# Scripture & Art: Crossway's Four Holy Gospels



## Michael (May 29, 2011)

Maybe some of you have seen this already: The Four Holy Gospels | Bibles | Crossway

I'm not sure what the correlation is between this and the 400th anniversary of the KJV though...?


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## Edward (May 29, 2011)

I don't get most of the 'art'. And I agree - what does release of an ESV have to do with the KJV?


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## Bill The Baptist (May 29, 2011)

Maybe they will get John Piper to endorse it and we will all run out and get it.


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## Notthemama1984 (May 29, 2011)

I liked the paintings that I saw, but I am not artsy fartsy enough to see what the correlation between the paintings and the Gospels is.


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## Rufus (May 29, 2011)

Bill The Baptist said:


> Maybe they will get John Piper to endorse it and we will all run out and get it.


 
I've seen it on the DesiringGod blog.



Chaplainintraining said:


> I liked the paintings that I saw, but I am not artsy fartsy enough to see what the correlation between the paintings and the Gospels is.


I watched a video of the artist describing what some of the things meant.


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## Notthemama1984 (May 29, 2011)

Was it the video from the link? I tried watching it, but got bored.


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## Rufus (May 29, 2011)

Chaplainintraining said:


> Was it the video from the link? I tried watching it, but got bored.


 
It might be, I saw it on the official website.


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## Michael (May 29, 2011)

I like the art just fine. But I don't know if I would buy a copy of _just_ the gospels [especially at that price] when entire bibles are so readily available. I've never been big on those NT + Psalms & Proverbs either. Not that they can't be beneficial, but it seems to send a message that that's really the important stuff and that it's not much of a big deal to be without Genesis, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, etc.

I understand that this is being presented first and foremost as a work of art though. Just out of my tax bracket. And how functional would it really be? I mean, when it's time for study would you be itching to say, "Hey, why don't we break out the artsy gospels?" Doubt it. What about bringing it to church? Not likely. Probably more of a coffee table piece...maybe an ice breaker for conversation.


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## Edward (May 29, 2011)

Michael said:


> I like the art just fine. But I don't know if I would buy a copy of just the gospels [especially at that price]



Like I said, I can't even tell what it is supposed to be. Most of it looks like they splattered ink on the pages. And not only would I not buy it, if someone gave it to me, I'd look for the first chance to re-gift it. As for NT+Ps&Pr, I bought a small stack of minatures one time to carry in my pocket for giveaway. 

I think these are saying 'I have discretionary income that I don't want to use for the mission of the church'.


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## C. M. Sheffield (May 29, 2011)

What art?


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## Backwoods Presbyterian (May 29, 2011)

People are dying for the lack of God's Word and in our opulence we decide we need this?

How many Gen-Rev Bibles would this project have provided?


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## Notthemama1984 (May 29, 2011)

Backwoods Presbyterian said:


> People are dying for the lack of God's Word and in our opulence we decide we need this?
> 
> *How many Gen-Rev Bibles would this project have provided?*


 
In all fairness I raised the same question months (maybe even a year ago now) with regards to people here buying Allan Bibles. It was the general view that people have the right to spend their money as they see fit. I believe the same answer should apply here.


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## Edward (May 29, 2011)

Chaplainintraining said:


> In all fairness I raised the same question months (maybe even a year ago now) with regards to people here buying Allan Bibles. It was the general view that people have the right to spend their money as they see fit. I believe the same answer should apply here.



I would hope that folks would read their Allans, rather than display them in slip covers on the coffee table. So I'm not sure that the same answer would apply.


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## Notthemama1984 (May 29, 2011)

Edward said:


> Chaplainintraining said:
> 
> 
> > In all fairness I raised the same question months (maybe even a year ago now) with regards to people here buying Allan Bibles. It was the general view that people have the right to spend their money as they see fit. I believe the same answer should apply here.
> ...



I think the answer does apply. Is it wrong to buy a BMW vs. buying a Honda and giving the extra money to missions?


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## C. M. Sheffield (May 29, 2011)

It boggles my mind that this project is meant to commemorate the KJV's 400th anniversary and they use the ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION for the text! What sense does that make?!


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## Bill The Baptist (May 29, 2011)

Chaplainintraining said:


> I think the answer does apply. Is it wrong to buy a BMW vs. buying a Honda and giving the extra money to missions?



Actually, yes it is. Of course almost all of us are guilty of this in some way. I'm sure most of us could find things to give up in order to give more to God.


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## Notthemama1984 (May 29, 2011)

Bill The Baptist said:


> Actually, yes it is. Of course almost all of us are guilty of this in some way. I'm sure most of us could find things to give up in order to give more to God.



It is sinful to buy expensive things?


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## Bill The Baptist (May 30, 2011)

Chaplainintraining said:


> It is sinful to buy expensive things?



A proper New Testament understanding of tithing, based on Jesus' teaching about the widow, will lead us to conclude that for many people 10% is not nearly enough. If you have an extra $60000 lying around to waste on a car, perhaps you should consider giving more to the church instead of sanctimoniously looking down on the poor people who can barely give $5 and saying to yourself, "what a bunch of sinners, can't even give 10%" I think this is exactly the point that Jesus was making.


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## Notthemama1984 (May 30, 2011)

Bill The Baptist said:


> A proper New Testament understanding of tithing, based on Jesus' teaching about the widow, will lead us to conclude that for many people 10% is not nearly enough. If you have an extra $60000 lying around to waste on a car, perhaps you should consider giving more to the church instead of sanctimoniously looking down on the poor people who can barely give $5 and saying to yourself, "what a bunch of sinners, can't even give 10%" I think this is exactly the point that Jesus was making.



Then where is the line drawn? Is a 50,000 dollar house ok, but 100,000 sin? 

Also in this scenario, no one mentioned how much this theoretical person gives to the church, how much they make, or anything along those lines. You jumped to the conclusion that this person would be looking down on the poor.


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## Pilgrim (May 30, 2011)

Edward said:


> I don't get most of the 'art'. And I agree - what does release of an ESV have to do with the KJV?



In the past they have stated their desire that the ESV become the KJV of the 21st century i.e. the standard--they have created the Standard Bible Society to that end. Of course they know no translation will have that universal acceptance that the KJV enjoyed for over 300 years. Note too that the NIV revision came out this year and is called the NIV 2011 if I'm not mistaken.

---------- Post added at 11:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:31 PM ----------




Chaplainintraining said:


> Backwoods Presbyterian said:
> 
> 
> > People are dying for the lack of God's Word and in our opulence we decide we need this?
> ...


 
I think buying an Allan or something similar can be a wise investment if the idea is that it will last a lifetime and will be passed down through the generations. There are many Bibles today that are cheaply made but which don't necessarily have a cheap price. If you go through several of those over the course of 20-30 years, it is quite likely that you will end up spending more than you would with an Allan. 

For example, I bought a hardcover ESV maybe a year or so after it was released. The back cover was beginning to separate after about 2-3 years of maybe moderate use. A genuine leather NASB I acquired about 11-12 years ago is also falling apart and I had to glue it a few months ago to keep it from coming apart completely and losing pages. I only used it as my primary Bible for a few years and it's only been used for reference purposes in recent years. 

Allan's as well as the Nelson Signature Series of about 10 years ago wouldn't have much of an appeal if most of the Bibles on the market today didn't have poor quality covers and glued bindings that often fall apart within just a few years. The quality of the paper has noticeably declined over just the past 10 years as well and the paper a decade ago wasn't as good as what was available before that. What Allan does is really not that different than the average Bible of maybe 50-100 years ago. Before the advent of study Bibles for every conceivable niche market and the proliferation of modern translatons, quality was how publishers set themselves apart from their competition. 

That being said, those who question the large sum of money spent on expensive Bibles may well have a point with regard to those who seem to purchase every Bible that Allan and Cambridge puts out. On the other hand, many Christians blow large sums of money on projection screen TV's and other entertainment related items.


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## Notthemama1984 (May 30, 2011)

Pilgrim said:


> Christians blow large sums of money on projection screen TV's and other entertainment related items.



So a flat screen and Blu-Ray is sinful?


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## Pilgrim (May 30, 2011)

Chaplainintraining said:


> Pilgrim said:
> 
> 
> > Christians blow large sums of money on projection screen TV's and other entertainment related items.
> ...



I'm not saying that any of it is necessarily sinful unless covetousness is involved. 

But it could probably be said that a great number of us who live in affluent societies don't always use our money in such a way as to take full advantage of our opportunity to give to the Lord's work. I can look back over the years and see that I've definitely been guilty of that.


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## Notthemama1984 (May 30, 2011)

Pilgrim said:


> But it could probably be said that all or nearly all of us in affluent societies don't always use our money in such a way as to take full advantage of our opportunity to give to the Lord's work. I can look back over the years and see that I've definitely been guilty of that.



So for clarification you are saying that it is not necessarily sinful to buy these things, but we should be think of giving to the church more?


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## Pilgrim (May 30, 2011)

Chaplainintraining said:


> Pilgrim said:
> 
> 
> > But it could probably be said that all or nearly all of us in affluent societies don't always use our money in such a way as to take full advantage of our opportunity to give to the Lord's work. I can look back over the years and see that I've definitely been guilty of that.
> ...



I think it's good to ask ourselves if something we purchase with discretionary funds is the best investment. I'm not sitting in judgment over anyone. In the end, we have to judge ourselves in these matters. 

A scriptural example of living in relative luxury while the Lord's work is neglected is Haggai 1:4. On the other hand, the sin of Ananias and Sapphira was not keeping part of what they earned from their sale--it was hypocrisy and lying to the Holy Ghost.


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## Edward (May 30, 2011)

Chaplainintraining said:


> I think the answer does apply. Is it wrong to buy a BMW vs. buying a Honda and giving the extra money to missions?



If you are going to put the BMW up on blocks in the living room, yes, it would be wrong.

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Chaplainintraining said:


> It is sinful to buy expensive things?



There are some members of our church who are quite wealthy. They drive nice cars and live in nice homes, but they could certainly afford better. They keep their lives in balance when it comes to money. And they use what they have to further the work of the church.


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