Terry Pruitt's Blog

I bought the book Jonathan Edwards: A New Biography by Iain H. Murray for a family member.  Initially she told me she liked it but as she read, she got frustrated.  She actually gave up on it and gave it to me.  I just finished reading it myself.  It took a while.  The book lacks direction is one of its main faults.  Rather than guiding and interpreting the life of Jonathan Edwards, it seems like the author accumulates many facts.  Murray seems to go into depth on issues which for me which would have served the average reader better by summarizing the issue or by excising the material altogether.  This book best serves someone with a strong interest in history and lover of detail.  If you desire to learn a bit of church history, historical theology, or be inspired by a great Christian man, you should look for another biography.

I took Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Greek in seminary.  I am maintaining my Hebrew and Greek by continuing to use those skills.  I translate my preaching passages.  I use Bible Works which I highly recommend.  It is my favorite Bible software since as they advertise, focus on the text.  Sometimes I'm being overly literal, so the English is poor, but it helps to figure out how Hebrew is different that English.  They just do things differently with language sometimes.   ‎  אִ֛ישׁ הָיָ֥ה בְאֶֽרֶץ־ע֖וּץ אִיּ֣וֹב שְׁמ֑וֹ וְהָיָ֣ה׀ הָאִ֣ישׁ הַה֗וּא תָּ֧ם וְיָשָׁ֛ר וִירֵ֥א אֱלֹהִ֖ים וְסָ֥ר מֵרָֽע׃   (Job 1:1 WTT) There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job and he was a man who was whole and straight and feared God and turned from evil.  Notes:  The location is east of Israel.  ‎  וַיִּוָּ֥לְדוּ ל֛וֹ שִׁבְעָ֥ה בָנִ֖ים וְשָׁל֥וֹשׁ בָּנֽוֹת׃   (Job 1:2 WTT) And there was born to him seven so...