Bibles Bible Studies Books

I purchase a Everyday Bible and I received it in good timing. The book was new, I was really happy with the purchase. Saved me a couple dollars and provided awesome quality. Thank you.

This is the very best bible. I Love it! It's very easy to read and understand. The extras, like commentaries, only make this bible a better product.

I have had this bible in the past and I am very pleased to have it again. This is such a wonderful bible...with joyce meyers personal experiences inside and all her input on scriptures. I would recommend this bible to anyone.

THE BODY STYLE:
-I got the leather bound one because that feels more comfortable for me and because I did not want those pictures on the front of my Bible like the hard back one has. The leather one is kind of a maroonish color and looks nice. Has gold edges and a built in bookmark ribbon.

-The only negitive I have about the body style of this Bible is that the pages are too thin which makes getting to where ya need to get sometimes harder and slower.

BIBLE VERSION:
- It is the amplified version which can get rather wordy with lots of paraphrasing. But that does not bother me since I need extra discriptions so I can better understand many verses. But it might not be good for when you have to read passages out loud in a Sunday school class because of the wordiness.

-I find this amplified version easier to understand then the King James version by far.

BIBLE NOTES AND ECT:
-I enjoy the notes and commentaries ( or whatever they are called). I like the way Joyce Meyer says things bluntly but with love. I dont want some kind of wishy washy beat around the bush notes. I need the truth and she does a good job of that IMO. The notes/commentaries make me think and want to read more to see what else I can find in the Bible.

-I wish this Bible had a some extra learning materials with in it such has maps, special dictionaries and other stuff like that. But even without them I still enjoy this Bible and am very glad I have it.

-I think many people tend to think Joyce Meyers teachings are for women only but that is not true. I find that her notes in this Bible are for every one to learn from not women only.
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I am the type to not want to spend much money on something without 1st getting to know more about it. So once this Bible started being sold in my local walmart I began checking it out there looking through it. I decided then that I wanted it but not the hard back version. So for my birthday this year my parents gave me the money to order the leather version and Im so glad I did.

I dont understand why many keep making a fuss over if it is a study Bible or not. One can make a study out of anything no matter if it is worded as a study Bible or not. I find myself wanting to study into the Bible after reading much of the notes in this Bible.

This bible is an excellent addition to other available bibles. The type is large enough to read easily and the amplified version of the bible is a very great help in understanding the meaning of words and passages. It brings to life the wonderful message the bible has to share. Joyce Meyer is a great bible teacher and her insights that she shares in this bible are a wonderful addition and not to be missed. I'm so glad I have this bible and would encourage others to get it too.

I have the study on the life of king David from Beth Moore. I really enjoyed it. I thought it was a great study. when I saw the one on Jesus I bought it right away. I did not regret it. I also bought it for my sister. I highly recommend this book and any study from Beth Moore.

I really enjoyed going through this Bible study over the summer with my friends. Each day is very easy to read, and to the point. Her imagery of what Jesus was going through during His time on Earth is very vivid and very moving. There were a few lessons which I didn't connect with, but over all a great study for anyone who would like to learn more about our Savior.

Very good devotional, but not as in depth as her others. Good for a lighter, shorter devotional to start out your day.

This book was in excellant condition. I would consider buying again as everything went smooth.

As usual, Beth Moore has done what every Bible teacher should do--she has pointed the reader to a closer walk with Jesus, a stronger relationship with Him, and a deeper commitment to Him. Each lesson is short, to the point and thought-provoking. This book is well-worth the investment, and I have already given one as a gift.

Simply the best reading I have done in months. The first chapter is worth paying for the entire book. Robert Alter just did it again.

Alter's purpose in the book is made very clear, and that is to show readers of biblical narrative that there are authorial devices implanted in the narrative to heighten and signify parts of the narrative that the author feels is important or worth noting. He begins to show this purpose in chapter one by seeing the Bible as a literary piece of art. He illustrate mainly with the story of Judah and Tamar in Genesis 38 because it does not seem to fit with the rest of the Joseph narrative. However when one steps back and looks at the literary whole of Genesis they will see how themes of deceit and divine election run through Genesis 38 as well as the rest of the book. That one chapter may seem out of place, but in reality it flows beautifully in the larger scope of the book and not merely the Joseph narrative. One cannot read books as a compilation of short stories, but they must see the stories as having a literary and overarching theme that intertwines them together.
In chapter two, he further develops his purpose by proposing the biblical authors used literary devices like word-plays, embellishment, and fictitious characters to give color to the narrative. He suggests that the authors received the historical data from their sources, and then proceeded to make the message and intended application clearer by use of literary devices. So their use of a fictitious character would be acceptable because they are not changing the meaning or moral message of the text. He states that they would often detail the main characters speech and actions to give insight to their motives. It is helpful to see some of these literary features in seeing how the author might have pointed out characters and events in Israel's history, but only a foundationally different hermeneutic (as Alter pointed out) could accept all of these.
The third chapter really begins to illustrate Alter's purpose. Here he points out a literary device called "type-scenes", and they are the typical "flags" that the original reader would have expected to see for certain events. One illustration was the betrothal scene, where the typical events include a man (master or servant) goes to a well in a foreign land, meets a girl, wants to marry her, she goes back to her family, and etc. Alter points out the situation with Saul going to the well and instead of asking for a wife he asks for a seer. Then the story of Ruth where the roles of hero and heroine are reversed and Ruth goes to a foreign land and Boaz has his men-servants fetch her water. The idea is presented that the original reader is used to the typical sequence, and so when someone different or completely unordinary happens the author has now arrested their attention. That is the point Alter wants to make. The author wrote in such a way to highlight certain points or characters to the original reader, but the problem is that three thousand years later those literary features are not as clear. This chapter was really eye-opening to begin reading narratives looking for those points of deviation from the typical to better understand the author's intended meaning.
In the fourth chapter, Alter shows the importance of dialogue imbedded in the narrative sequence. The author uses direct speech to develop the characters in the narrative. The reader only knows what the characters are thinking by what the author has them say. The narrative events are a mere background to dialogue. Sometimes the speech that the author mentions is a shortened form of what actually must have been said. The reader needs to pay attention to when there is speech, when it stops, and when it seems that the author has purposely not said something that should have been said. This idea of dialogue intersects with the type-scenes and other literary devices to make the Bible a real literary masterpiece.
Chapter five points out the use of repetition in the Old Testament narrative. Alter says that this point of repetition is the one that is the hardest for the modern English reader and also the one feature that is most over-looked. For instance, the writer of Exodus repeats himself when he states the plague that is going to happen to Egypt and then he restates the plague when it happened. The modern reader is not going to think anything of this device; however the original reader was mostly likely hearing this read, and so the author is making sure the hearer gets the full details at least once. He also gives the repetition of key words or "word-roots" in the narrative and called it Leitwort. His example of this idea is the Samuel story and the repetition or emphasis on the words "listen, voice, word". This is not going to be done easily in an English translation, but it will aid the reader in understanding the author's intended meaning. He showed how different repetition is in poetry where there is no direct copying of a phrase or use of synonyms, but instead poetry is styled and creative repetition of thoughts that move the poem. Alter ascribes this use of repetition to the tension between the freedom of the biblical authors to write and the Divine plan for the text.
In chapter six, Alter describes the art of characterization as a literary device. It was already mentioned briefly that much of what is known of a character comes in direct speech. That is true, and it is often the most important things that can be known about that character is by what he says, because when that character acts then the reader has to infer things about that character. However in direct speech the character cannot hide what he is thinking or who he is. The author has the ability to only allow the reader to know certain things about each character. It must be noted why the author would switch names for a person, for instance, Michal is sometimes called the "wife of David" and other times she is called the "daughter of Saul". The author could be telling something simply by changing a name about the mindset of Michal, her current marital status, or another idea laid out by context. This is another interesting literary device that is probably overlooked by modern readers, but it can, like the others, aid in better understanding the author.
Chapter seven explains a literary device that has many authors each contributing to the finished product. Because the Bible has seeming inconsistencies in it, Alter assumes that it must be a book put together by multiple authors in a type of patchwork way. However, later he says that the author may have received differing historical accounts and then purposely put both accounts in the Bible. He says that the author could have contradicted himself and done it in such a way to be artistic.
The last chapter makes the argument that the narrative and narrator give knowledge to the reader. The narrator, he says, is omniscient because they know people's thought and even God's thoughts. The author is sort of "teasing" the reader with perfect knowledge, which the author seems to have and the reader can only see a glimpse of. However, the author often tells the crux of the narrative and then goes back and tells how that happened.
This book's purpose was to show how the Hebrew author's use literary devices to "jolt" the reader out of the norm. Although these devices are often purposely or ignorantly overlooked by modern reader because of the language divide, the literary features here (for the most part) are extremely helpful for the reader. Alter accomplished his purpose, and this text is very beneficial for Hebrew students to better understand the characteristics of OT narrative.

love this book. I am only on page 40 but am really enjoying every bit of it. Anyone interested in the Bible should read this book or any books by Robert Alter. He illuminates subtle literary devises in the text that you wont find anywhere else in Biblical scholarship, except maybe if you were a Torah Scholar and studied the Midrash Tanchuma (Hebrew commentary on the 5 Books of Moses) and understood it completely. But then Professor Alter translates all this into understanding the structure of well-written prose or poetry. Anyone who writes plots or makes film, or is interested in Joseph Campbell will find this extremely rich in content. He suggests that the Bible is not fictionalized History, but historicized fiction, a proposal too blasphemes for most "believers" to entertain, yet in reading this book, we find that it is not so blasphemes at all. This book will push your study of ancient Hebrew texts to a new level. All educators should read and be familiar with Professor Alters work. I think he is a breath of fresh air that encourages, not dissuades, people from going deeper into study of the Bible, from the secular to the ultra orthodox. It is densely written so if you have trouble with big words or lofty word filled sentences, this might be a problem, but I found each sentence strangely palpable and easily digested even for the non-scholar, mostly illiterate-type like myself. The book is magical and I am ordering it for a few of my same-minded friends

This book is dense with fairly small print, small margins and long chapters without section breaks; but, it is well written and does a good job showing the complexities and intricacies of scripture that lend credence to its inspiration. The author's perspective that scripture is historicised fiction can be ignored for the rest of the benefits of reading this book. Frankly, the argument for historicised fiction could just as well be used to suggest its inspiration.

Needless to say, as a result of reading this book, I bought Alter's book on Biblical Poetry.

Modern Biblical scholarship has tended toward a process of atomization: how many editors were involved in the creation of the Bible? How many different strands of tradition can we find in a given story? Robert Alter's "The Art of Biblical Narrative" at once provides a corrective to this tendency, and a striking alternative way of understanding the Good Book.

Although recent scholarship has emphasized historical- and textual-critical methodologies, Alter chooses a literary-critical approach; that is, he asks how we should read the Bible first and foremost as literature. Ancient Hebrew storytelling conventions were often radically different from those we use today, so we must learn to be attuned to things like a character's silence, or minor, telling variations in a scene that is repeated several times. In this way, Alter takes much of what may make the Old Testament (or Hebrew Bible) seem "boring" today--its Spartan narrative style, the apparent redundancy of many of its stories--and shows how these elements are actually integral to how the Bible tells its story.

Alter's prose style is scholarly without being suffocating. It is, however, dense with ideas. I often found myself reading as little as five pages at a sitting, as each sentence seemed so full that it was all I could take in before I had to stop for a mental breather. (I recommend reading the Conclusion first, which ten pages provide an excellent summary of the book's main ideas and may make it easier to digest them as the author investigates each one in detail in the rest of the book.) His examples are profuse, and well-chosen to illustrate his points.

Alter mostly steers clear of ideological disputes about what the Bible is or isn't, sticking to his purely literary analysis of the text. He occasionally makes comments to the effect that he sees the stories of the Bible as "historicized fiction," but his approach can still fit into any faith framework; it is just as possible for a devout Christian and an atheist to read the Bible as literature. What's more, Christians will not only find an enriching way of appreciating their sacred text here, but may even gain comfort in the face of some scholars who seem to think that a Bible with editors is inherently an unreliable Bible. Alter, to the contrary, shows that the Biblical author-editors must have been very sophisticated storytellers, and that what are often taken for mere inconsistencies today may well represent a deeply thoughtful approach to depicting the moral and social ambiguities the authors saw in their world.

"The Art of Biblical Narrative" takes effort to read, but those willing to take the time to absorb it may find their understanding of the Bible enhanced, deepened, even changed.

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A Reader's Hebrew Bible is produced by A. Philip Brown II (PhD, Bob Jones University) and Bryan W. Smith (PhD, Bob Jones University) with Zondervan. Its designed purpose is "to facilitate the regular reading of the Scriptures in Hebrew and Aramaic." The reader assists students of the Bible by lessening invested time browsing through a lexicon, while improving and maximizing students' previous acquired skills in the target languages .RHB also "allows students to focus on learning Hebrew and Aramaic vocabulary in its literary context rather than in isolated word lists." The reader is also useful for teachers of Hebrew and Aramaic intending to "remove the necessity of creating new gloss lists when one wants to have students read different sections of the OT" (xiii). RHB provides necessary help to students to become more familiar with the Hebrew and Aramaic Texts; as well as improving (their) reading proficiency respectively.

The Book includes the authors' prefaces, a quick user's guide on how to access the Text. An informative introduction recounting the genesis of this edition is included. A section summarizing the Hebrew and Aramaic Verb Stem Abbreviations (e.g. hif = hifil, nif = nifal, pal = palal; af = afel, hishtaf= hishtafel, itpa= itpael, shaf=shafel) & Sigla (`marks words where WLC and RHB read L differently than BHS) substantiates the usefulness of RHB.

The Quick User's Guide aims to provide a quick reference to readers on how to navigate through the texts of the Jewish Bible both in its original tongues (Hebrew and Aramaic respectively). The A Reader's Hebrew Bible uses the Westminster Leningrad Codex 4.4. All words, excluding proper nouns occurring less than 100 times, are footnoted. The Glossary includes all Hebrew words, excluding proper nouns, occurring 100 times or more; whereas Aramaic words, excluding proper nouns, and those that occur less than 25 times are also footnoted. An Aramaic glossary is not preserved.

The reader contains significant glosses which are taken primarily from HALOT (Koehler, Baumgartner and Stamm's The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament) and BDB (Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon) . For example, Appendix A includes a glossary of all Hebrew words occurring 100 times or more; and all Aramaic vocabulary occurring less than 25 times.

RHB is similar to the text of Biblia Hebraicai Stuttgartensia (BHS) and Biblia Hebraica Quinta (BHQ) with minor changes. Textual criticism decision is not a priority of RHB.

What A Reader's Greek New Testament (Zondervan, 2007) does for students of NT and Greek is what A Reader's Hebrew Bible will do for students of the OT and Hebrew and Aramaic. Together students of the Bible have two enduring "twin resources" to study the Word of God in its original written texts.

A Reader's Hebrew Bible is a tool that will not disappoint you." Bible students and pastors cannot afford not to own a copy of A Reader's Hebrew Bible. RHB is user friendly, elegant, leather bound, convenient, and eye-catching.

Purchased this as a gift for my husband and found it to be a beautiful bible and very closly accurate to the original hebrew. He Loves It !

The Reader's Hebrew Bible has been on the market for only a few months and looks set to become a "must" for everyone who has covered the basics of the language and wishes to progress to "real" Hebrew. You need, though, to have a good working vocabulary for it to enable you to read in extenso with fluency. The grey-scale shading of proper names is a good idea. The price is also exceptionally cheap for a product of this quality.
What would be really helpful is a Grammatical Analysis of the Old Testament similar to "Max and Mary" for the New.

I've got both the first and second editions of the Reader's GNT companion volume. Either is a great value for the money, but neither comes close to the quality and usefulness of the Reader's GNT published by UBS -- the real deal. So I was a bit hesitant to purchase Zondervan's Reader's Hebrew Bible.

My hesitation was overcome by the fact that I use my UBS RGNT on a daily basis for devotional use, but don't read the Hebrew text in the same way as frequently because of the need for a lexicon nearby. A reader's lexicon helps, but it's still a clunky way to read, and because Hebrew vocabulary is so much larger than NT Greek, there are few of us who will ever be able to simply read with no lexicon around. So seeing what a reader's GNT did for me, I ordered this.

I'm very pleased. It hast the same cheap binding and paper as the companion RGNT, but the fact that it's duo-tone (basically PVC plastic) does mean that despite being flimsy, it should hold up for a long time. They seem to have overcome the typeface problems present in both editions of the RGNT. This font is very easy to read. I have not found the proper names being in gray instead of black to be a problem -- they're not that light and the purpose is to make proper names used less than 100 times stand out so that the newbie doesn't waste time trying to parse them. That's the whole point: to gloss the words so the reader doesn't have to. The more you read, the more you learn, and the more often you read and learn the more Hebrew sticks in your mind.

The fact that this text is that of the Westminster edition of Leningradensis is great. They essentially cut and pasted from Bibleworks 4. There are minor variants between this and BHS/BHQ, but nothing significant and all differences are listed in the appendix. I also like the way they've dealt with Kethib-Qere readings -- something that should serve good training for the student just learning his way around the Hebrew Old Testament.

If Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft ever prints a readers edition of BHS or BHQ it will probably leave this in the dust just as the UBS RGNT leaves the Zondervan RGNT in the dust, but until then this is a great tool.

I received A Reader's Hebrew Bible with great anticipation and was not disappointed. I have found it to be a very well conceived and thoughtfully delivered Hebrew tool. It is perfect for someone like me who is trying to intergrate the Hebrew scriptures into my life in a practical manner. This tool has already allowed me greater ease of access and I recommend it to all.

I had to get this book for an Old Testament class. The class is a waste of time, the book is a waste of money, and there seems to be a lot of extra stuff in it that I couldn't care less about. If you're getting this book for a class, it's easy to read, but it takes forever. If you're getting it just for fun, I recommend finding another book.

I believe this book is probably the best overall introduction to the Old Testament. It provides historical context of the Near East. It covers all the bases and goes into scholarly detail. It goes through the Yawehist (Y)/Elohim (E)/Priestly sources and their different contributions to the composite text. It is an easy and enjoyable read as opposed to standard Old Testment "Texbooks". I was also delighted to find that a Professor at Yale uses in her Old Testament class. It is an open source class that you can watch over the Internet.

Overall, this book should be required reading for any introduction to the Old Testament. I highly recommend it.

Excellant resource for Bible study. Historical, cultural and literary analysis. Some author bias evident.

I am in an Old Testament class, and our professor recommended this book as a useful tag-along to his teaching. It truly is a great text, and I highly recommend it.

My reading of the Bible has had three levels of accompaniment. The first consists of the annotations of the New Oxford Annotated Bible, which tend to be brief explications of bits of the text that might otherwise be difficult to comprehend within the context of the writer. The second is Asimov's Guide to the Bible, which goes into somewhat greater detail and, in particular, is quite good at providing the necessary historical and geographic background.

The third is this book, which goes into considerable depth with not only the basic factual background, but also the cultural and literary background. Though written by a devout believer (a Catholic), he is not someone who believes in the literal truth of the Bible, but follows modern scholarship in teasing out the various strands of text: the J, E, and P source texts, in particular.

The book is divided into two sections and numerous chapters. The first section provides a general overview in four chapters. The first discusses the text itself, why we should read it, and its meaning for us today, and lesser issues such as the merits of various translations. Chapter 2 provides a general geographic and historical overview, discussing the peoples of that time and where and when they lived and prospered. The third chapter discusses Biblical archeology, how it works, and what sort of background it can provide. And Chapter 4 goes into the literary aspects of the writings, from the difficulties translators encounter to how the texts were considered at the time they were written down.

The bulk of the book, however, focuses on key portions of the text in turn, explaining their context and significance, and clarifying aspects that we moderns might find perplexing.

The author considers the book a textbook, and it would certainly be useful as the basis for a one- or two-semester course in the Old Testament. However, I found it very useful to read it on my own, providing a much deeper perspective than I could get just from reading the text, which, if nothing else, makes many assumptions about what I should already know.

This book and study guide are very comprehensive in their look at the subject of eldership in the Bible. You will have to decide if some of the conclusions are accurate but the book and study guide will help identify almost all the issues about being an elder in the Bible.

I was able to read this book while staying with some friends during our vacation. It gives a very clear insight in the way we can make churches function again in the way Christ wanted it to be.
I can recommend it for leaders and members from Christian churches.

Nico

Biblical Eldership, by Alexander Strauch, seeks to clarify what it means to be a biblical elder in light of what Strauch believes are widespread distortions and departures from that which is laid out by scripture. Overall, Strauch used well-thought out reasoning with ample scriptural support (complete with the underlying greek words and meanings where necessary) in order to successfully defend a biblical view of eldership that he sees as being plural, male, and with functions and responsibilities that are most clearly seen in the imagery of the shepherd. One of the strongest points of this book is the implicit challenge to men who are or aspire to be elders, to shepherd the flock in way that is true to the full calling that God has given them. By the grace of God and under the ultimate leadership of Christ, elders have an immense responsibility to shepherd and oversee the flock of God. Elders will be held to a higher accountability due to the influential nature of their calling. Elders everywhere need to read this book and ask tough questions about their leadership, their submission to God, their ability to protect and guard the flock, and their willingness to serve the flock. If elders do not take responsibility, if elders treat the qualifications as optional, then the flock will suffer dearly and perhaps even be devoured by wolves.

Strauch has done an excellent job of reviewing bibilcal leadership - a highly detailed, exegetical approach. He is very conservative in his views and conclusions. Strauch gives compelling support for his views, laying his reasoning before the reader.

I must agree with a fellow reviewer who indicated that Strauch, at times, goes to great lengths to justify what appears to be a presupposition rather than a conclusion based on evidence (his defense of male only leadership comes to mind).

I have not seen a better, more detailed review of the subject than Strauch gives, but it is decidedly not for the average reader, who would likely not wade through the material. For a minister looking for good research and something to stimulate his thoughts about a crucial subject, Strauch comes very close to a "must read." You will not agree with every point Struach makes (I don't), but he will challenge you to either agree or defend your position. Causing others to think is what makes for "iron sharpening iron."

This is a thoughtful and thoroughly biblical look an how a church is to be led - by a team of qualified Elders. This book would be helpful for church leaders who are interested in self-evaluation; church planters who are looking to get off on the right foot; and men who desire to become leaders in the context of the local church.

After reading this book, I have decided to use it as the basis for a mentoring program in my church.

My husband and I have really enjoyed this book. It is packed with a lot of solid information and it has moved us to a deeper place in the Lord. The author lays out Biblical truth simply enough for anyone to understand yet the meaning feeds the soul.The Candidate: A Novel

I am using the book for a class so we are working through it at a gradual pace, but I love how Ryrie expresses things very clearly in each and every part of the chapter.

Dr. Ryrie is clear and concise in his explanation of theology and doctrine. I have used this book many times in conjunction with my classes at Philadelphia Biblical University and have always found it to be understandable and to the point. Dr. Ryrie has an amazing grasp of Scripture and brings it to bear in his Basic Theology. No library is complete without it.

Ryrie's 'Basic Theology' is one of balance, clarity, practicality, and assessability. This is the most important work currently which a new believer or Christian layperson should use to study the teachings of the Christian Faith. Ryrie is generous in his dealings with different perspectives, yet remains true to his own convictions in the process.

What is so worthwhile in this volume is not only the practicality of the work, but the usefulness of it on so many levels. It can be used for personal study of scripture, a reference guide, even a tool to formulate an outline for bible classes or a small bible study. Its worth can be seen on so many levels. This work is an excellent popular guide to basic systematic truth and should be used repeatedly in the Christian Church.

Dr. Ryrie's "Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth" is indeed one of best "basic" theology handbooks available. It is systematic, but it remains faithful to the Bible--this just goes to show that "systematic" and "biblical" are not necessarily at odds with each other as in some systems. Ryrie's work is "basic" in that it devotes over 600 pages to the main areas of theology. This makes it not only a good place for all believers to start off, but also as a handy, quick-reference guide for those in ministry as well. Of course, Dr. Ryrie sticks to a single, normative method of interpretation that serves us well as we look deeper into God's Word.

One criticism: Although I agree with Dr. Ryrie on most issues, it is significant to note that Dr. Ryrie refers to himself, along with some other prominent teachers, as a "moderate" or "4-point" Calvinist. In fact, he is actually a 4-point Biblicist based on his acceptance of a modified form of Unconditional Election. However, if you study the Calvinist T.U.L.I.P. as described by mainstream 5-pointers since the Synod of Dort, you will find that all the "points" stand or fall as a unit--that is how they were developed.

Ignorance of this fact has lead many biblical evangelicals like Dr. Ryrie to misunderstand what each of the 5 points mean. For example, Unconditional Election does not simply mean that salvation is unmerited. Perseverance of the Saints is not to be equated with the biblical doctrine of Eternal Security. Total Depravity actually means total inability, etc. Actually, the author would do all of us a much better service by simply referring to himself as a Biblicist.

Even though his views on unconditional election are not exactly the same as the extreme or 5-point Calvinists, Ryrie nonetheless holds what he terms "unresolved tensions" with Scripture in that area. It is true that even Ryrie's "moderate" position eventually brings one back to nagging doubts about true free will, reprobation, and God being the author of sin. Up until a few years ago I also held to that same classical DTS position, but have since discovered a more scripturally harmonious view similar to the mediate/inductive one advocated by C. Gordon Olson in his books, Beyond Calvinism and Arminianism: An Inductive, Mediate Theology of Salvation and Getting the Gospel Right: A Balanced View of Calvinism and Arminianism.

In spite of our differences on election and use of theological labels, Dr. Ryrie's work remains very true to the Word. It would be hard to go wrong with his book!

Everything was great. The service, product, timely arrival. I would not hesitate to purchase from this person again.

I used this Bible in our Men's AV meetings and it has work extremely welll for men who are deal with recovery and want a spiritual approach to their recovery. The use of this Bible helps to bring a spiritual element that is not in the AA meetings.

I love this way of shopping.Ordering New/Used/Bibles/Books/Anything/ Everything is super. Thank you for making this happen.

A recovery bible in the NLT translation is the perfect match. Over 80 translators were involved in translating from the original languages. It is very accurate. PLUS, very easy to read. You don't need to have a PHD to understand what God wants us to know. And, it's so nice to have the 12-step influences throughout the book. An extra bonus for those struggling with addictions. Is there anyone that's not? The hardcover version is so nice...made to last for many years. I've heard that prison chaplains can't get enough of these. They are so in demand...and for good reason.

I first discovered this Bible 7 years ago in Seattle Washington. I went through some pretty hard times and somone suggested I start using the Life Recovery Bible for my studies. Even though I didn't have an addiction to drugs or alcohol (I've never even tried that stuff,) I found the Bible to be just what I needed to pull me out of a pattern of destructive behaviour. I can safely say that the LRB was extremely instrumental in my journey from despair and backsliding to becoming the chairman of an international ministry, a church consultant and a Worship Leader. My wife and I recommend this Bible to anyone going through any kind of stormy weather in life but just can't seem to right their own ship. This Bible will help them get their life back on track with applicable study guides and practicle tips on life.

This is an excellent overview of the OT, with helpful chapters on each book. But, it's a 1994 and somewhat dated. The book now has a second edition, which Amazon curiously does not list. The newer version is a year or two old, published by Zondervan, with Tremper Longman III listed as the first author - e.g., "Longman and Dillard."

Weak on defense of Conservaive views of Authorship. Some books not clear as to view authors prefer. Organization of key intrepretative problems (i.e. Date of Exodus) wordy in some places and weak in others. Up to date information is very good. Need larger section on Mimimalist verses Maximalist issues.

Professor's Dillard and Longman's Introduction to the Old Testament is an outstanding resource for understanding the literary, theological, and historical background of every Old Testament book. It is evangelical in its perspective, yet interacts with historical - cricial methods of interpretation that have been prominent over the past 100 + years or so.

A typical overview of each Old Testament book will start with an overview, useful commentaries and articles for each book, the historical background (date, author, and purpose), a literary analysis of the structure of the book, its theological message and how it applies to the New Testament.

The reader of the book will find an outstanding reference book for understanding and studying the individual books of the Old Testament. A real strength of this book is its description of the literary style of a book and what that means for the reader. Yet, the authors warn wisely that while it is important to take into account the book's literary context for the reader, the importance of understanding a particular Old Testament book, the importance of placing literary context within the historical context is paramount.

The authors make solid use of previous scholarship in their introductions for each book, even wisely dividing what is useful from the neo-orthodox and critical scholars and what is not.

This reference book will be of great use to ministers, lay teachers and the general student of the Bible.

This is an excellent book for those who are studying the Old Testament.

This volume should be in every serious student of the OT library. Pastors especially should delve into this concise yet reasonable volume.

I highly recommend this volume.

This bible has by far the most interesting, informative, and accurate commentary notes of any bible I have ever owned. It gives an excellent perspective of the text from a reformed viewpoint. I highly recommend it. If there would be any negative comments, it would be that the page paper is a little thin for my preference. But, the content far outweighs that negative.

I'm a regular reader of RC Sproul's books and Ligonier publications, such as TableTalk. I was expecting much more depth in this Bible. The notes don't have much substance overall, especially on passages critical to reformed theology. The articles are better. Maps and charts are limited for a study Bible. It's not bad, but if you are expecting a work comparable to Ligonier standards, you might be a little disappointed.

I was realy looking forward to reading this study bible. I started with the introduction and was instantly struck by its familiarity. I pulled my NKJV New Geneva Study bible off the shelf and started comparing them side by side. The introduction, chapter introductions, sidebars etc. are identical. Even the footnotes are the same apart from an occaisional variation in the bold footnote heading. Not surprisingly, the list of contributors is also identical. Apart from the actual ESV translation, this bible is the same as my 1995 New Geneva Study Bible. The only other difference is that my 1995 edition has four short articles at the end.

I was hoping for something new, but I was disappointed. If you don't alread own the New Geneva Study bible, then this may work for you. But I will pick up a cheaper ESV edition, just for the translation.

First off, let me make clear that no study notes are perfect, only the word of God is. But with that being said, this is an amazing bible. With the best modern english translation, ESV, R.C. Sproul adds tons of great articles and study notes from the reformed perspective. I'd say the best bible on the market until the ESV Study Bible from Crossway comes out October 15, 2008.

Great study bible. I can say, beyond doubt, this is the most doctrinally pure Study Bible. Very readable. I prefer the NIV for reading, but since this bible is meant for "serious study" the ESV was a great choice. Defends the doctrines of Grace. True to the reformed tradition, supports infant baptism. However, the authors are not dogmatic and clearly state that there are many brethren who hold other positions.

One major FLAW is in prophecy. All the reformers and the founders of mainline churches clearly stated that the papacy is the antichrist, Islam is the other horn of the antichrist, The Roman Church is the whore of babylon, etc...

It is, at best, misleading to avoid these.

In conclusion, I don't regret in one bit buying this great study tool. However, for the reason I mentioned above, I'm slight disappointed,..

However, no study bible is perfect. And, with the options available today (infected with "I'm in charge Arminianism, and sci-fi eschatology), this is a NO-BRAINER.

Get it!