblack on Fri, 07/13/2007 - 9:02am
Yesterday I was gazing mournfully at my Bible. Not because I had once again read something in it which challenged my flesh. (I actually like it when that happens). But rather I was mourning the impending death of another friend. My Bible is battle scarred to be certain. Much reading and frequent notes have rendered many of it's pages wrinkled and thoroughly inked. (Incidentally it's my Bible you're looking at in the top left corner of the site.) The cover is ratty and the leather is giving way. The Binding is now pulling away from several pages which are threatening to scatter loosely to the wind.
So today when I read about Bill Chamberlin's collection of thousands(!) of Bibles I was impressed with the closing sentence.
"Today, Bibles are found in two conditions - either mint or worn, nothing in between."
Mine is firmly in the worn category. Don't get me wrong I'm not venerating the book as though it were an idol. I can easily switch to a new one and follow Don Cole's advice to just toss it once it's in that bad of shape... almost. I can't bear to part with years of study notes and squiggly lines, arrows, circles and marginal notations. And even worse I'm overwhelmed at the prospect of porting all of that either to a new paper Bible or to my study notes in BibleWorks.
The last time this happened I switched from a grey NIV (Ryrie Study Bible) to my Black NASB reference edition. I still have that decrepit NIV sitting on a shelf waiting for me to grit my teeth and finish importing my hundreds (thousands?) of personal notations into Bibleworks. Now I have the additional prospect of needing to import a large number of notes from my NASB in as well.
HT: χ.
Comments
This is why I think the next
This is why I think the next Bible I buy will be a loose-leaf. It'll be hard (maybe impossible) to wag around, but it will be easy to replace the binder when it wears out. Pages torn? Xerox, punch holes, good as new!
I'm in the same boat, but
I'm in the same boat, but I've been holding off on buying a new Bible because Cambridge (the Aston-Martin of Bibles?) has a wide-margin NASB coming out for the first time in August. I can already smell the leather! Looks like Amazon is going to have the best price for now -- http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/052170264X/104-5983132-4604715
Sadly, my soft cover Bibles
Sadly, my soft cover Bibles are in mint condition - as are my hard covers. Two reasons: first, I just cannot ever bring myself to write in it (or any book). It is just one of those things; I never wrote in school books or anything. Second, I use computer software for the majority of my reading. There is just more information available via software than I will ever have in physical print.
Woe is me. :)
kpmack3, I think if I'm
kpmack3,
I think if I'm going to spend that much on a Bible I'd want to touch it first. Else, I might think about having this one rebound now that I think about it. For now, I'll add another layer of black duct tape to the binding (it's already been done this way before). It really is getting ratty.
Actually I've been hoping for a Bible the likes of which I've not seen: Left page text Greek/Hebrew in the left column, NASB on the right and note paper as the right sheet. Ah, now that would be right useful.
Left page text Greek/Hebrew
Left page text Greek/Hebrew in the left column, NASB on the right and note paper as the right sheet.
Have you thought about making a "blank" Bible out of an interlinear? Too much for me to try it, but it's an interesting idea.
Yeah, I've actually thought
Yeah, I've actually thought about printing my own which would automatically carry over all of my notations from BW etc.
I'd worry about the paper and how long it would last though. I'd have to look into whether or not my laser printer would be best or a publishing house or some other method.
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