Finding a good STUDY BIBLE...

My recommendations are based on my view of Scripture.

MacArthur Study Bible, for he's a solid expositor of Scripture and a proven man of God.

Ryrie Study Bible, for he's a solid theologian and a proven man of God.

NIV Study Bible, for it is one of the top sellers and it is quite resourceful.

 

I like the NRSV Oxford Study Bible, the NIV Study Bible, the Spiritual Formation Study Bible (ESV I think), and a study bible from a Christian tradition that you don't belong to (like the Jerusalem Study Bible or the forthcoming Orthodox Study Bible).

 

I can heartily second the MacArthur study bible. It is available in NKJV and NASB (possibly another, but I'm not sure). I am now on my second one (wore out the first one). The notes are an excellent resource.

 

I will add a third. And it is in other languages as well. I use a Spanish RVR 1960 for my study.

 

The New Scofield Sturdy Bible, NKJV, ~1985, or so, edition.

Why??

'Cause I already own one, and I'm too cheap to buy another one. :laugh: :laugh:

Seriously, it is still a good study Bible overall, and I could not find a 'Ryrie', which was actually my second choice, but that was only available (in-stock) in the NIV, which text I did not want, the day I bought mine, a few years ago. And the Criswell Study Bible, as well as the Pilgrim Bible, were both out of print, as well. And my actual first choice, the 1967 New Scofield Reference Bible, (KJV with a few word changes), was no longer available in the "wide margin" edition, either. (That was the version I was attempting to replace, after someone apparently 'borrowed' mine from my cab, without my knowledge or permission.)

So I took the best of the available editions, that day, for price, study notes, and text all combined, which I got for about 30 bucks. That beat the 50-90 dollars or so, for one of those that still was not really one of my favored choices, although I would have gladly forked over a bill and a half for the 1967 New Scofield version in the 'wide-margin' edition.

FTR, this is not to say that there are not others that are as good or better, than the one I have. I was merely not aware of all of them in 1998.

Ed

 

Just find a good Bible to study -- don't worry about finding a particular 'Study Bible' .

 

I have quite a few study Bibles (24 at last count). I agree with those placing the MacArthur at the top. The notes are good but the other information in the Bible is also good. Another poster mentioned the Criswell Study Bible. I have a later version called The Believers Study Bible (in NKJV). I don't think it is in print now but if you can find one you will not be disappointed.

The NIV Study Bible is good, so is the Nelson KJ Study Bible and the Ryrie Study Bible. Of the 5 Bibles I have already mentioned, all except the NIV is Dispensational theology. The NIV gives Dispensational views but is not strictly dispensational.

If you are looking for a devotional study Bible, I like the Knowing God Study Bible (NLTse) by Bill Bright. It is better than the Life Application SB in my opinion.

By the way, you can find used NIV study Bibles on ebay all the time for very little money. The same cannot be said for the others I have mentioned as I see used Ryrie's go for more than new all the time. PM me if you would like info on a great deal on the KJ Study Bible, and before anyone asks, I'm not personally selling any Bibles or profiting from the sale of any Bibles.

Tom

 

I like the Life Application study Bible; it has really good study notes. I have a NASB that I use primarily, and then I have a NLT that I keep next to my bed. So, whichever version you prefer, you can usually find the Life Application in that version. I got my NASB off amazon.com for a pretty decent price. :thumbs:

 

I must agree with Rippon as tis the best advice.

I find the HCSB with all of it's notes and renderings of other manuscripts to be an outstanding Bible for study by itself. I use a Ryrie Study Bible NASB but it is really now used for occasional checking. I also have a NIV Study Bible but I do not recommend any free translation as ones study Bible. A good literal or the optimal equivalence is the only thing I will use for serious study.

 

My study Bibles consist of the MacArthur study Bible, NIV study Bible, HCSB illustrated study Bible, and my new NLTse discovering God study Bible. My favorites are in that order (just started reading the NLTse study Bible...notes are OK, nothing spectacular)

 

The last 6 month I have mostly used a The Scofield Study Bible III in HCSB translation. But, I still think the Thompson Chain Reference Bible is very useful and may be the best study Bible.

I have used a NIV Study Bibel before, but have gotten unconfortable with all the notes that distracts from the Bibel text. The Thompsson has no notes and the Scofield have just a few notes that do not distract from the text.

One reason I use the Scofield is that I am very interested in dispensionalist theology for the moment (and maybe forever).

 

I really like the practical Life Application Bible whatever version you choose.

 

Where did you get the HCSB in the Scofield? I've never seen that...

 

It is printed by Oxford University Press. ISBN: 0195278968.
Could be found at www.christianbook.com.

I do recomend it.

 

I have the Ryrie in NASB version and love it. The one drawback I had on mine at first was that it wasn't indexed at the different books. I have gotten to where I can go to the books pretty quick now but at first it was aggrevating. It has great study helps and at the bottom of the pages it will give Ryries explanation of key verses on the given page. I also have a Nelson Open Bible in the KJV. I like it also, I just wish they had it in NASB. Maybe they do now, but when I bought mine all they had was KJV. Two links below tell a little about both.
http://www.peterlaitres.net/ryrie.htm
http://www.peterlaitres.net/newopen.htm

 

Nelson Study Bible aka NKJV Study Bible, first edition (I didn't care much for their second edition)
NASB Study Bible
NLT Life Application Study Bible
NKJV Thompson Chain Reference Bible
NIV Reflecting God Study Bible
NIV Concordia Self-Study Bible
NIV Study Bible
NIV The Spiritual Formation Bible
NIV Archaeological Study Bible
NASB Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible
Orthodox Study Bible NT and Psalms (the entire Bible will be available from Amazon.com on Feb. 12, 2008)

 

Nevermind.. I guess it showed up.

 

I must have at least a dozen study Bibles, and couldn't really say which is my favorite.

My most recent one is the Nelson NKJV Study Bible. It seems very comprehensive, but I just got it in November 2007 and haven't completely explored it yet.

Some of the ones I have are slanted toward a particular theology, for example, The New Geneva Study Bible (Refomed/Calvinist), The Wesley Study Bible and The Catholic Study Bible (NAB).

The first Study Bible I ever got was the "New Scofield" of 1967. When I left the Roman Catholic church a few months after getting saved, I started going to a "Plymouth Brethren" church. At the time, and in that part of the country where I lived, the Scofield Reference Bible was used almost exclusively, it seems, among the Plymouth Brethren (although some of the old-timers were still using the 1917 edition).

For my own study, i.e., really digging in without relying too much on the notes of others, I like to use an old Oxford Reference Bible (KJV), a Thompson Chain Reference (KJV), and an NKJV Reference Bible together.