Bible Question:
Very trivial question....I am considering Bible purchase. I love NASB, does anyone have any opinion of the Inductive Study Bible? It is a study Bible put together by Precept Ministries. I would appreciate in-put from those who have examined this study Bible, have used it, or currently use it. I am looking for comments on durability of the body as well. I travel quite often and I am 'hard' on a Bible. We all know how expensive buying a new Bible can be so in a nut shell, do you like the NISB layout and is the structure sturdy? Thanks, Cuddle |
Bible Answer: Cuddle, some years ago I shelled out the shekels for an Inductive Study Bible and frankly didn't like it very much, although I do have a certain respect for the idea of studying the Bible using the inductive approach championed by Kay Arthur. It was all those colored pencils and involved color codings of Scripture passages that drove me up the wall. I'm not the neatest craftsman on the block and it didn't take me long with all those brightly colored pencils to make an inglorious mess of what began as a well-printed and sensibly designed Bible. This idea of color coding reminds me too much of the Rainbow Bible, from which I stay away as far possible. I love the colors of the rainbow but feel they were meant for rainbows and not Bibles :-) ..... For what it's worth, I hit upon an alternative to the Inductive Study Bible that has served my purposes. I bought a copy of Kay Arthur's little book called, "How to Study Your Bible." She lays down her ideas of inductive study fairly well in this book, and the principles of inductive study can, of course, be applied to any edition of any translation. I don't clutter up any Bible that I own by writing in it -- no marginal notes and no highlighting or underlining. I do jot down notes with some frequency, but I do my jotting in a separate place, in a notebook/journal sort of thing. ..... Your concerns on the durability of Bibles being printed today are well taken. Unfortunately some publishers charge premium prices and deliver poor quality merchandise. I have a copy of the NASB single-column reference edition in large (11 point) print, bound in soft and supple calfskin leather, with Smythe-sewn spines instead of being slapped together with a glob of glue, that has proved durable, but it's a bit pricey. It's printed and bound by Foundation Publications, an arm of the Lockman Foundation. ..... I don't find your question trivial in the least, Cuddle. Believe me, I've seen scores of questions on SBF that were "farer trivialer than ewers"! --Hank |