(Brian again)

This is going to be some kind of record for me...two posts in less than a month.

Anyway this is a new Study Bible which is to be released October 15, 2008. Among the contributors to this new Bible is Vern S. Poythress, and member of our church and Professor of New Testament Interpretation at Westminster Theological Seminay. My first imprressions of this Bible from what I can see on the website is that it is quite impressive.

• 1.3 million words of study notes!!!
• 20,000 notes!
• Over 50 articles—including articles on the Bible’s authority, reliability, and interpretation; on biblical archaeology, theology, worship, prayer, and personal application.
• Over 200 full-color maps—created with the latest digital technology, satellite images, and archaeological research; printed in full color throughout the Bible.
• 200-plus charts—offering key insights and in-depth analysis in clear, concise outline form; located throughout the Bible.
• 80,000 cross-references!!
• 40 all-new illustrations—including full-color renderings and architectural diagrams of the Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant, Solomon’s temple, Herod’s temple, the city of Jerusalem in Jesus’ time and throughout the history of Israel, and many more.

This is really incredible with full color maps throughout the Bible to bring context to where books were written, color illustrations of Archaeological points of interest, you must check out the website for it does more justice to it than I can. They include sample pages for you to view. http://www.esvstudybible.org/#home

For years I have been a fan of the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. This Bible is what I have used for the last 5 years and comes in the NIV translation. It has a great wealth of reference materials including great documents of the Faith contained in the back of the Bible. It is a companion to the Reformation Study Bible, ESV, which came out first and had all the same study notes, but did not contain the extra documents in the back making the NIV version superior.

Personally I am a fan of the ESV translation, it is a more literal word for word translation than the NIV yet retains the readability of the NIV that something like the KJV lacks. It is a rather new translation first being released in 2001 and has been growing in popularity around the world as many churches now use it as their standard translation. If you are unfamiliar with the translation I invite you to check it out http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/browse/ it can take some getting used to especially if you have been accustomed to one translation you whole life, but give it time.

I only wish I could design a custom study Bible that combined all the features I wanted into one volume.... then again I would probably find that when I was finished I would have a Bible to large to carry around. Oh well. If you are interested, I think this is the best price available http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=502415&netp_id=524958&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW&view=covers

Blessings as you Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15

http://www.esvstudybible.org/blog/2008/08/youtube-video-introduction-to-the-esv-study-bible/

I found a video intro too!