Customer Reviews

NRSV Harper Study Bible

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The first study Bible I owned was the _Harper Study Bible_ in the RSV. That was almost 25 years ago and I still have it! I have a leather one too, the first one I bought was a hardback. This edition is quite good. Lindsell expanded some of the notes and it uses the NRSV text, a very, very good translation of the Bible. The font is a nice size and it reads across the page with excellent cross references in the margins. I use this Bible every time I study for sermons and Bible studies. Any person interested in studying the Bible in depth should consider adding this Bible to their study shelf.

I bought this study bible after researching a lot. My first study bible was Oxford New Annotated Bible, which I found it to be very eye-friendly format. But it seemed to me ONAB was too seminary textbook-like and I wanted something more personal, devotional, yet useful study bible for ordinary people. So, here it is. Originally, I thought of getting a NIV Study Bible, but center column cross-reference was distracting on my eyes. Although it seems that everybody chooses NIV nowadays, after careful comparison, I decided I liked NRSV better. I know many people talks about genter inclusive language, but as a Japanese who doesn't have that problem in Japanese, it is simply a problem in English style. But as a return, English translations are much smoother than Japanese ones. So, my rating on this Harper Study Bible is 9 star instead of 5, I wanted to give 10 star, but rather smaller font and not-so-excellent-paper makes the printing part "needs-improvement". For the content, the annotations and comments provide easy-to-understand-yet-thorough-informaiton. It is purely faith oriented, not science or scholatic, which bible is all about. They are objective enough, it's not preachy or self-help book like Life Application Bible. I agree that Life Application Bible is excellent, but it doesn't give me the feel of "God's words". This Harper Study Bible needs much more respect and I guess, more review and advertisement by Zondervan and scholars. If Zondervan makes a larger print format and improve paper quality, I have nothing to ask. I'm just so content with this study bible.

This is perhaps one of the best bibles I've purchased. Many study bibles are just overwhelming with the number of notes, and while that is nice for serious study, the volume of notes can render them useless. Where the Harper Bible excells is in the number, clarity, and depth of the notes as well as the introductions. The introductions give you exactly that, an introduction, not an extended essay. If you're looking for in-depth discussion of scripture, a commentary is a better tool than a study bible since its more complete. Also, the notes and introductions are written from a solidly evangelical perspective. Perhaps the best feature of this bible is the concordance, along with character profiles. Rather than just list every place the name Timothy appears in the bible, there is an outlined biography with scripture references in the corcordance for the major bible characters.

The Harper Study Bible also utilizes the NRSV translation, which despite most evangelical's dislike for it, is very similar to the new English Standard Version. The NRSV's essentially literal style makes it ideal for a study bible.

If I had to make one complaint about this bible it would be the paper quality - its rather thin. At the same time, the size of this bible makes it ideal for carrying around, as it fits in the medium size bible cases.

I highly recommend the Harper Study Bible!

This is the only study Bible that I have been able to locate in the NRSV translation that contains study notes from a conservative, evangelical perspective. I purchased it mainly because the NRSV is the preferred version of my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA). Another reason for my purchase was that the study notes were edited by the late Dr. Harold Lindsell, an evangelical theologian known for his defense of biblical inerrancy. Also, I was very familiar with Dr. Lindsell's earlier study Bible, "The Peoples Study Bible," published by Tyndale in 1986 and formerly available in the KJV and Living Translations.....I believe that both editions are now out of print. Lindsell's study notes in the Harper Study Bible are very similar to those in the People's Study Bible.

There are a few reasons that I did not give the Harper Study Bible a 5 star rating: (1.) The type is too small!(2). the page quality could be better so that a highlighter will not bleed through; (3.) it apparently only comes in hardback.....I had my copy rebound in leather by Norris Book Company of Greenwood, MS, and have been very pleased, however. (4.) it does not come in red letter, which I prefer. Other than the above, the Harper Study Bible is an excellent choice for Christians who use the NRSV.

I suspect that I'm a little less conservative than many of the readers for whom this study bible is designed. Nevertheless, this is one of my favorite study bibles. The author's conservative viewpoint is evident in the notes and introductions, but he does at least mention the views of less conservative scholars when discussing controversial passages. And happily, in most cases the notes are helpful, non-controversial explications rather than opportunities for doctrinal score settling.

However, even without the notes, this study bible is extremely helpful thanks to the editor's division of the text into an annotated outline format. I'm too lazy or too sinful to outline the bible as part of my study, but this bible does it for me. Furthermore, the outlines and divisions don't demonstrate any pronounced theological or scholarly bias that I can discern.

The layout of this bible is a model for all study bibles. The construction, size and weight of the volume, as well as the font, make it pleasant to hold and read. Publishers should pay more attention to these considerations. For me, I find that a study bible that's physically easy and pleasant to read will get more use than one that is cumbersome but more in line with my own views.

I know this review will probably receive some opposition- especially in light of the rave reviews other people have posted. Because of that, I am going to tailor this review to be as objective as possible.

The objective point I want to get across is this: just because the study notes agree with conservative beliefs does not make them *good* notes. Good notes are honest interpretations that rely on three things: 1- the letter of the text itself; 2- historical context, not just the author's opinion of history; and 3- cross-referencing to other passages of scripture, to achieve an informed view. If the notes arrived at their conservative conclusions honestly, in accord with the rest of scripture, and were informed by actual history, someone might disagree on interpretation, but the notes would still be *good* notes. However, if the original text must be twisted and supported by non-scriptural fabrication in order to support said conservative beliefs, the notes are not good, but bad. It's fine if a passage can honestly be interpreted in conservative ways, but claiming scholarly authority and then lying through one's teeth is not honest interpretation, and it has no place in a study Bible- conservative or otherwise.

I'm sure people are ready to dismiss this review as "some liberal" who disagrees and therefore makes wild accusations- but consider a few examples objectively:

Exodus 35:29 is a beautiful account of God's people coming together in faithful community to supply needed materials for the tabernacle. The Harper Study Bible twists this into a proof-text against fundraising, payment of stipends for services to the church, or other "material devices." What of clergy, church musicians, and others who have no other source of income? The Bible teaches that we should support clergy, musicians, and other lay ministers- not just insist they do it for free. The point is that this verse has nothing to do with payment of church professionals, but has been twisted into a jumping off point for the author to state his own beliefs.

Leviticus 7:35-6 talks about provisions for the Levites. The HSB now says that the priesthood should be "well paid and provided for," and that the modern church should "support those who give themselves to the service of God." This either completely contradicts the previous citation or refers solely to the clergy, leaving musicians, church staff, etc. out of the equation. Either way it is inconsistent and misleading.

Leviticus 20:19 is a verse prohibiting incest (male/female) in specific relationships. The HSB claims that this verse and those following prohibit (among other things) lesbianism. Whether or not you believe lesbianism is sinful, this is a flat-out lie; these verses have nothing to do with it, and the author has simply inserted his own beliefs without the support of the text on which he is commenting. This is deceptive, and can give readers the wrong impression. Again this is not about whether or not you agree that lesbianism is sinful- there's no disputing the fact that these verses simply do not say what the notes claim. These are not good notes.

Throughout the books of the Law, the HSB treats ancient Hebrew worship as though it was worthless for anything other than to prefigure Christ's sacrifice, despite the fact that this was the way our Lord chose to be worshipped for thousands of years. In Numbers, the HSB tries to present Balaam as a money-grubbing, evil, false prophet, when the scripture itself portrays him as an honest man who will not prophesy falsely- even for money. In Deuteronomy Ch. 24, the HSB states that any beliefs not derived from specific scriptures are false- when the HSB is filled with its own beliefs that are not derived from specific scriptures. In Joshua Ch. 7, the HSB invents a story that Achan's family helped him in his theft, to justify their horrible execution along with Achan later in the story. In Judges Ch. 19, the HSB makes up a story that the Levite's Concubine was cheating on him, in order to justify her horrible rape and murder later in the chapter.

In Matthew Ch. 3, the HSB gives a negative description of the Pharisees, outlining a long list of everything these misguided people believed. This is interesting, because the author of the study notes for the HSB seems to rigidly believe every item on the Pharisee list! Then follows a statement that the Pharisees hated Jesus because he did not keep the law in the way they believed everyone should, and Jesus in turn condemned them for being legalistic and hypocritical. Yet, the author throughout this Bible hatefully describes anyone who does not keep the law in the way he believes everyone should, and shrugs off or discredits more "liberal" views that would label him as legalistic and hypocritical. But for the plank in his eye, he would realize that he had just condemned himself as a Pharisee.

If all of the cited inconsistencies, falsehoods, and instances of hypocrisy are not enough to convince you, I must apologize because I have not yet read the entire Harper Study Bible and have not taken careful enough notes to discover all of the poor scholarship this book contains. If I had, I would no doubt discover more of the same kind of thing throughout, and would have many more examples to list here. On the other hand, perhaps no one has the time to really sit down and read everything that is wrong with this study Bible, so it may be a mercy I ended this review when I did.

In place of the dreadful "Harper Study Bible," I would recommend people use the "HarperCollins Study Bible," a magnificent volume including the work of many, many Biblical scholars that makes no attempt to insert non-scriptural beliefs or to hit people over the head with a particular interpretation. In stead, readers can draw their own conclusions when it comes to controversial topics. The HarperCollins Study Bible is neither conservative nor liberal- a welcome change from this "Harper Study Bible," which is so obsessed with being conservative that honest scriptural interpretation goes out the window. Again, it's fine to be conservative if you arrive at your conclusions based on scripture itself and historical fact- but not pseudo-history, inconsistency, and fabrication.

I have been looking for a conservative study bible in the NRSV, one that I don't have to constantly disagree with the notes and commentary. I have most of the other study bibles in the NRSV such as the Oxford Annotated, Harper Collins (NOT to be confused with this one), the New Interpreters, Access, and Cambridge Annotated. I can glean some useful things out of the notes in these bibles, but I am still prone to knee-jerk with many of the notes :). However, with the Harper (not Harper-Collins), my quivering knees can rest easy. The note's author, Dr. Lindsell, is conservative and it shows all through the Bible. For instance, the notes in Genesis 1 show this book is taken literally; homosexuality is called perversion in Romans 1; in Romans 3 and 4 salvation by faith alone is stressed. The Bible is taken literally, as I believe it should.

The layout of the bible is also nice, with decent margins, chapter divisions, and side references. (Side references are rare in the NRSV, also.) Although the bible is a "handy size", the print is not too bad. The paper is thin; the hardback seems pretty sturdy. I have ordered a second copy as I plan to wear this one out quickly!

I know the NRSV does not go over well with a lot of conservatives, and I don't care for gender inclusiveness myself, but other than that it seems like a fairly literal but readable translation. There are a lot of changes in the Old Testament based on "scholarship", but these are clearly marked and most do not seem to affect doctrine. The more I read and examine it, the more comfortable I am becoming with it, the knee thing again.

In short, this is a great conservative NRSV study bible.

This is an excellent Bible to keep by your bedside for your nightly devotion. The study helps are very good and brief. The concordance for this size Bible is excellent. The single column format and lack of red letters are major pluses. The overall size of the Bible makes it easy to carry.

The NRSV is not as familiar to the ear as the RSV but seems to be faithful to the original Hebrew and Greek.

The only minuses I would give this Bible are: the color and cover design - rather blah, the thin pages (doesn't allow for highlighting), the thin pages also allow you to see the following text on the page your reading.

For serious Bible study I would also recommend the NIV Study Bible, The New Interpreter's Bible, and The Life Application Bible (NRSV or NIV).

I have been a user of the Harper's Study Bibles since 1977 when I first got the RSV translation. I have had the NRSV since 1991, and find it my favorite. The Harper's Study Bible is laid out in one column. It uses outline headings, has cross-references well displayed in the margin, and it has hundreds of annotations throughout. The concordance is also plentiful to help find the Bible verses needed. Perhaps my favorite feature is the Gospel cross-references. Stories in the gospels are referenced to other gospels where that same story appears. It helps for quick reference to see how the stories are the same or different. As a Lutheran Pastor, this is my first choice for a Bible. I have two copies of the RSV, having worn out my first copy, and I am purchasing a second NRSV translation so I have my favorite when my current Harper's Study Bible finally wears out.

I have used several editions of Lindsell's Harper Study Bible since 1977 when I was a freshman in college. I have used many other study Bibles over the years, including The Wesley Bible (NKJV) and the NIV/TNIV Study Bibles. When the Wesley Bible went out of print, I went back to the Harper and have tried many others, but I find myself coming back to Harold Lindsell's Harper Study Bible (now in NRSV). I will admit that neither the notes nor the translation are perfect. No study Bible's notes are perfect, and no translation is perfect. But I have learned much from Harold Lindsell over the years. I have always found the single column text easy to read. The cross references (rare in NRSV Bibles)appear without marks in the text, which makes this a reading Bible as well as a reference Bible. The concordance and index help me find passages in ministry settings like Sunday School and Bible study. Often, I can find something in the Harper that I can't find in more extensive reference works. At this stage in my life, I'm not sure whether this is an objective matter or the result of familiarity that has come from three decades of use. Nevertheless, The NRSV Harper Study Bible continues to be my default Bible as a pastor and teacher of the Bible. Lindsell had the highest regard for the Word of God, and I would recommend this Bible to anyone, clergy and laity alike.