Reflecting God Study Bible (NIV; Zondervan/CHP, 2000) - out of print2 - Wesley Bible (NKJV; Nelson, 1990) - out of print
3 - Oxford Annotated Bible (RSV/NRSV; Oxford, 1977) - I prefer the first two editions to the third
4 - ESV Study Bible (ESV; Crossway, 2008)
5 - Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible (NRSV; Harper, 2005)
6 - New Interpreter's Study Bible (NRSV; Abingdon/Cokesbury, 2003) - I'd place this higher if it weren't so bulky and unwieldy
7 - NIV Study Bible (NIV; Zondervan, 1985)
8 - NLT Study Bible (NLT; Tyndale, 2008)
9 - Spiritual Formation Bible (NRSV/NIV; Upper Room, 1999)
10 - Life Application Study Bible (NIV/NKJV/NLT/NASB/KJV; Tyndale, 1987)
1. Open Bible (NASV).
ReplyDelete2. Harper Study Bible (RSV).
3. Thompson Chain Reference
Bible - NIV.
4. NIV Study Bible.
5. Life Application Study
Bible - NIV.
6. Rainbow Study Bible - NIV.
7. Zondervan NIV Study Bible.
8. Ryrie Study Bible - NIV.
9. NIV Student Bible.
10. NASB Study Bible.
The Flavor Bible by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg
ReplyDeleteThe Barbeque Bible by Steven Raichlen
The Wine Bible by Karen MacNeil
The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum
The Vegetable Gardener's Bible by Edward C. Smith
The Triathelete's Training Bible by Joe Friel
The Cannabis Grow Bible by Greg Green
The Juicing Bible by Pat Crocker
The Cat Bible by Tracie Hotchner
The Color-Scheme Bible by Anna Starmer
I have spent my adult life trying to come to terms with and enjoy the bible. I don’t come from a religious background but my wife and children are Methodist.
ReplyDeleteI found your ratings on the translations useful. I did enjoy the New Testament (1952 RSV) my wife passed me after I got married.
My first attempt at biblical literacy was the Harper Collins Study Bible but I didn’t get any theology from it.
I had to read the Reformation Study bible (ESV) to get some idea of what theology is.
Reflecting God Bible, which I also got after seeing your post above, seems to approach the level of theological discussion in the Reformation Bible ESV.
For people who haven’t gone to church much and to whom the bible narrative is unfamiliar, the Harper Study Bible’s headings and subheadings within the text are critical to understanding the bible. I am looking forward to the NRSV premium bible (Abingdon, 8/2010) which seems to feature this. Also critical for this class of audience is a glossary, which features prominently in the Cambridge Annotated and Holman Christian Standard Bibles.
Renovare Spiritual Formation Bible features a select glossary/concordance, which is critical to my audience class. The disciplines focused here are more than the twelve in Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, which smaller set I work with.
The Wesley Study Bible also lists an unmanageable number of core terms and application topics. So, I had to glean a smaller set of core Wesleyan concepts from Whaling (ed), John and Charles Wesley: Selected Writings and Hymns ; i.e. original sin, prevenient grace, repentance, justification by faith, assurance, assurance, sanctification, perfect love, and glorification. But the concise decisions in the Wesley Study Bible are welcome, and the annotations are good.
While the recent ESV and HCSB translations are exciting and useful, they are not available in editions which are safely in the ecumenical/liberal Wesleyan heritage group with which we identify.
I use the Harper Study Bible NRSV as a basic bible and use it with the Renovare, which I share with my wife as the family standard.
I’m going to get the Oxford Annotated (RSV) and hope to enjoy it, but I am not sure at which point I would grow out of the headings in the Harper Study Bible.