What study bible do you recommend?

[reaganmarsh]

I love the ESV-SB, SOTR (this is my favorite SB; I make notes from study/reading in this one; if it's ever lost, I will be inconsolable!), Reformation SB, the Literary SB, & Scott's Bible. I consult the Apologetics SB, and have increasingly enjoyed the HCSB-SB. Its notes regarding the sovereignty of God in Romans & Ephesians have been a very pleasant surprise, and given the HCSB's growing popularity in SBC circles, that bodes well for the future.

I own a Scofield SB, a Ryrie SB, an NIV Life Application SB, & a NKJV Charles Stanley Life Principles SB. These were all gifts. I consult them from time to time, but not regularly. The Scofield was actually my first SB; my dad gave it to me. Though I'm covenantal in my theology now & strongly disagree with its notes, I still fondly recall hours spent in it learning the Scripture as a teenager. It's funny, the notes only rarely seemed to "jive" with the text, even as a young Christian...I typically ignored them and feasted on the Word.

All that said, I'm happiest when I have either my plain old ESV or NASB reference Bible and a good commentary such as Calvin, Poole, Henry, or Gill.

OK, I'm out of abbreviations now.

 

[GulfCoast Presbyterian]

My wife very much likes the HCSB Study Bible.

 

[Stephen L Smith]

Reformation Study Bible (ESV) with the cautions about study bibles mentioned above

 

[JimmyH]

I just ordered the ESV Reformation Study Bible yesterday, and I'm looking forward to that, based on the forum's high recommendation of it. I've got the MacArthur study in NKJV, the Thompson Chain in both AV and NKJV, as well as an old 'New' Schofield I've had for 25 years. The lion's share of my reading is in text only or text/reference Bibles. I do like the option of checking out what MacArthur has to say on one or another problem passages and the Thompson has great resources in it AFAIC. I read the AV, NASB, NKJV and the ESV, for comparison sake since, I don't read the original languages. I also find Bible Gateway very helpful in looking at parallel passages.

 

[BrentN]

Any word on when/if the Reformation Study Bible will be available in Kindle format (or any other ebook format)?

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

Any word on when/if the Reformation Study Bible will be available in Kindle format (or any other ebook format)?

Olive Tree Software offers the RSB study notes in an app for the Android and other mobile platforms for about $25. I have it installed on my Kindle Fire and use the notes with any bible versions I have installed. The KJV comes free with the Olive Tree bible reader app.

AMR

 

[Marrow Man]

"My faith is built on nothing less
Than Thompson Chain and Moody Press."

J/K. I had a Thompson Chain when I was a new Christian, and there is a lot of information in the back. It does have a good concordance, the best I've seen that's included in the Bible itself.

My vote would be for either the ESV Study Bible (got one "free" at T4G 2010!) or the New Geneva Study Bible (the one published by Ligonier, although I think it's now called the Reformation Study Bible). The reprint of the Geneva Study Bible, which someone mentioned above, is also pretty good. It's good to see what those Reformers put in the footnotes, as a commentary. But there is much wisdom in what has been voiced above -- we need to be vary careful about treating those footnotes as being inspired. I hardly ever use a study Bible, except as a reference on occasion. Use with caution.

 

[Scott1]

For common use, The Thompson Chain Reference.

 

[Ask Mr. Religion]

Site that includes samples from a few of the main study bibles:

http://www.baptiststart.com/study_bible_comparison.html

Note the table at bottom of the page.

AMR

 

[Jesus is my friend]

I have a Ryrie KJV,i know,i know,the study notes are not in line with my theology,I had used this when I was arminian and am stuck with this as it's got a great concordance and I can get where I need to,the number one reason I am still using this as I cant afford an Allan and Sons Longprimer and there are no good KJV study bibles out there although I hear Beeke is working on one perhaps it will be good.

I would love to transition to my original Geneva someday and maybe I will,we read it tonight and spent some considerable time in the past with it and love it.

 

[GulfCoast Presbyterian]

Althought there is not much in the KJV as far a "big name study bibles," you should be able to get a Thompson Chain Reference in that version.

 

[Pilgrim]

Site that includes samples from a few of the main study bibles:

http://www.baptiststart.com/study_bible_comparison.html

Note the table at bottom of the page.

AMR

While this page is helpful, to categorize MacArthur as being post-tribulational is a rather glaring error.

---------- Post added at 05:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:00 PM ----------

Althought there is not much in the KJV as far a "big name study bibles," you should be able to get a Thompson Chain Reference in that version.

Well, there is always the Dake. Or maybe Jimmy Swaggart's Study Bible....

If somebody must have a KJV Study Bible, (meaning, one with study notes) until the TBS (Westminster edn.--which isn't going to really be a Study Bible) and Reformation Heritage editions come out, the best choice may be Nelson's King James Study Bible. It has a lot of helpful material, but the main reason I got it is because it defines archaic words in the margin. Not having read regularly from the KJV until recently, I thought that would be preferable to constantly consulting a dictionary or flipping to the back as with the TBS editions. Although the quality of the construction of their Bibles is very low, I think one of Nelson's reference editions has this feature too. Often the word supplied in the margin is what you'd find in the NKJV. I don't think the marginal notes get into textual issues (as the notes occasionally do) but I could be mistaken. It might happen occasionally. The text is something like 11 pt. so it's easy on the eyes.

The KJV text is very slightly modernized, with names like Isaiah and Hosea being standardized in the OT and NT. (I read somewhere that this is the text from the KJV Open Bible, which would seem reasonable as other material from the Open Bible is included.) But occasionally changes of a pedantic or annoying nature are introduced, like "always" for "alway" or "a harlot" for "an harlot." If somebody is reading the KJV and can understand the rest of it, wouldn't the meaning of those be obvious? Regardless, these only represent a change in spelling and are nothing like the many changes introduced in the 1967 New Scofield.

While it's probably not still near the top of the list for Study Bibles, especially now that the ESV and HCSB Study Bibles have been released, this KJV Study Bible is better than I would have expected. I was somewhat surprised to see that Reformation Heritage books sells this Bible, as it was originally a publication of Liberty Baptist Seminary! (I have heard elsewhere that back then (mid 80's) Liberty was less Calviphobic than was the case later under Caner etc. If you preach or teach some of the stuff in the notes of this SB (esp. some notes in Job that I've come across) it could get you in trouble in rabidly anti-Calvinist circles.)

But given their stance on the KJV and apparently agreeing with me that, despite its flaws, it may be the best KJV Study Bible currently available, (M. Henry serving a different purpose) RHB carries it but does not carry Zondervan's KJV Study Bible. It is Dispensational but because it has fewer notes that probably comes through less often than in MacArthur's. The Scofieldian teaching on the Sermon on the Mount and other extreme law/grace emphases are decisively rejected and overall it has what at the time would have been called a "Lordship Salvation" emphasis. From what I recall, compared to some other Study Bibles, including the MacArthur NKJV, the study notes also rarely make note of "the better manuscripts" so that may be another reason for them selling it. Even where they are noted in the major passages like Mark 16, my recollection is that a strong position in favor of the critical text is usually not taken.