Good Study Bible

[Marc]

I have a Local Church Bible Publishers Classic Study Bible with the C. I. Scofield notes that I carry to church, for study I use a Nelson King James Study Bible (previously published as The Liberty Annotated Study Bible (Jerry Falwell) (Copyright 1988 by Liberty University). I also have the Nelson King James Bible Commentary (Copyright 1983 by The Old-Time Gospel Hour) which complements the Nelson Study Bible very well.

Edited December 1, 2012 by Marc

[SamuelP]

The NASB is not a Bible neither is the NIV............ We have only one English Bible the KJV........ version means same as while translation means changed.

CI Scofield notes; worthless or shouldn't be used IMHO.


"I must under God denounce every attachment to the New American Standard Version. I'm afraid I'm in trouble with the Lord...We laid the groundwork; I wrote the format; I helped interview some of the translators; I sat with the translator; I wrote the preface. When you see the preface to the New American Standard, those are my words...it's wrong, it's terribly wrong; it's frightfully wrong...I'm in trouble;...I can no longer ignore these criticisms I am hearing and I can't refute them. The deletions are absolutely frightening...there are so many. The finest leaders that we have today haven't gone into it [new versions of Wescott and Hort's corrupted Greek text] just as I hadn't gone into it...that's how easily one can be deceived...Are we so naive that we do not suspect Satanic deception in all of this?"
- Frank Logsdon


In reading the King James Bible Authorized Version, NIV and NASV, you can see that they do not teach the same thing:
2 Samuel 21:19
King James Bible Authorized Version: "...Elhanan slew the brother of Goliath..."
NIV: "...Elhanan killed Goliath..."
NASV: "...Elhanan killed Goliath..."
Daniel 3:25
King James Bible Authorized Version: "He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God."
NIV: "He said, Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.
NASV: He answered and said, Look! I see four men loosed and walking about In the midst of the fire, without ham, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods."
Genesis 6:4
King James Bible Authorized Version: "There were giants in the earth..."
NIV: "The Nephilim were on the earth..."
NASV: "The Nephilim were on the earth..."
Genesis 7:1
King James Bible Authorized Version: "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou ... into the ark;"
NIV: "The Lord then said to Noah, Go into the ark,..."
NASV: "Then the Lord said to Noah, Enter the ark,..."
NOTE: There is a difference between "Come" and "Go". The King James Bible Authorized Version shows that the Lord was in the ark with Noah and his family.
I Samuel 13:1
King James Bible Authorized Version: "Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,"
NIV: "Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty two years."
NASV: "Saul was forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned thirty-two years over Israel."

[irishman]

I have yet to figure out why this attitude exists amongst God's people. Certainly God does not expect us to "reinvent the wheel" of doctrine in each successive generation.
Study Bibles are not any different than commentaries. And God's people should know that the notes in a study Bible or commentary are in fact man's understanding of God's Word. We as Bible Believing Baptists know and understand that the final authority is the Word of God - there is no debate about it.
However, my job as a Pastor (among other things) is to TEACH the word of God to our folks. Well, guess what?
In order for me to teach the word of God, I must first understand it myself. This requires a great deal of study and preparation.
If I have learned one thing in my years in the ministry, it is that I don't have all of the answers, and I don't always have a grasp on the meaning and intent of any given passage. So I read what I consider to be trusted sources for one purpose - to gain insight into the meaning of God's word. I then have a better grasp on the passage, and am therefore able to better teach our folks.

I personally thank God for the time and effort these men have put into their own personal study, and then compiling them into their own study Bibles. We don't have to agree on every jot and tittle of the NOTES - after all the notes are from MEN. But we can find a great deal of help in understanding the Scriptures from their work.
I don't agree with EVERYTHING Scofield or Ruckman say - but I have greatly benefitted from their work.
I don't agree with everything Larkin has said - but most of his material has been extremely helpful.

And when we start disregarding any particular person's contributions because of some open sin in their life, we become nothing more than self-righteous Pharisees. We set up our own standards, and demand that everyone abides by OUR standards. Often, our standards conflict with God's standards.
God used Moses to write the first five books of the Bible. But Moses messed up more than once, and wasted 40 years of his life on the backslide of the desert.
God used David to write many Psalms - yet David was an adulterer and murderer.
God used Jonah - even though it is not clear if Jonah ever repented of his bitterness.
God used Elijah - even though he got scared of Jezebel, and in his frustration quit on God.

So none of God's people - including ourselves - are perfect. We all have our sins. Some of us have open sins (divorce, etc.), but the rest of us have SECRET sins that nobody ever sees......and it is always the ones with the secret sins that are so quick to cast their condemnation upon the ones who are just as sincere, but are scarred by open sins.

The question then becomes NOT if somebody has sinned in the past, but if they are currently serving the Lord out of a sincere heart, and out of that sincerity are doing their best to do what is right and pleasing to God, according to the Scriptures.

I would say that despite whatever differences I might have with Scofield or Dr. Ruckman, or Dr. Rice, or Bullinger, etc., I believe these men were used of God to HELP us in our study and understanding of Scriptures, DESPITE their own faults, failures, or sins.

In Christ,

I understand where you are coming from, Steve, but I wonder would you sit under the preaching of say a Methodist or a Presbyterian? I would think not. Most IFB's probably would not allow them in their pulpits either, lest they confuse someone in the congregation. Is this not the same with so-called "study Bibles" and their notes?

I do not have all the answers either, but the Bible does! If we do not understand it from the Holy Spirit, what good does man do us? Perhaps we are not given the understanding yet for some reason. When we refer to other translations for a "better understanding" the room for personal growth is gone, and comparing other translations is no different than referring to a commentary is it? Not really. If we are not clear on what we preach, maybe we should wait instead of trying to force the issue by calling on mans wisdom, be it such as it may.
Just my opinion.

[SamuelP]

AS mentioned above The Christian's dictionary is : 1828 here: http://www.1828-dictionary.com/

The Bible sure has a lot to say about commentaries ;-D

[Ukulelemike]

Yes, the same goes Abraham, Peter, Paul, David, Solomon, etc. etc. Many IFBers would have nothing to do with them. Yet, somehow John Calvin is still worshiped even after condemning people to death, setting up a church state and birthing some of the most heretical doctrines. But like someone has pointed out, a broken marriage is the only unforgivable sin among IFBers.

Quote of the day! Bravo, and Amen!

[SamuelP]

I use a Bible with just scripture ---- on it there is no notes............ What I post is from the top of my head to go to and post. God's commentary is GOOD; God is Good.

I generally don't carry a Bible to church. I will notice my wife looking up stuff as the preacher says turn to aa aa nn:nn and look around and watch folks look it up. I just listen and follow along. Some preachers will read a scripture and never preach on it.

I not long ago heard a preacher preaching REV.... A few week earlier he had told me he had never really studied REV....... He went to 2Thes2 and said the great falling away is the rapture................. He's a good guy and a wonderful Christian........... but;;; sometimes..... many will listen to him where they may only criticize me.

The body is made up of many members............ God can use some to reach one group or individual while other are still doing God's will.

[Marc]

Another good resource for bible study that I find myself using more and more is the NASB Topical Reference Bible by The Lockman Foundation. The NASB Topical Reference Bible comes in paragraph format for smoother reading, contains a 255 page Topical Index, 95,000 center-column references, dictionary-concordance-thesaurus, God's Promises, The Miracles of Jesus, Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled in Christ, The Parables of Jesus, Titles of Christ, The Twelve Apostles of Jesus, Introductions to the Books of the Bible, Read Through the Bible in a Year and (8) color maps. This bible contains no commentary or study notes, only the tools you need for an in-depth study of the scriptures, highly recommended for the serious student of the bible.

Edited December 5, 2012 by Marc

[jle]

I got a new Bible for Christmas this year after lots of looking around I chose from the Local Church Bible Publishers the Classic King James Study Bible with C.I. Scofield Study Notes  Executive series with calfskin leather  I highly recommend the Local Church Bible Publishers for anyone looking for a KJB

[...]

When I am asked if I can recommend a study Bible, I always suggest just a plain, Cambridge text KJV from Local Church Bible Publishers and then something like the "Wilmington's Guide to the Bible."  I am of the opinion that studies and commentaries or other helps should be kept separate from the Bible.  I think it runs too much of a risk of cementing the opinions of men with the Word of God in people's minds.  The only exceptions that I am comfortable with would be Bibles with reference columns down the middle and, of course, red letter Bibles, since they are not changing anything other than the colour of the text of Christ's words..

Keeping the Bible separate form the words of men also saves people from having to purchase new Bibles if they find objectionable content or develop issues with the author of the study texts.  Both of my Bibles are LCBP and they are the highest quality Bibles that I have found and also happen to be the least expensive that I have found.