James and Me, a Conversational Essay with the Lord's Brother...and a Mirror
Prologue
My goal is simple: to communicate the Scripture in ways that change me and inspire others in our quest to conform to Christ's image.
The scene for James and Me is conversational, where James, me, and various Bible translations “sit” together, discussing his New Testament letter as if we were all assembled. James, in turn, was reading it to us, with the different translations chiming in. And then, after each conversation, I check the mirror to respond in the privacy of my prayer closet.
My aspiration is as simple as my goal: to fulfill James' words and be a doer of the Word,
For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. (James 1:23-24, KJV)
Bible Dictionaries, classic word study books (Robertson, Vincent, and Vine), and the various cited Bible translation study notes will be used in our conversation. Any other Commentary will be noted, although it’s not my desire to regurgitate a previous work (obviously, they stand on their own); instead, it is to draw scripturally sound, personal conclusions from the various translations.
This is not so much a scholarly, verse-by-verse analysis but rather a personal and practical explanation where I will take creative liberty to keep the conversational scene flowing but never diminish the truth of the Word. That liberty will be easily recognizable and distinguishable from the Scripture.
Additionally, names are created for the various translations, adding to the conversational tone.
Here is the list of the conversationalists who will be joining, sporadically, throughout the weekly dialogues:
James, the Lord's Brother (King James Version)
Me (I have yet to define my English version 😊)
Amp, The Amplified New Testament, Lockman Foundation
ASW, A. S. Worrell New Testament
Bill, William Barclay's translation
JB, J. B. Phillips translation
JN, J N Young's Literal translation
Kenny, Kenneth Wuest Expanded New Testament Translation
Lex, the Lexham English Translation
MO, James Moffatt translation
Mr. Wycliffe, Wycliffe’s Bible, Introduction by Terence Nobel
Will, The Williams translation, The Time Line New Testament, edited by Leonard Hoffmann
Zoe, Life Application Study Bible, NIV
Keeping with the theme, each weekly conversation will be an audio post (podcast) on Saturday’s BMaC, barring any illnesses or travel problems with the conversationalists 😉.
I look forward to you joining us! So kindly grab your coffee, headphones or earbuds, and a comfy spot, and settle in.
Oh, and don’t forget your mirror 😊!
Next week: By Way of Introduction (James 1:1).