Net Bible is CopyLeft

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Today I am putting the words of Jesus to be read against a Sigor Ros video and I am using the Word version (free download) of the Most Trustworthy Net Bible. I use the big black Net Bible at home for study (only $20 this month for non-leather) and I prefer to use the online version at Bible.org because I can quote it, print it, give it away without worry about copyright. As long as i don’t sell it. You could say its about as copyleft as the Bible can get.

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I like the notes in the margin of the Net Bible. The translators are honest about the controversies and give the skinny on each verse. One of those translators is Dr Dan Wallace of Dallas Theological Seminary who married my wife’s cousin, thus placing himself in our extended family. Dan’s article on Inerrancy and truth and text are both excellent reads.

I am also reading through the Bible this year with Bible.org daily readings. The site is not good looking and i cant find an RSS feed. Its also not nearly as much fun as the One Year Bible Blog – which i highly recommend – but I am trying to stick to one single version of the Scriptures to help me in my memorization. Its hard to memorize anything when you have lots of different versions in your head.

Andrew

Andrew Jones launched his first internet space in 1997 and has been teaching on related issues for the past 20 years. He travels all the time but lives between Wellington, San Francisco and a hobbit home in Prague.

12 Comments

  • andrew, you remind me of my favorite copyright notice. This is Lorraine Boettner’s 1932 copyright from his Reformed Doctrine of Predestiation:
    Any one is at liberty to use material from this book with or without credit. In preparing this book the writer has received help from many sources, some acknowledged and many unacknowledged. He believes the material herein set forth to be a true statement of Scripture teaching, and his desire is to further, not to restrict its use.

  • Daniel says:

    Yeah, it is time for a Creative Commons licensed Bible translation. I’ve been very unimpressed with the efforts to open things up so far. And while the Net Bible is the most open, it’s got a lot more room to be open than it is.

  • hamo says:

    YOu know its funny…
    As I get older I like to stick with the NIV as it is the one I grew up and have ‘memorised’. I am beginning to see why some of the oldies prefer the King Jimmy!

  • Steve says:

    Thanks for the post, good site.
    Peace.
    Steve.
    http://newpsalms.wordpress.com/

  • Wes Roberts says:

    Fascinating (or maybe not so fascinating) about Dan and Patti and your connection via your wife. I had the privilege of performing their wedding ceremony…and I had the “privilege” of being Dan’s youth pastor way back in the last century in Newport Beach, CA. And one more bit of trivia…Dan and I share the same birth date, exactly 10 years apart, almost to the hour. I am the olde man…and he is getting older. What a good couple with a ton of good sons. Thanks for your blog…I’ve got you listed on mine.

  • Tim C says:

    Daniel wrote: “Yeah, it is time for a Creative Commons licensed Bible translation. I’ve been very unimpressed with the efforts to open things up so far. And while the Net Bible is the most open, it’s got a lot more room to be open than it is.”
    Is there any effort percolating anywhwere for a creative commons modern english translation of at least the NT?
    I would be very interested in supporting such an effort, and have thought a good deal about what a creative commons based modern Bible translation group wiki could look like…
    The result of such a structured but open translation process I think could be amazing, and open up a fresh and more accurate translation of Scripture in modern English that could also be an incredible base for translating Scripture into other new languages, and free up a good modern (and post-modern) version of Scripture that truly takes advantage of the CC open licenses…

  • Tom Hein says:

    Thanks for the good article by Wallace. As a new Christian twenty five years ago I read, “The New Testment Documents: Are They Reliable?” by F.F. Bruce which has some of the same flavor.

  • KJV says:

    Why not use a bible that has no copyright and easy to remember! http://www.biblediscernment.com

  • andrew jones says:

    ha ha. nice!!!

  • Derekjoel says:

    Amen! The Word of God should be pure. My heart is hurt when I see the publishing companies market ‘their’ bible and imprint God’s Word with an ISBN barcode. Shouldn’t the Word of God be set apart from all other books?
    I love the ministry the Gideon organization – http://www.gideons.org. 100% goes to printing the Word of God. The members donate their time as a service to God. It’s an organization modeled after the teachings of Jesus – simple.
    Creative Commons licensing is a powerful tool for ministry. Is there a new version of the Bible that is published under CC license? What a witness it would be, if everyone involved with the project did it as an offering to God? Don’t downplay the power of a love offering. Look how far it has gone with the Gideons – 170+ countries now have God’s word. We need translators, programers, spokesmen, organizers, printers, ministers, advisors, and many other roles (Romans 12, Ephesians 4)
    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans%2012&version=NKJV
    http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ephesians%204&version=NKJV
    Just imagine handing someone a bible that just says, ‘The Word of God’ and the first page they turn too is ‘And in the Beginning God created the Heavens and the Earth…” No publishing crap, or barcodes, or acknowledgements to men. God’s Words to us, His children – straight up.
    It would take many humans humbling themselves, letting down their egos and stepping up to the call of God. If you are feeling this too, or know of it already happening, pm me at mail@derekjoel.com

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