New Tateville

The  Hagia  Sophia ( Ο   Αγια   Σοφια ) (Greek pronunciation Ah-YEE-ah So-FEE-ah) The  Hagia  Sophia  (aka Saint Sophia, Sancta Sophia, or Church of Divine Wisdom) was first built in the fourth century in Constantinople (now known under the Turkish name of Istanbul). That church was destroyed in a revolt, and the current building was erected on orders of Roman Emperor Justinian I in AD 532 and took five years and 10,000 workers to build. It was the center of the Orthodox Church for a thousand years and also the place of the coronation of the Byzantine Emperors. When Constantinople was captured in 1453 by the Muslim Turks they changed the  Hagia Sophia into a mosque, and built several more (including the  Sulemaniye  and  Blue Mosques ) based on the  Hagia  Sophia. (The four minarets [towers] and some buttressing were added to the building by the Turks.)  Ayasofya , as it is now called, became a museum in 1935 on order of Mustafa  Kemal   Attaturk  (the founder of the modern Turkish Re

NKJV Comfort Print Reference Bible, Personal Size Giant Print I picked this up because I’ve been doing a read-through of the NKJV, which is already one of my favorite translations. I researched different options and decided to go with this one due to its low price, sturdy build, and larger print size.  This is so much more Bible than the price or size would seem to indicate. (I will not make any critiques of the NKJV translation itself; you can see my Bible translation guide elsewhere on this blog.) Price - I found mine at Hobby Lobby for $12.  Retail price is around $20-$25. Size & Font - 5.5” by 8.5”, but it’s extremely readable, minimal ghosting, dark print (even the red letter which I’m not too fond of on principle).  The letters aren’t elongated and it lives up to the name of “comfort print.”  (Text is 11.5 point and is very easy on the eyes). The red letter (which I’m not fond of) is dark, so hopefully it won’t fade too bad over time.  There are just under 1600 pag

The Holy Bible, New Revised Standard Version (Text Edition) Oxford University Press Time for another review of a Bible that has blessed me.  This is the NRSV text Bible published by Oxford University Press. If you don't want a Bible with a bunch of bells, whistles, or extemporaneous material this is a great choice.  It is the perfect medium size for carrying, first of all.  Not too heavy, but not so small either. The font is the wonderful Oxford font found in the 2nd edition of the New Oxford Annotated Bible reviewed earlier.  The text itself is 9-point so still very essay to see, but reads big.   The ghosting is minimal in the older printings and it is really a joy to read. There are two editions -  Protestant canon w/ standard 66 books Edition with Old Testament apocryphal books, including books used by the Roman Catholic and Greek & Russian Orthodox churches There are no in-text subject headings (only at the top of the page), no book introductions, no essays or material in t