Let's talk about Bibles! (not translations)

So I am somewhat of a Bible collector and fanatic, I love all the different cover materials and leathers, all the different formats such as font sizes, wide margin, study materials, etc and I have amassed a wealth of knowledge relating to Bibles from all different publishers and styles. So let's talk about Bibles!

I have had many study bibles over the years and I wanted to discuss some of them, what is your favorite? what do you like to use and why?

Disclaimer, I am KJO and so all of my comments are from a King James Only viewpoint, I did not create this thread to discuss the KJV vs other versions so please refrain from engaging in that type of discussion. But feel free to discuss what particular bible you like to use, I love discussing the different features a bible has, even if I don't agree with the particular translation. This thread is more for discussing the other features that make up a good bible.

Right now I am using a thumb indexed Holman wide margin minister's Bible that I had rebound in a saddle tan goatskin (I had all of the "minister helps" removed) , it has 11 point font and it is really an awesome size because the paper is really thin, however it does have a decent amount of "ghosting" and writing on other pages really can be seen decently, but I am willing to trade the opacity of the paper for the small carrying size, Zondervan has a wide margin that is 8 point font, and it is actually the same exact size as my Holman which is 11 point. I would post pictures if anyone is interested in seeing my Holman.

I love writing and taking notes in my bibles!

I have been looking at using one of Nelson's King James Study Bibles, which use to be called the Liberty Annotated study bible, they just published a full color edition in really nice cowhide, I skimmed and looked at one of the older editions and I was actually impressed with the study notes that it had and actually found them helpful. From what I can tell the notes are from a pre trib, dispensational, conservative, fundamentalist perspective.

One other bible I use to own was a KJV Key Word Study Bible, it had a lot of the words in the text coded to strong's numbering system, and the back of it contained an expanded Hebrew and Greek dictionary that matched Strongs Numbering system, the NT also had a lot of coding in the text indicating Greek grammatical structures. The bible also has some comments in it from a dispensational viewpoint, but some of the notes are critical of the KJV translation. I would however recommend this bible to people for serious study.

I owned a Thompson Chain, and I have mixed feelings about it, I like how much it helps with topical study, but I found myself constantly wanting to stray away from whatever passage I was reading at the time and I felt like it was almost distracting to me. I also would recommend the Thompson to people for serious study.

I have never been all that impressed with the Scofield bible, I just never was impressed with the study notes, I did remember liking that it has some markings for the year on the top of each page in the margins. Of course the Scofield bible teaches the Gap theory and other things. Plus I hate the font style of the Scofield bible, way to bold and awkward an old fashioned looking for my tastes. Personally I would not recommend the Scofield bible because I think there are better bibles out there.

I use to own a Rock of Ages Bible published by the Rock of Ages prison ministry, but again I was not very impressed with the study notes, so I probably would not recommend it for the same reason as the Scofield.

I use to own a Defined King James Bible as well, this bible has all of the uncommon, archaic, and rare english words defined in footnotes at the bottom of the text, I did not use this bible much when I had it, even though in my early years I really probably should have. This is a great bible if you have problems understanding a lot of the words in the KJV, I don't use it because I tend to do more looking at Hebrew and Greek lexicons and stuff like that, but this is a great bible for your average church member and is a GREAT gift for new believers, and for younger folks also.

I have also had a Ryrie Study bible, but I was seriously not impressed with the study notes, they were accurate and made sense, but they just felt so basic that for me they seemed useless in a sense. so I would not recommend the Ryrie study bible.

I have not owned the following bibles, but have looked into them

the Common Man's reference bible, I highly do not recommend this bible, this bible uses some really fault and bad logic to defend the KJV, and the notes have a horrible spirit about them coming across as very critical, I think it is very likely that this bible was put together by a Ruckmanite.

KJV Holman Study Bible, Holman is a Southern Baptist publishing house, this bible is decent from what I have seen of it, but I don't think they take a very strong position on certain doctrines, they prefer to lay out the different thoughts and ideas about controversial topics. The notes probably are decent and evangelical.

KJV Henry Morris Study bible, This bible has tons of creationist notes in it, I have not looked into this bible a lot, but it would probably be good for someone who is wanting to build their confidence and trust in the bible or if you are interested in apologetics.

Matthew Henry Study Bible, Matthew Henry was a Presbyterian minister famous for his commentary on the bible, someone took a bunch of quotes from him and added them to to the bible to create this study bible, Matthew Henry's commentaries are superb and have a distinct devotional feel to them, he really had a way of drawing out spiritual principles from the bible and he was very spiritually minded. I use to not like him because he was Presbyterian but I have grown to love him the more I consult his commentaries.

A.W. Tozer Study bible, Tozer was a minister with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, and like Matthew Henry someone took a bunch of quotes by him and put them into a bible, he was also very devotional in his writings. I don't remember much of the content of this study bible but I owned it for a short time.

So.. what study bibles have you had/owned? What Bible do you use and why? (Not talking about translation)

What do you recommend and why? Let's talk about Bibles

Also if you have any questions about a particular bible with particular features ask me, if one exists I will know about it and I love passing my knowledge on to others

 

please refrain from debates about the KJV on this thread.

 

The Rock of Ages Bible is an updated revision of the Pilgrims Bible.

 

Seriously...?

 

Store | ROAPM