Studying The Word

Disclaimer: I am not being paid to talk about this. I am simply sharing this for anyone who might be in a position where they want to know more about God and would be looking for a Bible. I am aware that my beliefs may not line up with yours. I am not preaching anything here, I am simply sharing my thoughts on a new Bible that will be helpful to someone who might be interested.

A long while back, I had heard that the Berean Bible Society was putting together a Grace Study Bible. It was going to be some time for it to be completed, but there was an option to pre-order it. I did just that and waited for news that it was finished and published. Lots of folks ordered it apparently, because the first batch they printed was gone in a hurry.

Any way, it finally arrived recently and I am quite impressed. First of all, it is much bigger that I thought it would be. It is also a bit heavier than I expected. It reminded me of the Bible that the pastor who teaches my classes used in the videos.

When I was about 16, one of the guys I worked with began to talk about “religion” with me. We were both Catholic at the time, but we both shared many of the same questions. Through his studies, he met a pastor of a local church who not only answered those questions, but also shed light on the Bible that seemed to clear up what we had felt were contradictions.

Miles Coverdale once said:

“It shall greatly help thee to understand scripture, if thou mark not only what is spoken or written, but of whom and to whom, with what words, at what time, where, to what intent, with what circumstances, considering what goeth before and what followeth after.”

I cannot begin to tell you how that helped clarify things for me. It’s so important to understand that.

I say all of this because this particular Study Bible does just that. God is dispensing His Grace today and this Bible is excellent at clarifying points that often trip up people. It has some wonderful illustrations and charts inside as well.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is in Ephesians, where it talks about the Armor of God. I thought this was a good representation of what is being conveyed.

There are various versions of one of the charts in this study bible. Various churches have their own design, but they pretty much say and illustrate the same thing. I’ve always thought it was neat to visualize the timeline –

The actual pages of scripture are laid out well with various cross references and footnotes, too. There is also still room for the reader/student to add notes.

While the text is still the same, reading and studying over the last couple days has been exciting. Many of the notes are refreshers for me, while others shed a bit more light on a passage. As I studied, I realized that this Bible would be perfect to have when answering someone’s questions, especially someone coming to the Bible for the first time.

He no longer works with me, but I had a coworker who always had Bible questions for me. I loved when he would ask them, because it really made me study. I hated not having at least a partial answer for him. He always asked good questions and some nights the answers were short and easy, while other nights we would talk about it all through the shift. He was the first person I thought of when I opened this up. I could easily see this Bible being a great help with those questions.

The bible is about 2-2 1/2 inch thick – and that isn’t even the large print version!

As I mentioned, I preordered this from the Berean Bible Society in Illinois. If you are inclined to check it out, the direct link to order or get more info on the Grace Study Bible can be found HERE.

I’d be happy to answer questions that I may not have addressed in this blog.