Last week, I received my copy of the brand new ESV Study Bible. Yes, the rumors are true; this thing is an absolute monster! It would hold its own in a duel with one of those super-sized family Bibles that used to sit on my family’s coffee table when I was growing up.
In all seriousness, I was hoping to use this as my one and only Bible, but its size will likely prohibit that. Having used for a little over a week now, I can say this really is a gift to believers. First, and most important, it’s the ESV translation. The ESV has been my preferred translation for several years because of its accuracy and readability; those two traits are difficult to accomplish in a Bible translation. Secondly, the study notes are wonderfully rich and helpful. The list of scholars who contributed to the notes is impressive.
A Theology Class in Your Hand
Here’s the kicker for me, though. In the back of the study Bible, there’s virtually a theology class in the form of an Articles and Resources section. Here are the titles of the articles in this section:
- God’s Plan of Salvation
- Biblical Doctrine: An Overview (this is basically a study in systematic theology)
- Biblical Ethics: An Overview
- Interpreting the Bible
- Reading the Bible
- The Canon of Scripture
- The Reliability of Bible Manuscripts
- Archaeology and the Bible
- The Original Languages of the Bible
- The Septuagent
- How the New Testament Quotes and Interprets the Old Testament
- The Bible in Christianity
- The Bible and World Religions
- History of Salvation in the Old Testament: Preparing the Way for Christ
- Concordance (not full, but nicely appointed)
- Daily Bible Reading Plan
- Weights and Measures
- Maps
That’s a lot of information; quite literally, that is the type of information folks go to seminary to learn. Of course, it’s not as in depth as seminary classes. But here you have an adequate coverage of these excellent topics in one volume. I’m grateful to Crossway for supplying us with such a wealth of information to help us “to understand the Bible in a deeper way.”
Don’t Miss the Point, Though
The point of a Bible is not the study notes that accompany the text. In fact, there are plenty of times when it’s appropriate to have a copy of just the biblical text. But the ESV Study Bible will provide you an opportunity to read a faithful translation and to learn from trusted biblical scholars without having to sit at a computer or use multiple commentaries.
Tomorrow I will point you to some folks who are planning to read through the Bible in the next year; and they’re not waiting for January 1st to roll around.
Impacting the Kingdom Through Worship,
Yeah, I've been really happy with my ESV Study Bible. But like you say, it's a monster — you can definitely get a bicep workout in, by carrying it around.
I mentioned to my pastor the other day that, despite my original intention to use the ESVSB as my primary Bible, it's too big to carry around everywhere. But he said today, "Well, looks like you're carrying that thing around anyway."
I guess I am. For now.
The end times is getting closer. One economy,one monetary system, one religion, where everybody is holding hands. This bible is the first MAJOR step to a one world order bible. There will be more translations, but this is the first major step to this one world order bible. Notice how other religions visions is included.
Ben, you're free to post your opinion here at IsaiahSix.org any time. However, if you're going to make accusations such as the ones you outline here, you're going to need to back them up. You'll notice if you look under the hood of the ESV Study Bible that the contributors are major conservative evangelical scholars, not fly-by-night liberal academics. To say this version of the Bible is a major step toward a "one world order Bible" is beyond acceptable without some sort of support for your argument. Saying other religions' visions are included in the ESVSB doesn't cut it; I haven't seen any such thing. I doubt I'll agree with you in the end, but give it a shot. Better yet, do so on your own blog and feel free to post a link here.