The Bible I finally bought was the "Minister's Bible" which I first encountered at Lifeway Christian Book store but eventually purchased elsewhere, I'll say more on that in a bit. But since I did not get it from Lifeway, I thought I would do them at least the courtesy of linking them from this blog and encouraging you to browse their website. Let's examine how this Bible met expectations, and then I'll say some more about it as well.Here is a sample page to see what it looks like:
The Armchair Bible was supposed to have a good font size. This was very important to me, and was one of my main make or break issues in selecting a Bible. Most simply did not add up. But the Minister's Bible did. If most Bible's are probably in the 7-8 range, this is likely a 9-9.5 font size. It's not a genuine 'large print', but it is large enough I don't feel at all strained reading it. Since this Bible was designed for pulpit use, it was given a font that could be read while standing at a pulpit. Need met!
The Armchair Bible also wanted good font type. It particularly favored the CEB font. This Bible does not use that. But I don't have a particular complaint, and without getting a CEB version Bible I wasn't going to meet this one. And CEB is a bit too new to have enough versions to have one that met my needs. So the font could have been a better type, it was not a make or break thing. Preference not met.
Were there an Armchair Bible, it would have utilized some colors for a clean layout. Because this Bible did not have too much going on, it does not have that. It might have been nice to have the verses or lower notes a different color. However I will say this: they use bold text well to highlight pericopes, and in the NT direct quotes from OT texts are bolded some (it does not show up as well on the computer but the Isaiah passage is clearly bolded in the Bible). Also, the letters indicating a footnote are a larger size and different font and much clearer than many other Bible's I have regarding footnotes/references. This is good since the HCSB employs at times lots of footnotes. So it is not color organized, but still well organize. More or less, need met.
Perhaps the single most important thing for me along with font size was that it have margin space for notes, and that has been the single hardest combination to find in a Bible. Either the text it too small or the margins are too small. This Bible ultimately sold me because it was only the second one I could find that had both that was not a study bible (you may remember I did not want a study bible). This Bible has wide margins all along the outside of the Bible, making for plenty of room for taking notes. And I did not have to particularly go way outside my desire for a good size (more on that later). Thus I am happy to report this need absolutely met.
I really would have liked some devotional content. But the problem is that is hard to come by. Had the C.S. Lewis Bible had wide margins I would have bought that book in a heartbeat. I only saw one other Bible that truly offered that kind of content, and it was by a group who would have had devotions with theology I don't find up to snub. It had me thinking about talking to some Giertz scholars I know about starting work on a Bo Giertz devotional Bible. It would I imagine especially be awesome in Sweden since Giertz composed his own translation of the New Testament which could then be used there (I am currently working with his translation as it is part of his commentary on John which I am translating into English). But until I collaborate with such Giertz scholars there just wasn't much out there and really I didn't see any that met my margin needs. I will say though, that the Minister's Bible includes resources for ministers, some of it are of a reflective/personal nature for the minister (but all aimed towards ministry). Some of this extra content though, also will never be used because of its theological incongruence with my own theological heritage. It actually gave me pause as to whether to get the Bible. Ultimately since this material was in the back I decided to not let it stop me. And I was surprised that more of it than I thought I will be able to take something from or reflect on. It is not totally unusable like I assumed when I purchased it. All the same, I will call this preference not really met.
I really wanted well placed maps and charts. I do get a nice table of measurements and full color maps, but they are not well placed. That is, they are in the back of the Bible. My personal observation has been this: when it is in the back of the Bible it is far less likely to be used, and therefore far less helpful. That said, it is not altogether absent. I will call this preference partially met.
I was able to land a very nice imitation leather cover. The one I found in the store had real leather which was REALLY nice, but cost a lot more. Actually when I ordered this one, the online thing claimed it was the leather one, so I was a little irked when I saw that was not the case when it arrived. All the same, it is a better form of "simulated leather" as it is called than a lot of Bible's out there. I could not be more pleased. It is flexible, durable, and lightweight. And I love the simply black cover with a slight border. I did not mention it last time, but not only the material, but the cover color I do prefer more basic. I'm not into weird colors or too many. I find nothing more offputting for example than the Augsburg Lutheran Study Bible's cover. Worst design ever. It looks like a gift for a baby boy (although it would be a bad one since NRSV has a really high reading level. By the time it would be appropriate to age, the color no longer would). Call me vain, maybe I am, I know it is still God's Word, but if I got a choice, I want one I would be seen in public with. I will say though that the Augsburg Study Bible makes up at least with a nicer dark blue deluxe edition (costing a fair bit more though). Luckily that is no issue for me any more. I like what I got here. Preference met!
I was hoping that my Bible would be a medium size and not get too big. I cannot overall complain about this Bible's Size. It may be a pinch bigger than I hoped, but recognizing my need for Font size and Margin space I was more than willing to give a little here. I said I did not want bigger than my study bibles in size and this is about the same size paper as them. But I think it is a bit thinner (and not being hard cover a bit lighter for sure). The dimensions are listed as 9.25" x 6.25" x 1.5". It isn't thinline by any means, but only 1.5" thick to go with its decent size and my main needs met I cannot complain at all. In general I would say this need is met!
I was hoping for thicker paper. Unfortunately I could not have my cake and eat it too. For the Bible to be this size, the paper is thin. It is slightly although not very see-through in terms of text. I found my pen does not bleed through really which was a concern. Where I really had problems was a highlighter. I bought some highlighters said to be specifically good for Bibles and they simply showed up way too much. After experimenting last night with most of the highlighters in my house I had to go out and again look for a special highlighter. I found some really nice ones by sharpie, I got a purple one, light enough it really does not show up at all on the other side. But from now on I have to be particular about what highlighters I can use with this paper. This need was not met.
I was looking for a good translation. I named a few and ultimately landed on wanting to try a CEB (modified since it was a custom Armchair Bible) but the CEB is so new there just was not enough variety to have something to meet my need. I will say though that perhaps the Holman Christian Standard Bible is a more conservative counterpart. I had one HCSB previously, but had not used it much. And my wife and I had been intrigued enough to try it lately. Prior to getting the Bible I did some research on the Holman.
- It comes from the Baptists, and does have a flair of 'inerrancy' within it since that was a big principle of the translators. This mainly shows in how while it does bracket questionable verses and offer critical commentary in the footnotes, it does not exclude verses/additions that most Bibles today will only show in the footnotes. It instead errs on including too much. Here are three quick examples of what I mean: most Bibles today only include John 5.4 and Acts 8.37 in footnotes, excluding the text entirely from the main translation. HCSB will only bracket those texts. Another example is most translations of Matthew's Lord's Prayer end at "deliver us from the evil one" but HCSB includes in brackets "For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen". However, HCSB while including these should not be mistaken for another KJV, they did use the most recent critical manuscripts and use critical footnotes.
- For the process of making this translation they coined a term called "optimal equivalence" which sought a balance between "word for word" translations and "thought for thought" translations. To some degree other translations do this, but they wanted to favor and try to do word for word while not feeling afraid to utilize thought for thought when necessary. Most of my research found it was somewhere between NIV and ESV in terms of the translation accuracy, I saw some debate as to where it is in comparison to NRSV for example, but I would guess it is a bit less literal than NRSV.
- I will say that HCSB also is somewhat unique in its decision to at times utilize Yahweh as the divine name. For those unfamiliar, in places where your bible has LORD or GOD in all capitals that is a time when the divine name of God is used in the Old Testament. The reason it is done that way is that it was an ancient practice never to actually say the divine name out of reverence, therefore the practice was to say Elohim ("God") or more commonly Adonai ("Lord") in place of the divine name. We know this in part because the Masorite scribes who years later added vowels to the Hebrew text would put the vowels for these words over the consonants (YHWH) for the divine name. Christians for a long time mistakenly translated the divine name as Jehovah (the old European pronunciation of the Hebrew Y was a J and W was a V) thinking the vowels from Adonai belonged to the divine name. Modern scholars today however believe that the original pronunciation the the name YHWH is Yahweh. HCSB therefore looks to use this at certain moments when the name matters, that is, it is invoked, stands out, or matters to the translation. An example would be Psalm 68.4 "His name is Yahweh", which is an appropriate use. My one issue here, which is why I never use Yahweh in anything I say or write, is actually that I wish we would learn from our Jehovah error and not presume to know what God's name is. While scholars are very certain, the truth is we have no real way of knowing how YHWH was pronounced. I would have preferred it been printed then with the divine name letters but no guess at the translation, since we do not know. But I realize that printing YHWH does not work well for reading aloud. But I personally am not high on HCSB's decision to use the name. And it has been a bit of an art figuring out when to use it and when not to, as over the twelve or so years that HCSB has been released they have altered the number of times Yahweh or LORD is used.
- That reminds me to note, that this is a still pretty recent translation, being first published in 2000.
- I did note that this was done by the baptists, but I had found enough recommendations outside the baptists and even reviews that checked to see if there would be a specifically baptist take on the translation all to come out to good reviews. Aside from sites that hail the KJV as the one true Bible, I found little that ultimately had a bad overall review of this translation. And what little I have used of it I like. It is different like the CEB in some respects. New enough to not be replaced soon. And I like the overall principle of optimal equivalence that went into it. So it was not CEB, but it had some of what I wanted from CEB and should overall meet my need.
I wanted a thumb index for the Armchair Bible. Again, this is kind of a rare feature in Bibles, and I was really pushing it given my desire for wide margins. The Minister's Bible did not have one. But for $3.75, about two frustrating hours, and a few mistakes later, I was able to add Bible tabs for a side index. For those interested, I should note that one must be very present mentally when adding bible tabs so as to not make mistakes that can take some time to fix. Also I learned that I should have left a few inches somewhere on the Bible clear of any tabs so it would be easy to thumb through the whole book more fluidly without any attempt ultimately landing me at the start of a book. And tab indexes, though as helpful as thumb indexes are messier looking. So I will say that it did not come with the need met, but for a little clutter, two hours of trouble, and no space for thumbing through more fluidly and randomly, this preference was inconveniently met.
The Armchair Bible would be single column. Well so is the Minister's Bible. It is another one of its easy readability features. And I like it. And I think it will definitely be good for note taking purposes. Some longer paragraphs will be maybe a pinch harder to read in the middle because of this, but overall it was in my mind a good choice and the benefits outweigh the alternative. Need met.
I am pleased to report, that like the Armchair Bible, the Minister's Bible is not a Red-Letter Bible. No issues with long Jesus discourses being hard to read. Preference gleefully met.
I have no Bible case yet, and have not quite decided if I will pony up for one. I might to keep the special pen and highlighter that were purchased for the use of this Bible together with it. We will see. But Bible's never come with cases, and thankfully the cover does not necessitate one immediately. Maybe one day, but as of right now I'm in no hurry to meet this preference.
I hoped for blank pages. Didn't get any. Again, size and space is a premium. I gladly would have gone without some of the resources in the back which I will never use for a blank page or two. Unfortunately this need was not met.
I wanted a ribbon bookmark and got two! How cool is that? One is currently marking where I am in reading through the whole Bible, the other marked where I preached from this morning. The dual flexibility is really good. This need is more than met.
I wanted an affordable Bible. Which has really been tough. As I mentioned, I went to Lifeway after striking out everywhere else I went. Lifeway has tons of bible options and some really affordable ones. I was really hoping I'd find what I needed. I was drawn to the Minister's Bible, but it was still just too expensive. So I opted not to get it. I went home, frustrated and saddened I still could not find a Bible. After more fruitless searching I decided to look online, still found little that claimed to meet my needs, and the hardest part was then I would only have the word of the website/item description. And I felt this was something I needed to see and hold. Since I had with the Minister's Bible I gave it a second thought. This is when I researched the HCSB and just juggled around the idea. When I decided to get it, I decided to try to find one used but in good shape online since I could not afford it. I found a store that sells used books but also must have had overstock or something and therefore had one of these brand new for much less. That was enough for me to finally make the decision, since I was able to get it in a decent price range. Overall I paid $22 + tax & shipping. I should also note that most if not all HCSB's claim to have lifetime guarantees, which I assume will mean if the binding fails or there was some other issue I can replace it (but I honestly could not find anything about the guarantee with the Bible so I'm not 100% sure what they mean by "lifetime guarantee"). If it gives me some chance for replacement with age that would be great. All the better value. If not, no biggie, this Bible still came much more in my price range. Need met.
So overall you can see this Bible actually did pretty well. It was not perfect or met all my needs/preferences, but it really did come through perhaps where it needed to most. It just goes to show that in our diverse world of English Bibles you can probably find something for you. It's still early but my early report is quite positive. In addition to what is listed above, I'll give you a quick glance at the extra material in the back. Some of it I will never use, may even cross out inside the Bible, others I may turn to from time to time. This is the complete list of "additional material" from this Bible: Plan of Salvation, HCSB introduction, HCSB Bullet Notes, Table of Weights and Measures, Where to Turn (Pastoral Care), Eight Traits of Effective Church Leadership, 21 Essentials of Authentic Ministry, A Classical Wedding Ceremony, A Contemporary Wedding Ceremony, Funeral Preparation, Funeral Sermon, Funeral for a Child, Funeral for a Student, Funeral for a Suicide Victim, Four Kinds of Expositional Preaching, 30 Keys to Giving an Invitation, Commitment Counseling, Leading a Child to Christ, ABCs of Becoming a Christian, Reaching Students with the Gospel, Two Things We Really Must Do, The Christian Year and Church Calendar, The Apostles and Their History, A Concordance to the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
As you can see, some could be helpful, some have too much of a baptist bend to be used. But it does provide a lot and a lot of guides or things for a pastor to think about. Even if I have to think about it critically, there will be some good there.
Suffice it to say, I'm satisfied. And I am pleased to say, this is my Bible.
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