Spurgeon-Study-Bible-3.jpg?resize=980%2C653' alt='Christian Standard Bible Second Edition' title='Christian Standard Bible Second Edition' />The Best Study Bible Christian Research Institute. Overwhelmed by the number of choices in todays glutted study Bible marketThis article is from Hank Hanegraaff, The Complete Bible Answer BookCollectors Edition Nashville Thomas Nelson, 2008. By Dr. Ken Matto In the history of faithless translations, the new Holman Christian Standard Bible stands as the latest addition to the line of corrupted translations. New Revised Standard Version American and Anglicized versions, and several versions of the Psalms. Author One day in about the year 95 A. D., a man named John had a vision from heaven. The book of Revelation is Johns record of that vision Revelation 1911. Let an expert on the subject guide you through the maze. The designation study Bible can refer to two things. In some contexts it refers to the translation itself, to a version of the Bible suitable for study. More often, however, it refers to a translation plus a set of features designed to help one read and study the text. The Best Study Bible A BRIEF HISTORY OF STUDY BIBLESThe Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. The first English translations were study Bibles in both senses. Translators sought to create a version that could be studied by the masses. They wanted to take the text from the tight grip of academics and clerics and put it in the language of the people. They also wanted to provide guidance to their readers with explanatory notes and cross references. These early study materials were often as polemic as informative. William Tyndale was strangled to death and burned at the stake for the crimes of translating the Bible into English and of challenging the teachings of the Roman Catholic church in his notes. This pattern continued in all Protestant Bible translations of the sixteenth century. The Geneva Bible of 1. Reformed doctrines of John Calvin and criticized all contrary systems. At Revelation 9 1. Angel of the bottomless pit is identified as Antichrist the Pope, king of hypocrites and Satans ambassador. Small wonder that the first English translation by Roman Catholics, the Rheims New Testament of 1. Others have explained these locusts, in a most absurd, fanciful, and ridiculous manner they make Abaddon the Pope, and the locusts to be friars mendicant, etc. Here it is thought proper, not to enter into any controversy upon that subject, as the inventors of the fancies have been already answered, and fully refuted by many controvertists. The Rheims New Testament also shot back at Protestants and their translations, explaining that it had been developed with the object of healthfully counteracting the corruptions whereby the heretics have so long lamentably deluded almost the whole of our countrymen. No fewer than 1. English Bible appeared between Tyndales New Testament of 1. The English Bible had seen at least 2. No wonder when a new translation was proposed to King James I in 1. Bishop Richard Bancroft commented that if every mans humour were followed, there would be no end of translating. James, however, was intrigued by the proposal from Puritan John Reynolds, especially because the translation would not have notes. Phd Virtual Backup Rapidshare. The Holman Christian Standard Bible. Michael Marlowe revised, August 2011 New Testament. Edwin Blum, ed., Holman Christian Standard Bible Experiencing the Word. The 66 Books that make up the Old Testament and New Testament of the Christian Bible. CSB-Pastors-Bible-12.jpg' alt='Christian Standard Bible Second Edition' title='Christian Standard Bible Second Edition' />The king detested the notes in the Geneva Bible, especially when they commended characters for choosing to obey God rather than human monarchs, as at Exodus 1 1. With Jamess approval and patronage the work pressed ahead and the new, nonannotated version was published in 1. Christian Research Institute Our Mission To provide Christians worldwide with carefully researched information and wellreasoned answers that encourage them in. Though received with mixed reviews, this version soon became so popular that all previous translations were eventually put out of print. The version of 1. English Bible. The Best Study Bible The Twentieth Century. The end of the KJVs monopoly was signaled by the British Revised Version of 1. American Standard Version of 1. Shortly thereafter, two distinct study systems emerged that would start a new trend in Bible presentation. Frank Charles Thompson introduced his Marginal Chain Reference Bible in 1. C. I. Scofields The Scofield Reference Bible. Thompsonprovided the model of a study system that was doctrinally objective, while Scofield presented a specific system of interpretation in his notes. Most modern study Bibles fall into one or the other category established by these pioneering works. The 1. 97. 0s and early 1. English Bible translations. The boom continued in 1. New International Readers Version, the Contemporary English Version, and Gods Word. The real noise in the nineties, however, is coming from new study Bibles. Not only are there updated editions of Thompson and Scofield, there are their modern heirs objectively oriented systems such as The New Open Bible, and doctrinally oriented systems such as The Ryrie Study Bible, The Wesley Bible, and The New Geneva Bible. Tyndale House introduced The Life Application Bible in 1. Bibles. So strong was the response to Zondervans NIV Womens Devotional Bible in 1. NIV Devotional Bibles for men, couples, and seniors. Thomas Nelsons Serenity A Companion for 1. Step Recovery 1. Zondervans NIV Recovery Bible and Tyndales The Life Recovery Bible. Established devotionals or study booklet series were adapted and presented as study Bibles in such works as The NIV Serendipity Bible for Study Groups Zondervan, 1. The International Inductive Study Bible Harvest, 1. The Experiencing God Bible Broadman Holman, 1. The New Daily Walk Bible Tyndale, 1. Because the Bible buying public seems to have a bottomless appetite for new editions of the Bible, and because Bible typesetting is a much faster process than ever before, Bible publishers are now issuing new Bibles almost at the pace that they issue new books. Gone are the days when a Thompson or a Scofield spent decades developing study systems. Bibles are now being created to catch trends or to associate with the name of a major personality, such as Max Lucados Inspirational Study Bible Word, 1. Promise Keepers Bible. One could be cynical and critical of the Christian publishing industry for such felt needs Bible publishing. Such products, however, are indeed meeting needs. Craig Featherstone, director of marketing for Thomas Nelson Bibles, uses the model of the Sunday school as there are different class options for different age groups, different needs, and different interests, so there are different study Bibles. This historical overview may help explain the incredible proliferation of study Bibles. But it does not explain how to evaluate a particular edition for personal use. To provide guidance in this regard, this article will first survey the range of features that can be found in a study Bible, and then examine specific features of several classic and recent editions. Finally, the article will provide a list of questions one can ask to narrow ones choices to the best possible volume. The Best Study Bible A Survey of Major Features. In the following survey, features that provide explanations are labeled subjective because the explanation is subject to the interpreters point of view. Features that direct one into and within the text are labeled objective because they allow the text to speak for itself. Of course, there can be objectivity in interpretation and subjectivity in the selection of texts. Still, I believe this broad categorization is useful to differentiate between study systems that instruct one what to believe and those that take one to the text so one can make up ones own mind. A study Bible that is primarily objective in its features can be used by anyone, regardless of theological affiliation. On the other hand, a study Bible that is primarily subjective is most useful to someone who agrees with the interpreter and can even be offensive to someone who does not. The Best Study Bible The Translation Proper. The single most important feature of a study Bible is its text its translation because the most important activity in studying the Bible is reading it.