Reformation Study Bible

[presbyman]

Zac I feel the ESV Study Bible is excellent and astonishingly affordable. The articles, notes and book introductions are extensive and scholarly. The overall perspective of the Bible notes, etc is conservative Calvinist, which I personally appreciate.

 

[ztalbott]

Zac I feel the ESV Study Bible is excellent and astonishingly affordable. The articles, notes and book introductions are extensive and scholarly. The overall perspective of the Bible notes, etc is conservative Calvinist, which I personally appreciate.

I actually ordered a hardcover version of the ESV Study Bible recently (it hasn't arrived yet)... I heard from some that there are some dispensationalist views interspersed throughout instead of the solidly covenantal theology in the RSB... But on the doctrines of grace and supremacy of God, etc. it's solid. Have you noticed that at all? Good to hear it's got a Calvinist perspective. I look forward to receiving my copy.

zt

 

[presbyman]

Zac I cannot say I have noticed dispensational aspects, but I cannot guarantee they are not present.

If you like the Reformation Study Bible you will love the ESV. At least, that's true for me. It is much more comprehensive.

 

[ztalbott]

Thanks for the tip! Look forward to getting mine!!

 

[BryanW92]

Ordered mine today.

 

[ztalbott]

Ordered mine today.

The Reformation Study Bible? (We've talked about several now, so just checking....) I can't wait to get my new edition.... They should start shipping soon.

 

[BryanW92]

The Reformation Study Bible? (We've talked about several now, so just checking....) I can't wait to get my new edition.... They should start shipping soon.

Yeah. The new version of the Reformation Study Bible.

 

[ztalbott]

I was confusing the ESV Study Bible with the MacArthur Study Bible (ESV). The MacArthur is the one that is Reformed other than dispensationalism here and there. From what I can now tell the ESV Study Bible is pretty solidly Reformed, and the likes of Tullian Tchividjian recommend it....so that should speak volumes as well. I look forward to receiving my new edition of the Reformation Study Bible as well.

 

[presbyman]

Yeah, Zac, I personally would not have recommended the MacArthur Study Bible. I am leery of any Study Bible authored by one person. And I am not the biggest fan of MacArthur anyway.

 

[ztalbott]

Yeah, Zac, I personally would not have recommended the MacArthur Study Bible. I am leery of any Study Bible authored by one person. And I am not the biggest fan of MacArthur anyway.

Good points... The enormous collaboration by so many great scholars and theologians with both the Reformation Study Bible and the ESV Study Bible are a big part of what makes them sooo great.

 

[ztalbott]

Got my ESV Study Bible today... already spent more than an hour enamored looking through it. It's HUGE. Will post more once I've had time to spend quality time with it.

 

[AMR]

Got my ESV Study Bible today... already spent more than an hour enamored looking through it. It's HUGE. Will post more once I've had time to spend quality time with it.

You should also have received an included card with a code to give you access to the online version that includes all the content of the book version at: Welcome to the ESV Bible Online - ESVBible.org

 

[ztalbott]

You should also have received an included card with a code to give you access to the online version that includes all the content of the book version at: Welcome to the ESV Bible Online - ESVBible.org

Yes, I did... I haven't checked it out yet, though. But so far I absolutely am LOVING it. It's got a LOT more content than the Reformation Study Bible, but there are pros and cons to that --- It's almost way too big to carry to church, but it's definitely something folks serious about Bible study at home should consider. I look forward to getting the new edition of the Reformation Study Bible this month as well! I'm glad it's going to include the Westminster standards and the Three Forms of Unity... that's one thing that makes the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible so great.

 

[Devorim]

A new, updated edition of the Reformation Study Bible is going to be coming out in the next month or so, and you can preorder now with no shipping costs... As someone newer to the Reformed/Presbyterian tradition this study Bible has been an invaluable resource for inspiration and learning.... I'm excited to see all the new and additional materials (including many of the reformed Confessions) in this new edition!

Check it out: The Reformation Study Bible edited by R.C. Sproul

Zac from Tennessee

Not Presbyterian, but THANK YOU so much! I ordered mine!!

As one who has dyslexia, the full-page columns may be a problem to me, but I want this Bible so badly, I will just have to do something to deal with that -- like use a piece of thin cardboard to move down under each line as it is read. I noticed that the pages look very thin, and you mentioned that it is very large. I may not be able to carry mine to services, then, but it will, at least, remain on my bed for study! I ordered the leather-bound ESV. I really enjoy Sproul, and honestly, I struggle trusting any one person editing a Bible -- but him? I trust him!

I just recently bought a new Bible I thought would be my last in a lifetime. Can't WAIT for this one!!

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you, ztalbott!!!

 

[BryanW92]

Got mine last night. Now I have to do some serious reading so it doesn't look so new and shiny!

 

[Epistemes]

Looks like I'll be getting mine this coming Wednesday. This will be my first so-called "conservative" or reformed, inerrantist study Bible. Most of mine are of the more moderate variety (1st edition NRSV NOAB, REV Oxford Study Bible, New Interpreter's, et cetera). I'm looking forward to studying this alongside John Leith's "Introduction to the Reformed Tradition."

 

[ztalbott]

I'm out of town through Thursday, but I hope mine is waiting on me when I get home. I got the email from R.C. Sproul today saying "They're here..." Glad to hear folks are starting to receive them already. Can't wait!

And @Epistemes... I use the NRSV New Interpreters and the Oxford Annotated alongside the Reformation Study Bible and the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible (also have the ESV Study Bible). I gain unique perspectives and insight from each one. I hope the new Reformation Study Bible is like the NIV SOTRSB in that is references the confessions/creeds in the notes throughout... that's one thing that really sets it apart. It's easy to make scriptural and confessional connections. But the New Interpreters and the Oxford certainly have their place for any serious, academic Bible scholar as well.

 

[GratiaCorpusChristi]

The latest is the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith... The latest Presbyterians subscribe to are the Westminster standards.

The PCUSA includes Barman and now Belhar in their confessional standards now, don't they?

 

[presbyman]

Gratia, Belhar is not yet incorporated because the requisite number of Presbyteries have not yet voted for it. To add something to the Book of Confessions requires the affirmative vote of 2/3 of all Presbyteries.

While one can learn from any of the confessions in the BoC, I agree with people who believe that our confessional standards have been weakened by so many different documents (particularly the Confession of 1967 and the Brief Statement of Faith.). It would have been better to just use Westminster and explain any scruples one has.

But I'm not in charge of such things ... just a humble country pastor here.

 

[GratiaCorpusChristi]

Gratia, Belhar is not yet incorporated because the requisite number of Presbyteries have not yet voted for it. To add something to the Book of Confessions requires the affirmative vote of 2/3 of all Presbyteries.

While one can learn from any of the confessions in the BoC, I agree with people who believe that our confessional standards have been weakened by so many different documents (particularly the Confession of 1967 and the Brief Statement of Faith.). It would have been better to just use Westminster and explain any scruples one has.

But I'm not in charge of such things ... just a humble country pastor here.

Thanks. I tend to agree with you. I think Lutherans would generally be shocked if anything got added to the Book of Concord. It is, after all, specifically the Book of Concord of 1580.

At the same time, the confessional history of the Reformed tradition is so diverse. You have documents that were vitally important from a historical point of view, like the Tetrapolitan Confession and the Wittenberg Concord, that are part of neither the Continental Three Forms of Unity nor the Anglo-American Westminster Standards.

Anyways, I don't want to derail the thread. I came in here in the first place because I, too, enjoy the Reformation Study Bible and it's covenantal perspective, and until the Lutheran Study Bible by CPH came out a few years later I thought it was one of the best conservative study Bibles around (not that I don't like the liberal ones like Oxford and HarperCollins as well).