The ESV Study Bible will be released this fall to join the myriad of other Bibles which bind together the fallible words of men with the infallible word of God. I must confess my bias and my background – My dad in earlier years had a Scofield Reference Bible. Through the wise counsel of a beloved friend, he gave this up, and realized the danger of such a text. He raised us with a strong conviction that the bible alone was sufficient for what we believed and how we lived. Regularly, as my father, and as my pastor, he spoke of the infallible, inerrant, inspired word of God.
In my own experience, with strong-minded relatives, I have discussed a variety of theological topics and have been told “The Bible says……” When pressed, the individual in question, pulled out a study Bible and read to me from the notes. “But those are just notes….” I protested. “No, this was written by a godly man.”
Now I am not questioning the godliness of the ESV Study Bible contributors. But here are my questions for them and any other Study Bible writer or developer.
a) On what basis are the fallible words of men bound together with the infallible words of God?
b) Why could the notes not be published separately as a one-volume commentary on the text of Scripture?
c) What justifies the production of yet another Bible when so many languages of the world have yet to see one verse in their native tongue?
d) Are today’s followers of Christ able to discern the difference between God’s word and man’s opinion or interpretation of that word?
When it comes to the purchase of this study Bible, count me out. I’ll be sending my money to Cuba to help fellow believers there with needed resources, or directing it towards missionaries who are pioneering new language translations so that all the world may know the Good News!
[...] provides a healthy reminder of the potential drawback to the concept of study Bibles. In his post, “Another Study Bible??” over at Live Life! International, Keith reminds us of the danger inherent in placing commentary [...]
Wonder what would happen if we (like so many leaders in other countries) just had the Bible to use in preparation of sermons?
Agree whole-heartedly with studying the text before going to the secondary sources.
I have a friend from Bible School days who, when planting a church downeast, lost his entire library and files of sermons and lessons due to a fire. (He had a considerable library.)
After the fire, he discovered all he had was his Bible and a Strong’s Concordance. I asked him what it was like that first week, prepraring a sermon with nothing but a concordance. He said, “I really slowed down and looked at what the text was really saying.”
I think going through a couple of weeks of ministry with nothing but a Bible and Concordance would be a wonderful exercise in prayerful dependence upon the Spirit of God as we read and reflect on Scripture.