Satin Ribbon Marker Forsooth

In Which I Rail Against The Upside Down Kingdom Study Bible

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I have, for the last few days, been receiving various messages from certain lovely friends that a new Study Bible was released last year called The Upside Down Kingdom Study Bible. The organizer of the project was Preston Sprinkle in cahoots with Zondervan. Dr. Sprinkle gathered a team of scholars and eventually, as this goes, clips of interviews he did with some of the contributors appeared on Woke Preacher Clips and Protestia.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Here’s what it says on Dr. Sprinkle’s website about the project:

God calls believers to live faithfully in a way that flips the wisdom of worldly kingdoms on its head. In a culture that has become exponentially polarized, it can be difficult to think deeply and love widely. The NIV Upside-Down Kingdom Bible provides readers with thoughtful, Scripture-based notes from a diverse set of trusted Christian voices and explores difficult issues facing Christians today, with features that are honest, nuanced, and filled with grace.

The NIV Upside-Down Kingdom Bible provides hundreds of side-column notes, full page articles, essays, and book introductions that skillfully and thoughtfully address topics such as: race and ethnicity, creation care, science, abortion, wealth and poverty, gender and sexuality, politics, baptism, technology, and others.

This Bible features a beautiful two-color design and includes Zondervan’s exclusive NIV Comfort Print® typeface for smooth reading. Expertly designed specifically to be used for the New International Version (NIV) text, Comfort Print offers an easier reading experience that complements the most widely read modern-English Bible translation.

Glancing over this wall of text, I have a few questions. I think I know what it means to “think deeply,” although I would imagine most of us only know it in theory, having lost the ability when we got our first “smart” phones, but what does it mean to “love widely?”* That seems to me to be too vague a phrase to be useful. Love “who” widely? God? Ourselves? Other people? Sinners? Enemies? I would like more information.