What's the Best Study Bible for Pentecostals?

WirSindBettler said:

Even though I'm a Lutheran, my father was raised AG, and his parents were devout Pentecostals. Interested in the tradition (though with no intention to join), I was wondering if anyone here could recommend a good Pentecostal study Bible (preferably KJV).

I've heard both good and bad about the Dake Annotated Reference Bible, and I've also heard that the "Life in the Spirit" study Bible is a bit too moderate in terms of a strong charismatic study Bible.

Any recommendations?

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The only Bibles that I know of that could be classified as "Pentecostal" are the Dake Bible, Fire Bible (Life in the Spirit) Jimmy Swaggart Devotional Bible and Jack Hayford New Spirit Filled Life Bible.

I own and use all four in digital format. I especially like the Fire Bible also known as the Life in the Spirit Bible.

If you find any others let me know.

Thanks

The Jack Hayford study Bible is excellent.

I'd not necessarily consider myself Pentecostal, but to learn more about Pentecostalism, I purchased the Fire Bible. It seems to be of the more moderate strand of Pentecostalism and I've found myself seeking out the notes on things quite often.

It was NIV ('84), but I think they still have the KJV along with a new ESV edition that is either coming out or already out.

I have the Fire Bible (NIV) and the notes are good. I also have Dake's Bible and I think it is the best study Bible out there.

Fire Bible for commentary
Dake's Bible for lists of Scriptures and endless notes. The volume of notes in the Dake Bible is larger then the Bible itself.

If you are the type of reader that needs to agree with all the writer says, then the Dake Bible is not for you.

I have the Life in the Spirit Bible KJV and the New Spirit Filled Life Bible NKJV... I prefer the NKJV but more so because of the translation. I would like a Fire Bible, and plan on getting perhaps when it comes out in the MEV version this September. There is also one called the Spiritual Warfare Bible that I would guess off the little I have browsed it is also a Pentecostal/Charismatic Bible.

There is also a Bible out there titled the Holy Spirt Bible or something to that effect. It is hard to find though and VERY EXPENSIVE... probably not worth the cost..

I found one on ebay. Link below. Called the Holy Spirit encounter Bible and it is in the NLT. This one is $60 and it is paperback. There is onr on biblio.com that is $200... yikes
http://www.ebay.com/itm/361242194559?nav=SEARCH

If you are the type of reader that needs to agree with all the writer says, then the Dake Bible is not for you.
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That's good advice.

Sprit filled life bible!

spiritfilledjm said:

Sprit filled life bible!

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I'm thinking hard about getting it in the NLT... I have it in the NKJV... Just don't like the NKJV or any Textus Receptus translation any more...

ByTheSpirit said:

I'm thinking hard about getting it in the NLT... I have it in the NKJV... Just don't like the NKJV or any Textus Receptus translation any more...

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NKJV is one of my favorites! However, my last 2 churches both used NLT. I like it too, haven't bothered to research how accurate it is though.

spiritfilledjm said:

NKJV is one of my favorites! However, my last 2 churches both used NLT. I like it too, haven't bothered to research how accurate it is though.

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Well if you are going for "accuracy" as in literal translation, then the NLT is not for you.

But literal word-for-word translations are not always accurate either.

I feel confident enough that the NLT is accurate in conveying the message of the text. So accuracy is no concern to me. I don't believe it should be to anyone. But we each have our own preferences for sure...

NLT is a great translation; I've been on an NLT kick lately though I bounce back and forth between the HCSB, ESV, NIV, and KJV translations.

If you're used to more traditional Bibles like the NKJV, then the NLT may irritate you slightly at times - like when Elijah's armor bearer becomes Elijah's "personal assistant" but the stated goal behind the NLT is a contemporary translation. It also uses the third person plural form (IE: their) for singular which gives it some of the same issues that some have for the NIV '11 but those seem to get overlooked.

Each unto their own, but since translation is both art and science, I have grown to appreciate the NLT for those moments where it elicits an "Oh!" because the language is much more contemporary and clearer.

That said, another user here mentioned the MEV. I had my hands on a pre-release partial copy of John and was impressed. I am currently reading a book that mostly cites the MEV and I'm find it nice middle ground between the TR/MT camp and then language like the NLT/NIV/HCSB spectrum.

That said, not being a huge fan of the ESV, if you were going to get the Fire Bible, I'd seek out one of the NIV '84 translations, deal with the KJV or wait for that MEV that must be coming out. I also remember the representative I asked about the Fire Bible saying that it was coming to either the NLT or NKJV at some point. I'll have to see if I can dig out that email!

Striver said:

NLT is a great translation; I've been on an NLT kick lately though I bounce back and forth between the HCSB, ESV, NIV, and KJV translations.

If you're used to more traditional Bibles like the NKJV, then the NLT may irritate you slightly at times - like when Elijah's armor bearer becomes Elijah's "personal assistant" but the stated goal behind the NLT is a contemporary translation. It also uses the third person plural form (IE: their) for singular which gives it some of the same issues that some have for the NIV '11 but those seem to get overlooked.

Each unto their own, but since translation is both art and science, I have grown to appreciate the NLT for those moments where it elicits an "Oh!" because the language is much more contemporary and clearer.

That said, another user here mentioned the MEV. I had my hands on a pre-release partial copy of John and was impressed. I am currently reading a book that mostly cites the MEV and I'm find it nice middle ground between the TR/MT camp and then language like the NLT/NIV/HCSB spectrum.

That said, not being a huge fan of the ESV, if you were going to get the Fire Bible, I'd seek out one of the NIV '84 translations, deal with the KJV or wait for that MEV that must be coming out. I also remember the representative I asked about the Fire Bible saying that it was coming to either the NLT or NKJV at some point. I'll have to see if I can dig out that email!

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Excellent advice!

the one thing I do not like about the New Living Translation is sometimes it over translates words, words that really do not need translating but they go ahead and do it anyway now in their preface they say they do that to bring out the fuller meaning of every word I just don't like it because it's more difficult to line up text with text in that environment

Last night at church I was using all the different translations I've never used (such as MEV and HCSB) and I liked them too, very easy to read and great to read for the average casual reader, the one that wants to get the substance of it. As of right now wouldn't quite suggest them for nerds like myself and BTS who like to eat not only the meat but the bone as well P) but still, very nice translations regardless.

the one thing I do not like about the New Living Translation is sometimes it over translates words, words that really do not need translating but they go ahead and do it anyway now in their preface they say they do that to bring out the fuller meaning of every word I just don't like it because it's more difficult to line up text with text in that environment

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Well, much of this comes from the philosophy of the translators. The NLT really intends to be one of the simplest language translations, so it takes words like justification and turns it into "made right" which doesn't quite capture the distinction of the meaning. It's definitely a downside, but one that is acceptable given the availability of other translations, I think.

Last night at church I was using all the different translations I've never used (such as MEV and HCSB) and I liked them too, very easy to read and great to read for the average casual reader, the one that wants to get the substance of it. As of right now wouldn't quite suggest them for nerds like myself and BTS who like to eat not only the meat but the bone as well () but still, very nice translations regardless.

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Agreed, I think out of the three that are being talked about here: NLT, MEV, and HCSB, the HCSB would be the closest to a good study version to possibly be useful in a more academic or word study. It actually has the smallest word count when compared to the major versions out there, and you'll notice that it takes much more lengthy, complex thoughts and weaves them into substantially shorter sentences. I like the HCSB because it retains the traditional language terms like justification and propitiation. However, it also has its oddballs like "temple police" who apprehend Jesus and then my old favorite was "Lord of the atmospheric domain" which went away in the last minor revision. They have their merits .

That said, I will do a better job of respecting the OP and get back to Pentecostal Study Bibles!

Striver said:

That said, I will do a better job of respecting the OP and get back to Pentecostal Study Bibles!

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Agreed lol. Like I said originally, Spirit Filled Life Bible was always my favorite, not because of the translation but because of the extra notes and what not

I own over 20 study Bibles including Dakes, Open Bible, Jake Hayford and the A/G Bible produce for by them. Along with many that were not pentecostal. As far as the accuracy of the Bibles mentioned here, only one has been the most precise. That is the Jimmy Swaggart Expositor's Study Bible, it is the most sold Bible in the world at this time. It bring to light many truths that are not even discussed in all these others. If you want the Truth this is where you will find it in the most understandable terms.

http://www.amazon.com/NKJV-Spirit-F...rds=new+spirit+filled+life+bible+nkjv+leather

I got one of these but mine is soft cover black. I also have New Spirit Filled life, in NLT.

Both are very good study bibles. The cross references are great, and then the notes at the bottom of the page will explain a lot of verses very well if you're a new Christian. It helped me a lot of times when I was a new Christian and did not understand.

Since 1996 I’ve been using the original 1995 NIV Study Bible which I have greatly valued; but now that the NIV has been revised, where the number of revisions almost makes it into being a new Bible version, I decided that I needed to (begrudgingly) upgrade to the newer version as it was becoming problematic when I was saying that I am quoting the NIV when many people were often reading something different from within their revised NIV.

Anyway, I decided that I wanted to go away from a traditional style study Bible with their often inadequate notes (though the footnotes are generally very useful), to something a bit different. Last week I purchased the AMG Key Word Study Bible which pretty well meets my needs as it has a comprehensive dictionary in the back which is keyed to the NIV’s Goodrick/Kohlenberger numbering system but it is surprisingly still based on the original NIV (but I have a work-around for this). This legacy translation is something that I can live with as their study Bible contains an OT and NT section on Lexical Aids which are keyed to the more important Biblical words, where many words may contain up to 50 lines (dual column) of lexical information, which is something that I find very helpful when I am away from home.

The AMG Study Bible is available in the NIV/1 (but not the 2011 revision), NASB/77 (but not the 1995 update), ESV, NKJV and the KJV where the NIV has GK numbers but the others still have the older Strong’s numbering system.

The footnotes seem to be adequate so far but the verse notes which too often move into commentary, which is Calvinistic, tends to distract from its usefulness, but I suppose we have to make good with what we can get.

I can get around the problem with using the original NIV as I also purchased Zondervan’s NIV2 Single Column Soft Cover Reference Bible which contains footnotes, a single column of cross references but no study notes, which makes it easier to read as there are no distractions and it’s easier to carry to Church as well.