Customer Reviews

Thompson Chain Reference Study Bible-NASB

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4 star:		(1)
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I use the Thompson NASB and it is great. I will just echo other sentiments that the layout of this Bible is great. This Bibles greatest strength is that it uses Scripture to teach Scripture. There are no notes on the page. If one wants to dig into a specific passage or specific book the references will take the student into the Bible as deep and as far as they want to go. This is my main Bible, along with the Dickson New Analytical KJV, to read and study God's words. There are too many specialty and study Bibles on the market. All the major publishers bring them out each year like boxed cereal. I too own and use some specialty study Bibles for specific purposes. These are great if you want to study from a specific point of view, like Dispensational or Charismatic, or understand what an interesting teacher of the Word may have to say like Tim LaHaye, John MacArthur, RC Sproul, or Henry Blackaby. But on a daily basis the Thompson Chain Reference is the one that can bring the best out of the student of the Word.

As a full time minister, I've used quite a few study Bibles. Thompson's chain system is simply the best I've found. You won't find daily devotionals or specialized commentary interspersed with the text, but you will find a research system that is easy to use and comprehensive. You can easily put together lessons on a vast number of topics using this study Bible alone. If you can have only one Bible -- get one of the Thompson's Chain editions in the translation of your choice. You won't regret it.

This is a terrific Bible. NASB is a conservative, literal, trustworthy translation. Thompson's is a wonderous system for tying together spiritual truths. The page layout is superb, lots of room for notes. The study helps are tremendously comprehensive; you could spend a lifetime exploring them. The presentation is elegant. It would hve been nice if the the spine were "hubbed", but that's a trivial critique. This is a fantastic edition of the Bible. Unless you're the type who's never satisfied with anything, you will not be disappointed with this one.

As far as study bibles, the Thompson Bible is far and away my personal favorite because its outstanding chain reference system is based on the concept of using Scripture to interpret Scripture. Although annotated study notes can be very helpful, I personally prefer the Thompson approach of linking Scripture by related topics and themes.

My one serious problem, and the reason that I've had to reluctantly discard my Thompson NAS Bible, is that they have not yet published it in the NAS as updated in 1995. Anyone considering purchase of this otherwise outstanding study Bible should be aware of this. Hopefully, Kirkbride will soon address this issue.