A Flexible Faith by Bonnie Kristian, 2018

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BONNIE KRISTIAN shows that a vibrant diversity within Christian orthodoxy-which is simply to say a range of different ways to faithfully follow Jesus-is a strength of our faith, not a weakness.

It is all too easy to fail to grasp the diversity of the Christian faith-especially for those who have grown up in one branch of the church and never explored another. We fail to realize how many ways there are to follow Jesus, convinced that our own tradition is the one Christian alternative to nonbelief.

A FLEXIBLE FAITH is written for the convinced and confused believer alike. It is a readable exploration of the lively theological diversity that stretches back through church history and across the spectrum of Christianity today. It is an easy introduction to how Christians have historically answered key questions about what it means to follow Jesus. Chapters will include 17 big theological questions and answers; profiles of relevant figures in church history; discussion questions; single-page Q&As-profiles of more unusual types of Christians (e.g., a Catholic nun or a member of an Amish community); and a guide to major Christian denominations today.

As Bonnie shares her wrestlings with core issues-such as who Jesus is, what place the Church has in our lives, how to disagree yet remain within a community, and how to love the Bible for what it actually is-she teaches us how to walk courageously through our own tough questions.

Following Jesus is big and it is something that individual believers, movements, and denominations have expressed in uncountably different ways over the centuries. In the process of helping us sort things out, Bonnie shows us how to be comfortable with diversity in the Body. And as we learn to hold questions in one hand and answers in the other, we will discover new depths of faith that will remain secure even through the storms of life.

(272 pages)

This book is so awesome.

No, seriously. Just to start with, it's so nice to read a book about Christian theology that's not trying to make every reader believe exactly the same thing as the author.

Kristian starts the book by laying out a few main beliefs all Christians must have to be counted as Christians (basically believe in the Bible, Jesus, and the Holy Trinity), and makes the argument that all other issues are open for interpretation by different denominations. Then, each chapter in the rest of the book describes the logic behind all the main opposing viewpoints on a given topic. Kristian offers her own viewpoint at the end of a handful of chapters, but never implies that her perspective is the only valid one; on the rest of them, she doesn't even offer any hints about what she believes.

I love it. I love that she's fighting the "my way or the highway" attitude in so many churches, that she's showing her readers all the valid options for personalizing their faith. I may not agree with all of the options she lists (in fact, I'm quite strongly opposed to a few of them!), but I love that she lays everything out in a way that lets every reader draw their own conclusions.

She also has an interview with a different "out of the box" Christian in between the chapters. Some people might find those really interesting as well, but I found myself skimming over them a fair bit.

A Flexible Faith is a wonderful resource for nonbelievers as an overview of Christian beliefs, for questioning Christians trying to get away from a denomination that's just not right for them, and for established Christians with a shallow understanding of competing Christian ideals. Basically, for anyone with any questions about any area of Christianity, A Flexible Faith is a wonderful starting point.

Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

KJV Word Study Bible from Thomas Nelson, 2017

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Imitation Leather, Brown, Red Letter Edition: 1,700 Key Words that Unlock the Meaning of the Bible

The KJV Word Study Bible includes in-text subheadings and 1,700 easy-to-use word studies with select Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek words explained in every chapter from Genesis to Revelation, helping you dig deeper into your Bible study. By looking into these ancient texts we are able to read scripture as it was originally written and passed on from generation to generation, bringing these words to life and allowing you to almost hear Jesus teaching on the hillside or crying out to God on the cross. As you study you will discover the richness and significance of the original languages of the Word of God and experience scripture in a whole new way.

(1664 pages)

Yeah, yeah, I know. This is the fifth Bible that I've gotten for review in the past year. What can I say? There's something really fun about cracking open a brand-new Bible and seeing what makes it different from all the other ones I have. Though I'm definitely going to work on finding a way to get rid of a few, because I think I have about eight Bibles now. Maybe I can donate them to a church or something.

Anyway, I do have an honest reason for getting this particular Bible: I've never had a King James Bible before, or even read more than a verse or two in one. From that fact you can probably deduce that I'm not one of those "Bible purists" who think the KJV is the One True Translation, but I have always been interested in having a King James translation just because I love history and languages and I adore the idea of reading a translation that was written almost five-hundred years ago. The English language was so pretty and poetic back then! I'd been hoping for a KJV Bible for a while for precisely that reason, so when this one came up I snatched it at once.

And honestly, the translation is just as gorgeous as I'd expected it to be. I just flipped the Bible open to a random page and found Mark 3:13,

And he [Jesus] goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him.

I just think the whole translation is so gorgeous! It gives me a feeling of connectedness, too, because I know that Christians were reading these exact words in England literally before America was even a country. Very, very cool.

Anyway, on to discussing the Bible itself. I love the cover, it's a pretty shade of brown that's pretty dark but not quite as black-ish as the image up above makes it seem. There's a pretty light brown ribbon, which I love–it's always such a pain when there's no ribbon to keep track of my place. Instead of having clarifications for tricky words included at the bottom of each page, they're placed into the text in light blue boxes that the text just jumps around. In the back there are four different indexes and a concordance, for when you're looking for something in particular. The words of Jesus are printed in red, and every book of the Bible gets a little intro that takes up about half a page. The font is a good size, pretty big and very comfortable to read.

Honestly, I don't know what else to say about this Bible other than that I really like it and I know I'll be using it in the future. I might not make it my go-to, just because the language makes it a little harder to comprehend than my NIV and NKJV Bibles, but this Bible is so pretty (both in its binding and in its words) that I know I'll be drawn to it again and again.

Disclaimer: This is an Amazon affiliate link, and I received a complimentary copy of this Bible from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers program in exchange for an honest review.