I was looking forward in purchasing either the NKJV or ESV Reformation Study Bible but then I found this link Bible Design and Binding: Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible (NIV).

After reading the actual notes on the NIV RSB and comparing them to the NKJV/ESV RSB plus considering that the NIV RSB contains both the WCF and the TFU with references to related passages I think I might get it.

However, is any one familiar with this NIV RSB? Any Opinions? Recommendations?, etc.

__________________
Gil Garcia
Rehoboth Reformed Church (RCUS)
La Habra, CA


"Indeed, one might say that as far as the doctrine of justification
is concerned, if you are not on the road to Wittenberg or Geneva, then the old proverb is indeed true: all roads lead to Rome." Carl Trueman

I own a NIV RSB (the one edited by Pratt) and I have to say I have found it extremely useful. I also own the ESV RSB (the one edited by Sproul) and although I prefer the ESV translation, it's notes are not as comprehensive as Pratt's edition.

More info here:

Third Millennium Ministries eStore - Bibles

__________________
Stephen Spence

A Presbyterian attending a Baptist church

Ditto to the above post. I have both. The RSB has all the same notes plus it adds a few hundred to those along with articles that pertain to things in the reformed faith. In the back it has the WCF, L/S catechisms and 3 forms of unity. Plus, the notes are keyed to these confessions in the back. It is my favorite bible. John Frame is the theological editor, most of the other contributors are the same as the one by Sproul. It is definately worth getting.

__________________
Erick Bohndorf, Covenant Baptist Church, KS
http://qayaqtraveler.blogspot.com/
The question for us today is, will we be like the majority of Israel and continue to look in fear at the giants in the land and urge our fellow Christians to be "realistic," or will we be like Joshua and Caleb and faithfully follow our king, trusting to fulfill every one of his promises completely?

The print is much better in the ESV RSB when it comes to my aging eyes. However, the notes in the NIV SRSB are much more comprehensive - and the addition of the Westminster Standards, 3FU, etc., is a great idea which I wish the ESV RSB had considered. Very handy!

If I could have it my way, I'd put the notes and Reformed confessions from the NIV SRSB with the NKJV text and bind it in a nice calfskin leather (like the premier ESV or the Nelson Signature Series) with print similar to the ESV RSB.

Oh yeah, and while I'm dreaming I might as well be reading that Bible on my yacht in the Mediteranean while eating food prepared by Giada De Laurentiis.

I agree with this assessment. Since I already have the original New Geneva Study Bible (NKJV) I see no need to buy the ESV RSB since the notes are exactly the same and some of the features, like the index to annotations, have been actually removed. The only upgrade is that the Bible text is far more readable and for some the ESV over the NKJV would be an upgrade.

The NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible's notes, while based on the NGSB/RSB are much more thorough overall, and having the confessions is a big help as well. I would like to see this version come out in the NASB (not impossible since Zondervan is also a publisher of the NASB) but I am not holding my breath.

__________________
Chris
OPC member
Now attending Grace Community Baptist Church
Mandeville, LA

"Faith alone saves, but it is a faith that works." - S. Lewis Johnson

Another good feature of the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible is that in addition to listing the Scripture references in the confessional documents, it also goes the other way and all throughout the Scripture text links any verses that were used as proof-texts back to their respective confession(s)/catechism(s).

__________________
Chris


A passion to know and reflect Christ by living and demonstrating the truth and richness of the historic Reformed faith

Visit My Website Here

Christopher Blum
Member of Riveroaks Reformed Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Germantown, TN
Currently attending Trinity Presbyterian Church of Northern Kentucky (PCA) in Burlington, KY

Click to get: Board Rules -- Signature Requirements -- Suggestions?

Yes! The SRSB notes and confessions coupled with the text of the NASB would be outstanding. I probably use the NASB more than any other translation. While we're at it, let's add a slightly larger margin for notes (not too big or we lose portability).

I own the NIV/RSB and I cannot speak highly enough about it. I really love having the 3 Forms and especially the WCF in the back. It is a ready reference when you are either leading a Bible study or participating in one.

I would recommend buying it. The only issue some may have with it, is that it is NIV.

__________________
Jeff Wyman
Seminarian
Little Farms Chapel OPC, Coopersville, MI
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI

"May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence." 1 Peter 1:2-3 (ESV)

What He said

__________________
~ Steven Bradford ~
Member Covenant Presbyterian, Chattanooga, TN

Looks great, I'm going to order one now...that NIV, kind of throws me, but I love the extra (Three Forms, etc.)

Seems like a great price as well, now if I can get their site to work...third attempt!

__________________
WWW.SURFWRITERS.BLOGSPOT.COM
Trevor
Christian/Husband/Father/Writer/Teacher--
--In that order.
Bethany Church, Sierra Madre, CA.
God is my King
"You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmitive, and don't mess with Mr. in-between." Tony Bennett.

The Spirit of the Reformation study bible is by far the best as far as notes/features are concerned. I use ESV and just keep the SRSB along side for reference.

__________________
Matthew Morales (Husband to Rachel)
Redeemer Presbyterian Church (Santa Rosa, CA)

"...But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." Isaiah 66:2b (ESV)

"Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for his grace;
Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face"-William Cowper

The NIV RSB is by far the better of the two. It's night and day in my opinion. However, that NIV is a stickler. The publishers probably knew that Reformed folk would prefer Sproul's ESV version, so they made sure to make a much much better Reformed Study Bible. That's my theory anyway!

__________________
Mark Maney
Kwanglim Korean Methodist Church - 1689'er Baptist Pastor (read profile for more info)
Master of Theological Studies emphasis Biblical Studies
Trinity Western University, ACTS Seminaries
Surrey, BC. (Vancouver), Canada

That's why I got both! Our PCA church uses the NIV.

__________________
~ Steven Bradford ~
Member Covenant Presbyterian, Chattanooga, TN

I have both. I like the ESV-RSB for the text, but use the NIV since it is what we use in church and for the reference materials (Connfessionals et al) included.

I am wondering what the new ESV Literary Study Bible brings to the table. Is it sufficiently different and/or does it bring additional information or insight to justify another purchase?

Conrad

__________________
Conrad W. Judy, Jr.
Ruling Elder, Eastern Shore Reformed Presbyterian Church, Centreville, MD
James Pepper: You know, there's an old saying, Miss Sally. There's no law west of Dodge and no God west of the Pecos. Right, Mr. Chisum?
John Simpson Chisum: Wrong, Mr. Pepper. Because no matter where people go, sooner or later there's the law. And sooner or later they find God's already been there. - Chisum (1970)

Thanks for linking to my review of the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible. I'm relieved that the consensus here seems to back what I wrote -- that, translation aside, the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible offers much more in its notes and in the confessional content than the rival Reformation Study Bible. I originally purchased the hardback, thinking I'd only use it for occasional reference, but I've found myself referring to it so often that I broke down and sprung for the leather version.

Since I didn't grow up in the Reformed tradition, having the Three Forms of Unity and the Westminster Standards in the back was a real benefit. If only I could convince Crossway to include them in some future edition of their upcoming Pocket Reference ESV.

The Literary Study Bible strikes me as a different animal. It's going to be a great tool for reading Scripture with a big-picture appreciation of theme and literary form. It would certainly complement something like the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible, but it wouldn't replace it.

__________________
J. Mark Bertrand
author, Rethinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World
Attending Sioux Falls United Reformed Church Fellowship
Rethinking Worldview Blog
Bible Design and Binding Blog

Can't wait!!!! I went for the Burgundy leather.....

Having the Confessions, etc. in the back is going to be fantastic!

__________________
WWW.SURFWRITERS.BLOGSPOT.COM
Trevor
Christian/Husband/Father/Writer/Teacher--
--In that order.
Bethany Church, Sierra Madre, CA.
God is my King
"You've got to accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative, latch on to the affirmitive, and don't mess with Mr. in-between." Tony Bennett.

WTS Bookstore Black Top Leather Only $47.99, Shipping $5.00.

Westminster Bookstore - Reformed Books - Low Prices - $5 Shipping - Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible, Black Top Grain Leather

__________________
Gil Garcia
Rehoboth Reformed Church (RCUS)
La Habra, CA


"Indeed, one might say that as far as the doctrine of justification
is concerned, if you are not on the road to Wittenberg or Geneva, then the old proverb is indeed true: all roads lead to Rome." Carl Trueman

I might have to break down for this. You can get it direct from Third Millenium Ministries for $45 and I believe shipping is free. I bought the hardcover from them a couple of years ago and agree with Mark that leather is the way to go if you're going to use it for anything other than occasional reference.

Also, the leather on this Bible isn't anything to write home about, but from what I recall it is better than the leather ESV Reformation Study Bibles I've looked at. The original NKJV New Geneva Study Bible published by Nelson had much better quality leather in addition to the other advantages I noted earlier.

__________________
Chris
OPC member
Now attending Grace Community Baptist Church
Mandeville, LA

"Faith alone saves, but it is a faith that works." - S. Lewis Johnson

Aw... man! This would be fantastic for me, as I am going to an NIV-preferred college next year, and I only have the ESV RSB!

I hate forking out so much money, but this looks great. I'm not a huge NIV fan, but it sounds like the notes/confessions would be a great asset for me.

Anybody willing to chip in? I have a Paypal account


I'm kidding, kidding.

__________________
Vaughan
BTh Student, Sydney Missionary Bible College
Ashfield Presbyterian Church
Sydney, Australia
The Ransomed

I have them both and agree with the previous comments. I wonder why Zondervan doesn't publish the "Spirit of the Reformation" Study Bible in ESV? I can't imagine Crossway would require a huge (relative) fee for it's use and they would sell a lot more of them than the NIV version. I use and RSB ESV mainly because our church uses the ESV but I see a lot of the SOTR bibles there.

__________________

First of all, it would compete with the ESV Reformation Study Bible that is already out, and Crossway is coming out with an ESV Study Bible soon as well. Second, Zondervan is the publisher for the NIV. Based on my observation of Bible publishing, I'd say pigs will fly before you will ever see an ESV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible especially one that would be published by Zondervan. I had said there was a possibility for a NASB edition, however slight, because Zondervan is a publisher for the NASB, a translation that doesn't have a proprietary publisher the way you have the NIV with Zondervan, NKJV with Nelson, Crossway with the ESV, Holman with the HCSB, etc. Of course the KJV is public domain in the USA and any study version could be coupled with it.

__________________
Chris
OPC member
Now attending Grace Community Baptist Church
Mandeville, LA

"Faith alone saves, but it is a faith that works." - S. Lewis Johnson

Maybe this should be a new thread, but personally I prefer not to bring a study bible to church because it can be distracting, looking at the notes during the sermon or getting distracted doing something else when my undivided attention should be on the sermon.

__________________
Chris
OPC member
Now attending Grace Community Baptist Church
Mandeville, LA

"Faith alone saves, but it is a faith that works." - S. Lewis Johnson

That might make sense except that the NIV SRSB came out about two years before the ESV RSB came out.

Here's some discussion on the Thirdmill discussion board about this. I was looking for another thread there about the SRSB that I remember but I couldn't find it.

__________________
Chris
OPC member
Now attending Grace Community Baptist Church
Mandeville, LA

"Faith alone saves, but it is a faith that works." - S. Lewis Johnson