If you like Bible maps, you'll love this 3-minute video about a new Bible map search engine to a collection of over 700 new, custom Bible maps.
THE CASUAL ENGLISH BIBLE® (TCEB) is a valuable tool for Bible newcomers and those who are not Christians, but curious about the Bible and its teachings.
I've been writing easy-reading Bible background books for most of my life. And I've always tried to write them in a way that people outside the faith can follow along and enjoy the ride. My early days as a newspaper reporter has helped me do that. If you need more about me, there's more here than my mother would read: StephenMillerBooks.com.
But, finish this note first, please.
One of my favorite compliments came from a Hindu young man curious about the Bible. After buying one of my books, The Complete Guide to the Bible, he sent me an email thanking me for writing in a way that he said was:
"simple but not stupid."
Over 700 Bible maps
These are magnificent and dramatic 3D maps of Bible lands—created from high resolution satellite images, matched to precise elevation data from NASA and international space agencies. They allow us to tell the story of Jesus and the birth of the Christian church like never before. The Old Testament stories as well.
Many of the custom-made maps for the Casual English Bible do more than show locations and offer a feel for the lay of the land. The maps themselves resemble art suitable for framing. It’s a tribute to the beauty of the landscape and to the precision with which we can now recreate the land into 3D-style images.
These maps—about 500 so far—are lavishly detailed New Testament Bible study resources we've created so far in our growing library of Bible study resources at the Casual English Bible.®
We've recently started creating maps for the Old Testament as well. We'll keep at it until we have detailed 3D maps tailored to every chapter in every book in the Christian Bible.
New Paperback Bible Atlas
On another topic. We recently printed our first paperback: Casual English Bible New Testament Atlas. I'm giving away the first 100 to the first 100 people who donate to the Casual English Bible.
Folks who don’t read the Bible need a Bible they can read
That's not just a tag line. It's a reminder as I continue paraphrasing this Bible to steer away from churchy and scholarly words. Those cryptic words are familiar and endearing to longtime Christians, but they make no sense to Bible newcomers. Justification. Sanctification. Redemption.
Who hears those words at Happy Hour?
People who are curious about Christianity and the Bible need a Bible they can understand the first time they lay eyes on it. And they need one with notes that answer the hard questions they ask that Christians sometimes skip. Like why would God order Joshua to kill everyone in every town he and the Israelites conquered.
Most Bibles are written for Christians. And they read like Christian code...at least that's how it sounds to people who don't hang out in church and who don't know the lingo.
Jesus taught big ideas in simple words.
The Bible can do the same if we let it speak for itself in the language of a conversation over a cup of coffee or tea.
We've been working on this for several years, creating the paraphrase, 3D-style maps, atlases, leader's guides, and videos. It's an expensive venture. We're at the point where we need partners to help us get the extra resources and people we on board to bring this Bible to life...edited, polished, and ready for people who have never read a Bible.