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But then I started seminary in 2000. When signing up for classes, I decided to swim with the sharks as soon as I possibly could, so I took a major New Testament exegesis course on the Book of Philippians. On the first day of class, I was handed a floppy disc (this was before the floppy disc became the 8-track of the computer world). The professor told us we would find a number of helpful resources on it—most notably, a copy of Paul's letter to the Philippian church without chapter and verse divisions. Our first major assignment was to read the startlingly naked text and assign it new divisions according to theme, scope, key transitional words (or key words in general), the outline given in Paul's thanksgiving and prayer section, and of course, the Greek.

If there's one thing I learned during that first assignment, it's that a book of the Bible becomes a tricky, little force when it's been set loose. When Philippians emerged from the structural cocoon Mr. Langton and I had placed it in, it was given to fly right at me and in ways I had never anticipated. It was similar to the day I gained real momentum in my ability to read and understand Greek and Hebrew, allowing me to set the text loose from the linguistic and syntactical shelters that came with only knowing English. A Bible with its wings about it was nothing short of revolutionary for my life as disciple, student, and preacher.

I did similar assignments for major exegesis courses in Revelation and Matthew. A real joy in my new practice of reading and learning from the naked text came when I took a class on genres and the art of reading the New Testament as literature. One of the assigned books was Richmond Lattimore's translation of the New Testament. Every book was stripped of its chapter and verse divisions. It was like Christmas when I cracked the spine on that resource. I had chosen Acts as my focus of study, but I ended up reading Matthew–Revelation.

You can imagine, then, that I was pretty excited when I read about this new resource in a little blurb on our mother site. The Books of The Bible is "a groundbreaking new presentation of the Scriptures designed to accurately reflect the biblical authors’ intentions. In keeping with the IBS mission since 1809, The Books of The Bible was developed to actively encourage more frequent, comprehensive Bible reading. We assembled the Bible Design Group in 2003 to explore and produce a new visual presentation of the Bible."

I'm well aware that some will be immediately turned off to find the work is done in the TNIV translation, but if you look at the sample on the site, you'll catch a glimpse of this "new visual presentation of the Bible" and perhaps still find your way toward excitement. The text is naked from beginning to end. No chapter or verse divisions, save little notes in the lower right hand corner. Adding to the wondrous mix is its organization. Genres are kept together in one big, happy family. On a more general note, basic association is championed (Luke and Acts are finally placed alongside one another). Within each genre there's even more attention to organization. For example, the New Testament letters are arranged not according to size but according to what scholars believe reflects the most accurate chronology.

Still, the bread and butter is the naked text.

I'm not randomly highlighting this on the PT Blog. I'm quite certain this could be a critical tool for you as a preacher in your yearly planning and in your weekly preparation. Think about it:

• This type of Bible could revolutionize your typical pericope development.
  
• This type of Bible could make the Word come alive to you like never before—and thus for your congregation, as well.
  
• This type of Bible could help you catch a glimpse of something you've never noticed before in the text because that little number has always magically trained your eye to stop short.
  
• This type of Bible may very well serve as a constant reminder of the power of genre.
  
• On a final personal note, this type of Bible may very well stir a deeper time of devotional reading, pressing you to read well beyond the typical reading of the day.
  

I ordered my Dad a copy for his birthday (he was, after all, the professor who started me down this road to the naked text). And in spite of my birthday not being until April, I ordered myself a copy, too. My wife insists I've got way too many books already, but I couldn't help it. I'll find room on the shelf for anything that sets the text free.