The 2008 Preaching Survey of Bibles and Bible References

The most interesting niche study Bible this year is The Orthodox Study Bible: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World (Nelson). It is the first full-length Orthodox study Bible in English including a new translation of the Old Testament from the Septuagint (since that is the version of the OT used by the Orthodox) and study notes written by leading theologians of the Orthodox Church. I found the OT section the most stimulating since you have here a translation of the Septuagint (Greek) text instead of the Hebrew Masoretic text as found in our standard Bibles. The differences are intriguing and the notes commonly point out such differences. The notes often provide quotes from early church fathers. I think this will be a useful tool for pastors because the notes are theologically focused, thus aiming at the overall meaning of the text, and the historical quotes are helpful. While there are things I disagree with, I found this study Bible stimulating.

The Chronological Study Bible (Nelson; NKJV) arranges the entirety of the Scriptures into chronological order interweaving various books and placing Psalms in historical settings. Of course this requires judgment calls (and even guesses) in certain places, but this is an interesting approach.

The Encounters with God Daily Bible, ed. by Thomas Blackaby (Nelson; NKJV) features notes by Henry and Thomas Blackaby. Impact: The Student Leadership Bible, ed. Jay Strack (Nelson; NKJV) does not have notes on the text itself but provides one page and half page comments at various places relating to students and leadership issues. Neitehr of these are as useful for study tools as the comprehensive study Bibles listed earlier. Less useful is The Maxwell Leadership Bible, revised and updated (Nelson). Theme Bible’s like this have the tendency to get us off center as to the main message of the Bible itself. The Bible reveals to us God, His character, ways, demands and provision. Leadership is certainly discussed in the Bible but it is not the main theme. Further we would do well to think seriously about whether or not we have a real biblical understanding of what leadership is.