The folks at Lifeway Christian Resources, publishers of the Holman Christian Standard Bible, were good enough to order me a copy of their Apologetics Study Bible for review. And I've been waiting expectantly for it to arrive. Think "kid on Christmas Eve" and you've got the idea.
And after a couple of weeks of waiting...
It's finally here!
And I most definitely like what I see.
Here are some of my initial thoughts:
The Bible is well bound and sturdy. It looks like it will stand the test of time well.
The Bible I chose was the Black Genuine Leather version, and it's Indexed. The Old Testament is indexed in black, while the New Testament is in red.
The Bible text itself is clear and eminently readable, even for visually impaired old fogies like myself. This is extremely important because you don't read a Bible like you do other books. You generally spend much more time on every page because you're not just reading to get what's being said. You're reading and rereading, going back over the passage again and again to make sure you get the context right and interpret it all correctly. At times, you're also meditating on the Word, and don't leave the page for hours. This is why page lay-out is so vital to the full Bible reading experience.
The pages are very well laid out with even the footnotes at a large enough font size that one doesn't have to squint to read them. And that is another plus for this Bible.
The wide format and size of the Bible and its pages was a big part of Lifeway's solution to make sure the text was readable. And this while leaving enough white space on the margins for those who like to jot notes down on their Bibles.
This is just a first look. There will be lots more to talk about in future posts, such as the HCSB translation itself, the large number of Apologetics articles included which were written by not a few notables in the field, as well as all the other Notes and resources.
Once again, my thanks to Jamie and all of the other folks at Lifeway for putting together what looks like a wonderful and informative resource, and a million thanks as well to my Cousin Raffy and the Cortinas for getting it to me! God bless and reward you a hundredfold for your kindness, generosity and labor of love!
Updating: I don't write on my Bibles so this was something I had not considered but one of my pastors saw the Bible and says the paper is too thin for notes. A pencil should work, though.
See also:
A Second Look at the HCSB Apologetics Study Bible
http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-second-look-at-hcsb-apologetics-study.html
And after a couple of weeks of waiting...
It's finally here!
And I most definitely like what I see.
Here are some of my initial thoughts:
The Bible is well bound and sturdy. It looks like it will stand the test of time well.
The Bible I chose was the Black Genuine Leather version, and it's Indexed. The Old Testament is indexed in black, while the New Testament is in red.
The Bible text itself is clear and eminently readable, even for visually impaired old fogies like myself. This is extremely important because you don't read a Bible like you do other books. You generally spend much more time on every page because you're not just reading to get what's being said. You're reading and rereading, going back over the passage again and again to make sure you get the context right and interpret it all correctly. At times, you're also meditating on the Word, and don't leave the page for hours. This is why page lay-out is so vital to the full Bible reading experience.
The pages are very well laid out with even the footnotes at a large enough font size that one doesn't have to squint to read them. And that is another plus for this Bible.
The wide format and size of the Bible and its pages was a big part of Lifeway's solution to make sure the text was readable. And this while leaving enough white space on the margins for those who like to jot notes down on their Bibles.
This is just a first look. There will be lots more to talk about in future posts, such as the HCSB translation itself, the large number of Apologetics articles included which were written by not a few notables in the field, as well as all the other Notes and resources.
Updating: I don't write on my Bibles so this was something I had not considered but one of my pastors saw the Bible and says the paper is too thin for notes. A pencil should work, though.
See also:
A Second Look at the HCSB Apologetics Study Bible
http://apologika.blogspot.com/2014/04/a-second-look-at-hcsb-apologetics-study.html
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