Reformation Study Bible should appeal to larger readership
By Walter Taylor, Special to The Layman, June 14, 2010
Given the number of study Bibles on the market, one wonders why we should take notice of yet another one. Yet, the first “study Bible” in English was produced by and for Reformed Christians. In 1560 the Geneva Bible was published, a new translation of the Bible complete with marginal notes, maps, graphs and charts. It remained the principle Bible for Reformed Christians, both Presbyterians and Puritans, well after the publication of the King James Version in 1611 (the Pilgrims brought the Geneva Bible with them to America in 1620). 
The Reformation Study Bible
(English Standard Version)
R.C. Sproul, General Editor
Orlando, Fla.:
Ligonier Ministries, 2005
1,948 Pages; hardback, $39
A new study Bible produced by and for Reformed Christians has just been published, the Reformation Study Bible (English Standard Version). This is an adaptation of the “New Geneva Study Bible,” first published in 1995. However, this new edition is a big improvement.
In 1995, Thomas Nelson Publishers published the New Geneva Study Bible, the first study Bible in English written from a Reformed perspective since the original Geneva Bible. Under the general editorship of R.C. Sproul, the New Geneva study Bible drew on the work of many Reformed scholars for its resources. In addition to footnotes, maps and other helps, it also contained theological notes on many doctrinal matters. These notes were prepared by none other than J.I. Packer. The New Geneva study Bible went through a name change, becoming in subsequent editions the “Reformation Study Bible.”
But it had its drawbacks. For one thing, it was not typeset very well. The Biblical text appeared in small print, single column, with references in the side-margin. The other drawback was that it used the New King James Version, a version that has a following, but does not have wide appeal.
In this new edition, published by Ligonier Ministries, the Reformation Study Bible should appeal to a much larger readership. Now using the English Standard Version as its Bible text, it has been typeset in a larger, more readable print, and appears in a traditional double column format with center column references. The study notes are the same as in the older edition, though they have been edited to fit the ESV text.
The English Standard Version is a revision of the Revised Standard Version, but should not be confused with the New Revised Standard Version, which takes far more liberties in its translation philosophy than the ESV or the older RSV. First published in 2001, the ESV rings with familiarity for anyone who knows the RSV, the translation many Presbyterians “cut their teeth on.” As a revision of the RSV, the English Standard Version falls within that more literal standard Bible tradition that also included the Geneva Bible and the King James Version.
Overall, the Reformation Study Bible in the ESV is perhaps the best study Bible on the market for anyone wanting a dependable study Bible with a Reformed emphasis in its notes. The Reformation Study Bible is not the only study Bible on the market right now written from a Reformed perspective. In 2003, Zondervan published the “Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible,” which is a very good study Bible in its own right. In addition to features similar to those in the Reformation Study Bible, the Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible also included some of the historic confessions of the Reformed churches. However, the Spirit of the Reformation Bible only appears in the New International Version (NIV), a popular translation, but much less literal in its renderings than the English Standard Version.
Thus, for the Presbyterian wanting a dependable study Bible in what is probably the best English translation at present, the Reformation Study Bible in the English Standard Version will be a useful resource.
The Rev. Walter Taylor is a Presbyterian pastor in Oak Island, N.C
Originally published in the March 2005 edition of The Layman.