hopperace
5th December 2006, 08:11 PM
I must confess I haven’t read Henry Blackaby’s Experiencing God, nor used the course materials based on the best-selling book that have been widely popular in Baptist Sunday Schools. In a sense I come to this study Bible by Henry and his four grown sons (Richard, Thomas, Melvin, & Norman) with fresh eyes, yet blessed in experience of countless encounters with both God and study Bibles. Those familiar with Blackaby’s work will recognize the catch phrases of experiencing and encountering God. In their introductory message the Blackaby’s advise that, “people need to move from an encounter with a principle or a doctrine to an experience with the living God, who is a Person”, and this is indeed the impetus throughout the special features of this Bible.
The Blackaby Study Bible, offered only in the best-selling New King James Version, is a study Bible proper, but it’s a very personable one, and is quickly replacing the Life Application Study Bible as my favorite Bible of this aspect. Some may argue that any study of the Bible is both personal and devotional, but for those of us inclined to heady scholastic fare of jargoned theologies, textual criticism, or even esoteric applications, or even a bit uncomfortable or tired with the molds and structures of many devotional Bibles, I find this tool to be a true jewel; and one, as a Presbyterian of sorts, I’m strongly considering gracing my Baptist family members with.
It has the usual features I’ve grown to expect in a study Bible – adequate book introductions, an ample concordance and full-color maps, adequate cross references, a few in-text maps or charts, and some form of commentary on each page. Its end of page commentary (which it simply calls Explanatory Notes) is rather brief, but its 3 distinguishing features are its Encounter notes, Word Studies, and personality profiles (which it splits into Historical Encounters and Character Studies). I mention these personality profiles together as the single most salient hallmark of the Blackaby Study Bible - it’s most unique feature when compared with other study and devotional Bibles. The Historical Encounters reads like a who’s who of Christian history, and usually encapsulates how particular encounters with God transformed the life of each of these noteworthy saints. The Character Studies are not always as inspirationally oriented summaries of Bible personalities. There are little devotional Encounter nuggets on most every page, and though the Word Studies are fewer and farther between, they’re generally more in-depth and often give transliterated insight into original language meanings. All of the features are uniquely verse referenced in connection to their applicability from the text of Scripture. Other features include a How to Study the Bible article in the front, and a Time Line (very simplistic and kind of bland), Harmony of the Gospels, Read Through the Bible in a Year Plan, and Prophecies of the Messiah Fulfilled in the back.
The Blackaby Study Bible’s layout is versed two-columned text in a nice dark and very readable 10.8 point type (w/words of Christ in red), with a center-column reference, and Explanatory Notes beneath a thick line at the bottom. The Character Studies and Historical Encounters are put in a two-column window at the bottom of a page, but above the thick line. Most maps are placed below the Explanatory notes, or occasionally within a column of the text itself. All of the Encounter Notes and Word Studies are put into windows within a single column of the text itself. For all its features and type size, the Bible is a wonderfully trim (6.19 – 25 (width) X 9.25 – 75 (height) X 1.25 (depth)) size for a study Bible. Almost without exception I buy the hardcover editions of study Bibles – I find them better for note taking and general study, but something about this one actually had me returning the hardcover I had purchased in favor of the bonded leather edition. It wasn’t a quality or durability of binding issue with me, but more of a je ne sais quoi (certain something) in flexibility of devotional use – a certain flowing of the Spirit nature I found inherent in the product. Just call me weird.
The only drawback I found is one I’ve grown to accept from any formalized study of Scripture, and especially those of a particular theological focus – it’s decidedly opinionated, even to the point of emphatically telling the reader what to believe. For the Blackaby’s, of course, this means a regular indoctrination in Baptist lore. I love my Baptist brethren, and I respect Baptist teachings, and the authority with which leadership in teaching often invests itself, and the pains and inadequacies of fairly presenting alternative views, but I’m usually appreciative of efforts at some offering of balance, even if I immediately discount anything not of my particularly conservative ilk or flavor of theological nuance.
The Blackaby Study Bible, offered only in the best-selling New King James Version, is a study Bible proper, but it’s a very personable one, and is quickly replacing the Life Application Study Bible as my favorite Bible of this aspect. Some may argue that any study of the Bible is both personal and devotional, but for those of us inclined to heady scholastic fare of jargoned theologies, textual criticism, or even esoteric applications, or even a bit uncomfortable or tired with the molds and structures of many devotional Bibles, I find this tool to be a true jewel; and one, as a Presbyterian of sorts, I’m strongly considering gracing my Baptist family members with.
It has the usual features I’ve grown to expect in a study Bible – adequate book introductions, an ample concordance and full-color maps, adequate cross references, a few in-text maps or charts, and some form of commentary on each page. Its end of page commentary (which it simply calls Explanatory Notes) is rather brief, but its 3 distinguishing features are its Encounter notes, Word Studies, and personality profiles (which it splits into Historical Encounters and Character Studies). I mention these personality profiles together as the single most salient hallmark of the Blackaby Study Bible - it’s most unique feature when compared with other study and devotional Bibles. The Historical Encounters reads like a who’s who of Christian history, and usually encapsulates how particular encounters with God transformed the life of each of these noteworthy saints. The Character Studies are not always as inspirationally oriented summaries of Bible personalities. There are little devotional Encounter nuggets on most every page, and though the Word Studies are fewer and farther between, they’re generally more in-depth and often give transliterated insight into original language meanings. All of the features are uniquely verse referenced in connection to their applicability from the text of Scripture. Other features include a How to Study the Bible article in the front, and a Time Line (very simplistic and kind of bland), Harmony of the Gospels, Read Through the Bible in a Year Plan, and Prophecies of the Messiah Fulfilled in the back.
The Blackaby Study Bible’s layout is versed two-columned text in a nice dark and very readable 10.8 point type (w/words of Christ in red), with a center-column reference, and Explanatory Notes beneath a thick line at the bottom. The Character Studies and Historical Encounters are put in a two-column window at the bottom of a page, but above the thick line. Most maps are placed below the Explanatory notes, or occasionally within a column of the text itself. All of the Encounter Notes and Word Studies are put into windows within a single column of the text itself. For all its features and type size, the Bible is a wonderfully trim (6.19 – 25 (width) X 9.25 – 75 (height) X 1.25 (depth)) size for a study Bible. Almost without exception I buy the hardcover editions of study Bibles – I find them better for note taking and general study, but something about this one actually had me returning the hardcover I had purchased in favor of the bonded leather edition. It wasn’t a quality or durability of binding issue with me, but more of a je ne sais quoi (certain something) in flexibility of devotional use – a certain flowing of the Spirit nature I found inherent in the product. Just call me weird.
The only drawback I found is one I’ve grown to accept from any formalized study of Scripture, and especially those of a particular theological focus – it’s decidedly opinionated, even to the point of emphatically telling the reader what to believe. For the Blackaby’s, of course, this means a regular indoctrination in Baptist lore. I love my Baptist brethren, and I respect Baptist teachings, and the authority with which leadership in teaching often invests itself, and the pains and inadequacies of fairly presenting alternative views, but I’m usually appreciative of efforts at some offering of balance, even if I immediately discount anything not of my particularly conservative ilk or flavor of theological nuance.