Product Description

The first completely new NRSV study Bible in five years! People today are hungry for the Bible, hoping to find meaning for their own journeys of life and faith. The Discipleship Study Bible is the per

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60315 in Books
• Published on: 2008-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 2232 pages

Customer Reviews

FANTASTIC!!
I am glad to be the first reviewer of this study Bible. I have New Interpreters, HarperCollins, Oxford, Zondervan NIV, Spiritual Formation and other study Bibles; but this one is now my personal favorite. It lacks the academic technicality of New Interpreters and HarperCollins, which is a plus for nonscholars. There is no serious focus on documentary sources nor on historical criticism. Questions of historicity (Were the patriarchs real people? Did Moses lead Hebrews out of Egypt?) and authorship are left up to the reader with only minimal guidance. The annotations deal with the final form of the Biblical text, and focus on theology and life-application. The commentators are obviously left-leaning thinkers as they comment frequently on socio-political, economic and ecological issues. Issues of personal piety and response to Scripture are not left out, however. And there is little in these annotations that would offend any reasonably open-minded conservative. As far as I can tell so far, the commentators have avoided abortion and capital punishment, and deal very diplomatically with homosexuality. However, these commentators are very concerned about exclusion, religious snobbery, global warming, poverty, etc. This book is published by WJK Press; in other words, the Presbyterian Church USA. I totally recommend that you read this regardless of your social or political views. I have many conservative or fundamentalist study Bibles and commentaries, so give this one a shot, regardless of where you stand.

I would also like to comment on the physical attributes of the book: very light weight, unlike most study Bibles, and almost personal size.

*additional note (11/17/09) The New Oxford Annotated Study Bible 4th Ed is coming out in a few months. Just trying to get the word out that another good NRSV study Bible is on the way.

Excellent new study Bible for serious followers of Jesus
Anyone who's been involved in mainline churches and/or the emergent church movement knows: study Bibles are either overbearingly conservative and focused on personal piety or so terribly full of historical-critical details that the average reader would certainly give it all up in frustration. This is an excellent balance for mainline Protestants, Catholics, Anglicans, progressive Christians and Evangelicals and yes, even conservatives. It has a strong emphasis on issues of social justice and service while also respecting the importance of personal spiritual growth, a combination that both speaks from- and to- both the liberal and conservative ends of the church.

Besides that, I also appreciated that it came with colored maps (something the Renovaré Bible didn't have) and a good amount of concordance. The paper quality is decent and while there's a little text bleed-through, it's not too bad.

Before this, my Bible of choice was the Renovaré Spiritual Formation Study Bible, but it was still not quite what I was looking for. Thankfully, the Discipleship Study Bible fills a much needed gap that'll be great for all followers of Jesus.

No hesitation in recommending this study bible
Having recently finished reading the NIV Study Bible for the second time I was looking around for a different translation and study bible to read and came across the promotional literature for this one on the internet. I welcomed the fact that it included the Apochrypha/Deuterocanonical books including some I have not read before. I was concerned it would be too American (I am writing this from Scotland) in its language and comments but have not found this to be the case. I welcome its insightful comments that relate to the contemporary world. I am not a theologian, simply a Christian who has been reading bibles and bible studies for over thirty years and I have no hesitation in recommending this one.