A new survey from LifeWay Research seems to confirm our approach. They asked 2,000 people who read the Bible by themselves (outside of church) or as part of a family activity a number of questions about the Bible.

When asked whether they prefer “word-for-word translations, where the original words are translated as exactly as possible” or “thought-for-thought translations, where the translators attempt to reproduce the intent of the original thought rather than translating the exact words,” 61 percent chose word-for-word.

Other findings:

• 68 percent want language to be simpler to understand while 7 percent want it to be more difficult to understand.
• 81 percent say it should be more enjoyable to read while 4 percent prefer it to be more of a chore to read.
• 27 percent favor contemporary language while 46 percent want traditional language.
• 36 percent want more modern language while 37 percent favor more old-fashioned language.
• 19 percent feel understanding the language should require a higher level of education while 49 percent say it should not require a higher level of education.
• 63 percent believe it should be simple for anyone to understand while 14 percent say the language should be meant more for people who have a lot of experience with the Bible.
• 40 percent prefer more formal language while 26 percent say should be more informal.
• 22 percent want language more for casual reading while 44 percent say it should be designed more for in-depth study.

Easy to read and word-for-word accurate: What He Said.

The post Bible Readers Want Accuracy first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

I thought his response to a question about the accuracy of the written record was interesting:

…where we find discrepancies from one Gospel to another, that doesn’t really tell us anything about Jesus. It tells us about the people who were writing about Jesus.

The post Life In Year One first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

“I bought this book for my husband for Christmas. This was exactly the book that he had been asking for. He had said over and over how he wanted a book that highlighted the words of Jesus, and What He Said does an excellent job of emphasizing the words of our Savior in context with the remainder of the Gospel. My husband is using the book to lead a small group class at our church.” – sval59, Greensboro, NC

Sorry to get all commercial on you, but I don’t think we’ve ever explicitly said that What He Said is only available at Amazon or in our e-Store. It might be available someday in your local bookstore, but not yet.

The post Reader Review first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

“As a Christian, I thought [reading the Bible] was a good thing to do. But it’s a little intimidating to just crack it open and go cover to cover on your own.”
— Amy Maple

The founder of the Bible in 90 days program, Ted Cooper, added this:

But even though “so many people start reading the Bible, hardly anyone finishes.”

We would love to start having some Bible study groups and book clubs make What He Said their next selection.

The post Reading the Bible in 90 Days first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.

All of these numbers are down from twenty years ago, yet the Bible continues to be the #1-selling book, year after year.

The post Interesting Numbers first appeared on What He Said: The Words of Jesus Christ.