40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Oxford Annotated Bible is a faithful friend: A guide on choosing a Bible, April 2, 2011
This review is from: The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version (Hardcover)
For the past half-year, I have been vacillating as to whether I should purchase a new Bible. Every time I went to Cokesbury in Atlanta, I drooled over all of my favorite translations. I looked at hard covers and the leather editions; I checked prices and versions.
But whenever I went, I felt that I was committing some sort of adulterous act. At home, I knew my beloved Bible, the Oxford Annotated Study Bible, Third Edition, was awaiting my arrival. I had purchased the Bible over six years ago, and it got some great use in Bible studies, Sunday school, and sermons.
It seemed only natural, then, that if I were to get a new Bible, it would have to be the next Oxford edition (the Fourth Edition). This would not be unusual: Over the past fourteen years I owned a total of four Oxford Annotated Bibles.
I remember the day I purchased my first Oxford Annotated Study Bible in 1996. I entered college as a Bible student, and my religion professors required this particular version.
I went to the campus bookstore and saw this behemoth of a Bible (I later learned that it goes by the nickname, "the Brick"). I wondered why I had to get a new Bible in the first place. At the time, I was using the very popular NIV study Bible (mine had a cool DC Talk "Jesus Freak" sticker on the back cover, thank you very much). Why would I spend forty to sixty dollars for another Bible?
Several reasons. For one, it had the Apocrypha. My professors told me that we would study these books in addition to the Protestant "inspired" texts because it provides historical insight to the inter-testamental period leading up to Jesus.
Also, it was the New Revised Standard Version. Unlike the NIV, which combines both literal and paraphrase translations in sloppy fashion, the NRSV boasts some serious historical-critical scholarship. It is not perfect, but it is accurate in the tradition of the King James Version.
Upon looking at the various "versions" of the Oxford Bible available at the campus bookstore, I settled on the paperback edition. At least if I did not use it much, I was not spending an arm and a leg.
You get what you pay for, and within one semester the covers and end-pages were wrinkled, worn, and nearly torn. I had to replace it with the hard cover after all. This was known as the "Brick" not only for its size and weight, but because of its bright, fire-engine red cover.
It did not take long before the Brick replaced all of its contenders in my life of faith. The old NIV started to collect dust on the bookshelf along with my Ryrie NASV study Bible and a waste-of-money New King James Word of Life study Bible (which I swore weighs over ten pounds) I picked up before college started.
The Brick sustained me through four years of college and three years of seminary.
My beloved Bible eventually matured into a swollen, well-worn artifact. Good news was that, by the time I graduated seminary, Oxford Press had published the Third Edition Brick.
It was in 2004 that I earned a Master of Divinity degree, a good job as associate pastor, an ordination to the Gospel ministry, and a newborn daughter. I thought it appropriate to celebrate by purchasing a new Oxford Annotated Third Edition Bible. I splurged and bought the leather-bound version. I was living the high life now; and I had a gold-leaf name on the front of my new Bible to prove it.
By now--six years later--the leather-bound edition became as well-worn as the original Brick I purchased so long ago. The gilded edges were spotty, and the spine grew an awkward fold from a publishing defect. The pages showed signs of slight water damage (how they got wet or humid, I know not).
Buying a new Bible can be a daunting task for any Christian, especially when it has to count for something. No one wants to drop $80 on a Bible and then not like it--(I had experienced that with that wretched NKJV study Bible years ago).
What was more daunting was that, this time around, I questioned whether I was going to even purchase a new Oxford Bible. There are Bibles on the market that were not available a half of a decade ago, and two new study Bibles caught my wayward eye.
One was the New Interpreter's Study Bible (NISB), which was just published a few years ago. The study notes are more "devotional" than those in the Oxford, although it still includes a rather scholarly tone. Additionally, there are more notes than the Oxford.
Yet, problems abound for the NISB. The leather edition, for instance, has the ugliest spine, with the name of the study Bible scrawled along the entire space. The leather is nice, but that lousy name is a bit ostentatious, to say the least. I considered buying the hard cover instead; but seriously folks, you ever try to teach or preach with a hard cover study Bible?
The other Bible that caught my eye was the Wesley Study Bible (NRSV). I'm not a Methodist, but this Bible has great notes, devotional sidebars, and handsome binding. Only problem is that it lacks the scholarship of the Oxford, and it is a bit larger than the Oxford (not in thickness, but in width). It just would not do.
Not only did I consider other study Bibles, but I also did the unthinkable: I flirted with other translations. There are so many good ones out these days, from the English Standard Version to the New Living Translation. Both have excellent study Bibles available, and both have a wide variety of leather-bound styling.
Well, to make a long story longer: The other day, I decided I was going to make this momentous decision, so I carved out one hour to spend at Cokesbury. I brought along my Oxford Third Edition to get its blessing before I replaced it. That...and I wanted to compare the size of all these Bibles to the Brick.
My adventure started with the Oxford Fourth Edition. I compared the binding (didn't want to get stuck with another defective Bible), leather, page quality, font, and (of course) the study notes with my Third Edition.
In the areas of binding, leather quality, font, and page quality, the Fourth Edition is far superior than any of its predecessors (the leather feels like sheepskin, and is quite handsome indeed).
The study notes in the Fourth Edition, although similar in many areas to the Third Edition, are actually expanded, and they read more clearly than the previous version. It seems that the folks at Oxford wanted to include more devotional material as well as scholarship in order to compete with those other Bibles I mentioned.
The introductions to each book have expanded. The font, though smaller than the Third Edition, is actually more clear because there is more white space in between lines.
The size of the third and fourth editions are comparable. It seems that the Fourth Edition is thinner by a fraction, but I think the binding just makes it appear as much.
I really wanted something smaller, something I can carry outside of church. So, I left the Fourth Edition on the shelf and took another look at those other Bibles I had flirted with.
New Interpreter's Study Bible? Nice, but the spine was still too ugly. Wesley Bible? Not a Methodist. Harpers Study Bible? Um. No. NKJV? Too old school. NIV? Have one at home. NLT? Tempting, but maybe next time. New Jerusalem Bible? It would be nice if they had a study Bible for the NJB. ESV? Too gender exclusive in its language for sure.
Then it hit me: I need the Oxford. I need a Brick. Where would I be without those faithful study notes? How could I read scripture in public if not for the gender inclusive language that the NRSV offers?
And before you knew it, my bank account was eighty dollars less, and some lady was putting my gold-leaf name on the cover. I had committed to being a loyal Oxford customer yet again. What a ride.
It hasn't been a week since I bought the Fourth Edition Brick, and I must tell you, I have not been able to put it down. I absolutely love it, and it turns out that the font, notes, and beautiful binding all came in handy during my Wednesday night Pastor's Bible Study on Revelation.
Also, the new Brick spent some time meeting its cousins--my former companions--it replaced. Every free moment I get, I transfer my hand-written "notes" from my original hard-cover Brick to the new Brick. And the life-cycle of my faith journey comes full circle.
When I go through those notes, I see just how much the Oxford Bibles have meant to me over the past fourteen years of my life. The original hard-cover Brick, for instance, contains notes from college, my first job as a Bible teacher at a private school, seminary, and, later, my doctorate degree. That's when I realized that the Annotated Oxford Bible (in one form or another) has been with me through every major faith development, crisis, and research in my entire religious career since 1996.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Top Class...But, January 27, 2011
I bought this book primarily because it is advertised as including the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books and secondly as an Ecumenical Study Bible. It is hard to find a good single-volume study bible which contains the Apocryphal books. I have the New American Bible which do have the Apoc./Deut. books but I wanted another translation to compare these second canons.
This is a very well made bible physically. Sewn pages. The leather's supple, soft, and it smells good too! But it is so soft that it's not as easy to hold this bible open in your hands: it bends and twists so easily! Rather, this book is perfect for reading while placed on a solid, flat surface like a table or a study desk. On this type of surface, the book opens flat right up to the first and last pages! Main text is very readable at point 9 or 10, while the annotations more like point 8.
The cross-references are included in the annotations making them both work in the context of each other. Although this is fine for me, some readers may prefer the cross-references on a separate place like the margin.
I love the color maps and excellent map index. The book also includes a concordance which while not exhaustive would still be useful. The only downside to it is the really small font size, perhaps point 7 or 6. I had to use my reading glasses for it. You'd also appreciate the glossary as not every bible has it.
For the most part the notes try to find a balanced view, and ends up being rather bland in certain places. Not so with the book introductions where the intro writers give a much clearer although at times controversial stand, even calling some Prophetic books as fiction. In any case, notes and book intros are supposed to give background information and the opinion of the writers and not to correct the biblical text. It would not be fair to say that these study aids possessed a liberal tone all throughout but you'll get the impression that they are present to challenge the reader. It's only here in this bible where I read an intro to the Gospels that says that they are not eye-witness accounts; make whatever you can of it. I leave it to your discretion. But it does help explain why many point out that this kind of study bible is popular in the seminaries.
You might want to be aware of the objections to the NRSV translation (its use of inclusive language and all that) but also be aware that the NRSV is clear and highly readable. For this reason, I would read a passage of the bible in the NRSV after I've read it in another translation but still want to get a better grip on the text. This is especially useful in the Deuterocanonical Books, speaking of which, I was surprised to learn that the Eastern and Greek/Slavonic churches have even more number of Deuterocanonical books of their own than the Roman Catholic Church! It is good that they are included here, even if your only purpose is to read them as an academic exercise.
I would recommend this volume with the caveat that you consider whether you'd like the very flexible leather binding with the consequence I mentioned above- and if you welcome some liberal views of the introduction and annotation authors. The NRSV do use inclusive language but as an English text it shines in clarity! I always keep the bible in its box when not in use.
(last edited May 27, 2011)
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