Bible Question:
I'm looking for a study bible... Can anyone help me find a study bible that has non-calvinistic, non-dispensational notes? I have just about all of the most popular study bibles (NIV, Ryrie, Oxford, etc.) but I am looking for something to compare with these others. If anyone can be of help I would appreciate it! Ischus |
Bible Answer: Ischus: My fellow sufferers here on the Forum have given you some fine suggestions on a study Bible. What can be said of a perfect Bible translation can be said with even more emphasis of a perfect study Bible: There ain't no such animal :-) I once thought of writing the perfect study Bible myself, but for reasons of my own abandoned the idea, so the world will have to limp along without it :-) ...... I, and I believe many other serious Christians as well, have gone through a great deal of frustration and outright agony in a long search to find a satisfactory study Bible. The quest has been reminiscent of, but not as successful as, Goldilock's sampling of the three bears' porridge until she found the one that was "just right." I've found no study Bible that satisfies all my exegetical curiosities nor one with which I agree in toto. Oftentimes I will consult several study Bibles and as many translations when I'm mulling over a particularly difficult passage of Scripture. For what it's worth, I routinely use the following study Bibles, not all of which meet your criteria: MacArthur, Ryrie, Scofield, Believer's (now called Baptist Study Bible), the NASB Study Bible (same as NIV SB), Nelson SB, and the King James Study Bible, published by Nelson. Among these, I find the Believer's (Baptist) and King James study Bibles more in harmony with my theology, which is reflected in The Baptist Faith and Message. This is not surprising, I suppose, since both of these study Bibles were put together by Baptists. In addition to study Bibles and other commentaries, I am a slave to Bible dictionaries and concordances and find it very helpful to consult them regularly and frequently. But ultimately what matters is not the study Bibles or other extra-biblical resources one uses, but the Christian's direct confrontation with the word of the living God. There is absolutely no substitute for hiding the word in one's heart, as the psalmist observed. I read of a certain expositor of Scripture who would not write a word about any book of the Bible until he had read that book through at least 50 times. There is much indeed to be said in favor of what is known as the Inductive Study Method, championed by Kay Arthur of Precept Ministries. The basic idea behind this approach is that Scripture is its own best interpreter. By comparing Scripture with Scripture and reading it in is own natural context, one can arrive at an accurate understanding of the meaning and make the proper interpretation of Scripture. Finally, the most important point about Bible study, a point on which all good Bible teachers and scholars are in accord, begin and end every Bible study session with prayer. Approach God's word with humility. Please read Psalm 119:18 and 119:105. --Hank |