The NKJV, American Patriot's Bible: The Word of God and the Shaping of America by Thomas Nelson

The NKJV, American Patriot's Bible: The Word of God and the Shaping of America Reviews

• 
  Janet

  “The American Patriot’s Bible connects the teachings of the Bible, the history of the United States, and the life of every American. Beautiful, full-color inserted pages spotlight the people and events that demonstrate the godly qualities that have made America great.”
  
  As a Christian living in the United States of America, I was excited to have the opportunity to review this study Bible. Since we are a home schooling family, we were especially intrigued with learning that 93% of our Founding Fathers professed a faith in God. You may find it fascinating to learn that biblical truths were taught by using the ABC’s to the schoolchildren in Colonial America.
  
  From George Washington to our newly elected President Obama you will find many of our Presidents, famous Americans and heroes referenced in the Subject Index.
  I appreciate the large print and the family record section because I am an avid genealogist. I look forward to recording all the births of my children and grandchildren in this beautifully illustrated study Bible. My family and I will enjoy reading it and passing it down to our offspring for many generations to come. I believe a renewal of patriotism could be ignited because of the inclusion of this text due to the lack of it being taught in our public school systems.
  
  Our Forefathers based on religious beliefs adopted the Word of God for their freedom, government and laws form our great country.
  
  
  “Blessed is the nation
  Whose God is the LORD….
  Psalm 33:12
• 
  Michael Brown

  The American Patriot’s Bible (New King James Version) is a study bible in which it really doesn’t explain what the scripture means or gives a possible way of applying it to a person’s life. That is what I expect from a study bible. This bible from Thomas Nelson Publishers is more a history book melded with a bible – in which it tries to show how the Bible influenced the creation and running of our country. It is a novel idea and at times it is great but in the end you are left wanting more. I particularly liked the section on the Great Awakening and the preachers that were involved in it and how it affected our country.
  
  The quality of the Hard Cover Edition is well made. It has a very readable font size. I feel that the “American Patriot’s Bible” would have been served if it wasn’t a “Study Bible” but if the author had taken his research and made it a standalone book. He then could have added more information and fleshed it out to a greater and more useful book.
  
  As I said before, this bible would be a good supplement to see how the bible affected our forefathers and our country. But as a standalone study bible it is clearly lacking.
  
  (Disclaimer: As a blogger I received a free review copy - no requirement to give it a positive review, just for the reviewer to call it like they see it.)
• 
  Margaret Chind

  This Bible is so awesome to me I'm not sure I can express how much I like it and why. Starting with the cover it is fabulous to hold. It is a laminated flexible cover full of brilliant patriotic imagery. This is a different kind of cover than I'm familiar with and I really like it. Opening it up there are several page for personalization, genealogy (more page than typical family Bibles), US map, list of the 50 States in their order and admittance date. Followed by a page for military and public service and deaths of family members. Next are several pages that describe the seven principles of the Judeo-Christian ethic with beautiful choices of font and font colors and pictures added to embellish with American history.
  
  *Thanks to Brenda of Thomas Nelson for providing a copy for review.*
  
  -- Look for a review to come.
  
  I love this version!!! It says that it's trade-paper, but it's so much better than that. The cover is made of a laminate that has the gorgeous cover of the beautiful hardcover, but it is pliable and easy to snuggle with and hold as a leather-bound copy. Love it!
• 
  James Murphy

  2 Corinthians 10:5-6 -- 5casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. 6and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
  
  We are called to be salt and light, but we are also called to obedience in the Lord and to get our own spiritual house in order. As members of C.U.T. Wisconsin we are often humbled by the realization that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory. With that in mind we humbly ask you to join us in our ministry and to fellowship with us.
• 
  Coyle

  Dear Thomas Nelson Publishers:
  
  I regret to inform you that a printing disaster appears to have occurred. Some prankster on your factory floor has shuffled together two books: the Bible and someone’s reflection on how America is (or at least was once) a Christian nation. Somehow, the pages from these two books have been intertwined and bound together in one volume bearing the amalgam label The American Patriot’s Bible. I strongly encourage you to correct this problem immediately, as not doing so could lead to a great deal of confusion about the proper separation between the City of God and the city of man.
  
  Thank you for your time,
  
  Coyle Neal
  
  
  The temptation to actually send that letter is quite overwhelming…
  
  Okay, so, The American Patriot’s Bible. (Which I assume is some sort of companion piece to the forthcoming Canadian Patriot’s Bible, Chinese Patriot’s Bible, etc.) This book is, well, a King James Version of the Bible with notes and asides dedicated to showing the importance of the Bible and Christianity in American history. In fact, the editor’s introduction states that the Bible was the source of the answers to the political problems engaged by the Founding Fathers, and that “It has proven itself over and over again in the formation and continuance of the greatest nation in history, the United States of America.”
  
  I will not be reviewing the Bible. Instead, I’ll restrict my comments to the “American Patriot” part of the book.
  
  
  Structurally, this is not so much a “study Bible” as it is a “Bible with notes and asides inserted throughout.” That is, there are few commentaries made on individual texts. Instead, sprinkled through the book are short essays and quotes loosely related to occasionally Biblical topics. For example, “The Right to Keep and Bear Arms” (pg 17) discusses the importance of owning firearms as a means of the preservation of liberty, and suggests that the colonial rebellion against King George “may have had its roots in the Old Testament accounts of Israel’s wars for freedom.” This essay includes a citation on the side—Genesis 14:14 “And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.” Which, to be fair, does involve weapons, so I guess there’s a link there…
  
  Anyway, the point is, this is really not a study Bible, it’s more of a mash-up of Scripture and devotional reflections on some of the events of and ideas about American history.
  
  
  (Reminder: I am not writing a review of the Bible. My comments here are directed at the commentary only.)
  
  This book is troublesome and ultimately unhelpful on both a personal (as a Christian) and professional (as a political scientist and historian) level.
  
  Not to bog this down with academic jargon, I’ll just briefly point out the historical fallacy that lies at the heart of the book. It is true that Christianity (specifically Protestant Christianity) was the most important philosophy/idea/theology/whatever on the Founding generation of Americans. It is not true that it was the only philosophy that affected and united them. English liberalism, Whig constitutionalism, Scots Enlightenment, and numerous others all impacted the founders and affected the ideas that worked their way into American government. For example, the rights of life and liberty are first articulated in the writings of the English liberal John Locke. It was through him that they worked their way into the Declaration of Independence, not through theological reflection on the Bible.
  
  And, well, that’s enough on the academic side of things. I’ll save that for the classroom.
  
  Much more important is that as a Christian, I believe this book is virtually without redeeming value. There are two reasons for this:
  
  -First, the book assumes that America is a Christian nation. I think we can even go a bit farther and say that tenor of the book is that the editors believe that America is God’s nation. It almost as if the editors had not read Hebrews 11, where we are reminded that God’s people are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth,” who “seek a country… a better country, that is, an heavenly city.” (Hebrews 11:13-16) As Christians, our home is not in this world. We are rather pilgrims on our way to our true home, God’s true country where he has prepared a city in which we can live for all eternity.
  
  Of course it’s true that as Christians we hold a dual citizenship. We are citizens of two kingdoms until we arrive at that heavenly city. While I wait for heaven, I am commanded to be a good citizen in whatever nation I dwell here on earth, even as I remember that that nation is a temporary and passing affair, with only a limited role to play in my life and in the history of the world. What I am strictly not to do is to confuse my current, temporary nation with my eternal home. Jesus makes this clear when he commands us to “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” (Mark 12:17) Which, ironically, this book turns on its head with a side-note suggesting that “The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos… America’s future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God’s government.” (pg 1142) Where Jesus drew a distinction between God and Caesar, the editors would blend the two back together.
  
  
  -Second, and much more importantly, there is no Gospel present in this book. It’s almost as if, in their rush to demonstrate how Biblical America is, the editors forgot the point of the Bible itself. The essays, notes, and asides are all somewhere on the spectrum between sappy moralizing and rigid legalism, mostly falling on the latter end of that spectrum. Numerous examples of this could be cited, but perhaps the best example is the first one. In the introductory “Seven Principles of the Judeo-Christian Ethic” (which comes in the first couple of pages, before even the title page), the author writes:
  
  

  “This principle of the Abrahamic covenant states that if a person or a nation obeys God, observing the moral truths found in the Bible, that person or nation will be blessed. If they disobey, they will bring punishment upon themselves. For most of our nation’s history, Americans have accepted the belief that good deeds produce good results and that people who were “God-fearing” in language and lifestyle would be blessed by Him.”

  
  
  This is really the point of the American Patriot’s Bible­- to demonstrate that once upon a time Americans were blessed because they were good people (which we know they were because they believed and obeyed the Bible), and that we should be so again. To which I can only ask two questions: what about sin? And what about Jesus? In a book presuming to talk about Christianity and America, you’d think there would be ample opportunity to discuss the nature and effects of sin. For all our virtues (and there are many), Americans at times have been greedy, arrogant, lazy, lustful, murderous, vengeful, and, well, the list could go on. We’ve enslaved or butchered other peoples, we’ve pursued our own ends even at the expense of others (look up how America got control of Hawaii sometime), and we’ve, well, we’ve done what every nation does. We have been wicked. We are no exception to the deeply real presence of sin in the world.
  
  And, having talked about sin, what a further wonderful opportunity (which the editors do not take) to talk about the forgiveness that comes from the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ: where all of that sin and guilt is taken off of us and put on the cross and finished, and in its place we are given new life. This, at least according to the Apostle Paul, is the true meaning of the covenant promise to Abraham in Genesis 15 (see Galatians 3:14 for that). The meaning of the Abrahamic covenant is not that nations will be blessed if they obey God, but that in Christ we will be blessed despite our sin having earned us punishment.
  
  And, hopefully that’s enough. I could continue to rant, but I’m not sure that would be constructive. I cannot in good conscience recommend this book.
  
  
  I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers. Clearly, they did not pay me to write a good review of it.
  
• 
  Gil Clark

  The word of God related with the history of America. Great insights to those that have lead America throughout History. A full new king James version of the bible with the word of God and our savior Jesus Christ. I love reading the insights from our leaders on there point of views from what they pulled from the bible to use in there speeches and writings. From our founding fathers to our current leadership. This is a must for history loving Christians and those who want insight into Gods words and those that have lead America.
• 
  Dina (ReviewTime)

  
  The American Patriot's Bible is a very interesting study Bible. The idea behind this study Bible is to show how the history of the United States connects with the people and events of the Bible. Through out this Bible you will find many articles about America's history & our present .
  
  About the binding & cover
  This hard backed edition is very sturdy & durable. Hard backed books are meant to hold up to regular use. Trim Size: 7.20 x 9.30 x 1.90
  
  What's inside?
  This Bible is wonderful illustrated with lovely photos, and background designs. The paper is of good quality, and is only slightly transparent. If you would like to use high lighters, I recommend testing a small section first, to be sure that the ink won't bleed through. The font is easy to read & would be good for study.
  
  In the Front
  
  1. Presentation Page
  2. Holy Matrimony Page
  3. Husband's Family/ Wife's Family Page
  4. Our Children/Our Grandchildren Page
  5. Special Family History Page
  6. Ancestors of Interest Page
  7. Map of The United States
  8. The Fifty States (A List of the States & when they were Admitted)
  9. Military and Public Survive Page
  10. Deaths of Family Members Page
  11. The Seven Principles of the Judeo-Christian Ethic
  12. Table of Contents
  13. Introduction
  14. Thanks
  15. Preface to the New King James Version
  16. Listing of the Books of the Bible
  
  
  In the Back
  
  1. Presidents of the United States of America
  2. Subject Index
  3. Concordance
  4. Eight Maps
  
  
  About this Translation.
  The New King James Version is a modern translation of the Bible published by Thomas Nelson. Commissioned in 1975 by Thomas Nelson Publishers, 130 respected Bible scholars, church leaders, and lay Christians worked for seven years to create a completely new, modern translation of Scripture, yet one that would retain the purity and stylistic beauty of the original King James Version.
  
  My Personal Opinion
  This Study Bible is very interesting, I never knew that our former Presidents where so open about their Faith. I have found many Christian quotes from former Presidents, and other famous people from our nations history. This is truly a very interesting study Bible.
  
  If you would like to watch a detailed video about this study Bible Please go to
  
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB44ha...
• 
  Simona

  The word of God and the shaping of America. I purchased this Bible for a Westpoint Cadet not for myself to read ...
  but all that went out the door and I did read all the insert pages.
  You will discover biblical truths that formed the foundation of American values.
  Experience spiritual milestones in American history.
  Examine the intersection of American history and the Christian faith.
  
  Only reason my rating is a 4 star is that this Bible is not available in the NASB version. (Not yet?)
• 
  The American Conservative

  'Praising piety and faith in general alongside remnants of the historic Christian faith, The American Patriot’s Bible combines the things of God and the things of Caesar at the very point where they most vigilantly need to be kept apart. When the City of Man sets up Americanism as its faith, the Christian is forced to dissent.'
  
  Read the full review, "God's Country," on our website:
  
  http://www.theamericanconservative.co...
• 
  Greg Van Vorhis

  Fuck this dude and fuck this Bible. Right-wing hate, filled extremist, intolerant horse shit. And that’s just 3 pages into the intro. This dude wouldn’t know separation of church and state if it was written in the constitution. He wouldn’t know “love your neighbor as yourself” if it was written in the Bible. Which is really fucking ironic. I know why my wife found this in the $2 bin at a bargain outlet store.
• 
  Thomas

  How can you review the Word of God? What this Bible does have is side stories mingled throughout that document the founding fathers, Presidents, scholars and everyday citizen'ss stories if faith. Great history lesson mingled in with the greatest history lesson.
• 
  Jerry Steinhauer

  Each year for the last 19 I have chosen a different Bible to read through. This one incorporates a treasure trove of evidence pointing to America's Godly heritage. So, a double treat -- God's Word in the New King James, and an American patriotic treatise of sorts!
• 
  Sarah

  You can read my reviews here:
  http://quivermom.blogspot.com/2009/05...
• 
  Katherine

  I like this Bible.
• 
  Derek

  I have read several different bibles and what I loved about this one, are the American historical accounts of famous contributors of our country and how they express their love for God and country.
• 
  Ryan M Marks

  
  Great features!
• 
  Mark Merris

  Great product
  
  What a wonderful version of the Bible, all the additions and comments are quite interesting and explain things other translations might leave out. Thoroughly enjoyed.