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Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful Study Bible!
Review: I bought this study bible after researching a lot. My first study bible was Oxford New Annotated Bible, which I found it to be very eye-friendly format. But it seemed to me ONAB was too seminary textbook-like and I wanted something more personal, devotional, yet useful study bible for ordinary people. So, here it is. Originally, I thought of getting a NIV Study Bible, but center column cross-reference was distracting on my eyes. Although it seems that everybody chooses NIV nowadays, after careful comparison, I decided I liked NRSV better. I know many people talks about genter inclusive language, but as a Japanese who doesn't have that problem in Japanese, it is simply a problem in English style. But as a return, English translations are much smoother than Japanese ones. So, my rating on this Harper Study Bible is 9 star instead of 5, I wanted to give 10 star, but rather smaller font and not-so-excellent-paper makes the printing part "needs-improvement". For the content, the annotations and comments provide easy-to-understand-yet-thorough-informaiton. It is purely faith oriented, not science or scholatic, which bible is all about. They are objective enough, it's not preachy or self-help book like Life Application Bible. I agree that Life Application Bible is excellent, but it doesn't give me the feel of "God's words". This Harper Study Bible needs much more respect and I guess, more review and advertisement by Zondervan and scholars. If Zondervan makes a larger print format and improve paper quality, I have nothing to ask. I'm just so content with this study bible.
Rating:
Summary: Best Study Bible I've Encountered
Review: I have found this to be one of best Bibles I have encountered. The notes are written from a conservative theological perspective (the author, Harold Lindsell, was a Baptist and seems to hold generally to a Reformed perspective). There are not too many notes, but seem to be just enough to answer my questions as I am reading through the text. I am somewhat familiar witht the Bible, having studied some theology formally, but think that this bible would be usefeul for both beginners and advanced providing an "average" number of notes. The focus of the notes appears to applying sound doctrine to the practicalities of everday life. Overall it seems to be a nice balance between the "Life Applcation Bibles" and the "New Geneva Study Bible". I am not particularly fond of the NRSV as a translation, but the notes make purchase of this Bible more than worthwhile. The format is single column, relatively large type, with references on the side. There is also some addtional room at the margins for notes. Lindsell also wrote study notes for an RSV study bible, The Eyre & Spottiswoode Study Bible, published by Cambridge University Press. This edition is not available in the US as it competes with the NRSV version. Even though I prefer the RSV translation, this NRSV version has expanded notes that make a significant improvement.
Rating:
Summary: Best Study Bible I've Encountered
Review: I have found this to be one of best Bibles I have encountered. The notes are written from a conservative theological perspective (the author, Harold Lindsell, was a Baptist and seems to hold generally to a Reformed perspective). There are not too many notes, but seem to be just enough to answer my questions as I am reading through the text. I am somewhat familiar witht the Bible, having studied some theology formally, but think that this bible would be usefeul for both beginners and advanced providing an "average" number of notes. The focus of the notes appears to applying sound doctrine to the practicalities of everday life. Overall it seems to be a nice balance between the "Life Applcation Bibles" and the "New Geneva Study Bible". I am not particularly fond of the NRSV as a translation, but the notes make purchase of this Bible more than worthwhile. The format is single column, relatively large type, with references on the side. There is also some addtional room at the margins for notes. Lindsell also wrote study notes for an RSV study bible, The Eyre & Spottiswoode Study Bible, published by Cambridge University Press. This edition is not available in the US as it competes with the NRSV version. Even though I prefer the RSV translation, this NRSV version has expanded notes that make a significant improvement.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Study Bible
Review: The first study Bible I owned was the _Harper Study Bible_ in the RSV. That was almost 25 years ago and I still have it! I have a leather one too, the first one I bought was a hardback. This edition is quite good. Lindsell expanded some of the notes and it uses the NRSV text, a very, very good translation of the Bible. The font is a nice size and it reads across the page with excellent cross references in the margins. I use this Bible every time I study for sermons and Bible studies. Any person interested in studying the Bible in depth should consider adding this Bible to their study shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Study Bible
Review: The first study Bible I owned was the _Harper Study Bible_ in the RSV. That was almost 25 years ago and I still have it! I have a leather one too, the first one I bought was a hardback. This edition is quite good. Lindsell expanded some of the notes and it uses the NRSV text, a very, very good translation of the Bible. The font is a nice size and it reads across the page with excellent cross references in the margins. I use this Bible every time I study for sermons and Bible studies. Any person interested in studying the Bible in depth should consider adding this Bible to their study shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Study Bible
Review: This is perhaps one of the best bibles I've purchased. Many study bibles are just overwhelming with the number of notes, and while that is nice for serious study, the volume of notes can render them useless. Where the Harper Bible excells is in the number, clarity, and depth of the notes as well as the introductions. The introductions give you exactly that, an introduction, not an extended essay. If you're looking for in-depth discussion of scripture, a commentary is a better tool than a study bible since its more complete. Also, the notes and introductions are written from a solidly evangelical perspective. Perhaps the best feature of this bible is the concordance, along with character profiles. Rather than just list every place the name Timothy appears in the bible, there is an outlined biography with scripture references in the corcordance for the major bible characters.The Harper Study Bible also utilizes the NRSV translation, which despite most evangelical's dislike for it, is very similar to the new English Standard Version. The NRSV's essentially literal style makes it ideal for a study bible. If I had to make one complaint about this bible it would be the paper quality - its rather thin. At the same time, the size of this bible makes it ideal for carrying around, as it fits in the medium size bible cases. I highly recommend the Harper Study Bible!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Study Bible
Review: This is perhaps one of the best bibles I've purchased. Many study bibles are just overwhelming with the number of notes, and while that is nice for serious study, the volume of notes can render them useless. Where the Harper Bible excells is in the number, clarity, and depth of the notes as well as the introductions. The introductions give you exactly that, an introduction, not an extended essay. If you're looking for in-depth discussion of scripture, a commentary is a better tool than a study bible since its more complete. Also, the notes and introductions are written from a solidly evangelical perspective. Perhaps the best feature of this bible is the concordance, along with character profiles. Rather than just list every place the name Timothy appears in the bible, there is an outlined biography with scripture references in the corcordance for the major bible characters. The Harper Study Bible also utilizes the NRSV translation, which despite most evangelical's dislike for it, is very similar to the new English Standard Version. The NRSV's essentially literal style makes it ideal for a study bible. If I had to make one complaint about this bible it would be the paper quality - its rather thin. At the same time, the size of this bible makes it ideal for carrying around, as it fits in the medium size bible cases. I highly recommend the Harper Study Bible!
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent study Bible for the NRSV translation!
Review: This is the only study Bible that I have been able to locate in the NRSV translation that contains study notes from a conservative, evangelical perspective. I purchased it mainly because the NRSV is the preferred version of my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA). Another reason for my purchase was that the study notes were edited by the late Dr. Harold Lindsell, an evangelical theologian known for his defense of biblical inerrancy. Also, I was very familiar with Dr. Lindsell's earlier study Bible, "The Peoples Study Bible," published by Tyndale in 1986 and formerly available in the KJV and Living Translations.....I believe that both editions are now out of print. Lindsell's study notes in the Harper Study Bible are very similar to those in the People's Study Bible. There are a few reasons that I did not give the Harper Study Bible a 5 star rating: (1.) The type is too small!(2). the page quality could be better so that a highlighter will not bleed through; (3.) it apparently only comes in hardback.....I had my copy rebound in leather by Norris Book Company of Greenwood, MS, and have been very pleased, however. (4.) it does not come in red letter, which I prefer. Other than the above, the Harper Study Bible is an excellent choice for Christians who use the NRSV.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent study Bible for the NRSV translation!
Review: This is the only study Bible that I have been able to locate in the NRSV translation that contains study notes from a conservative, evangelical perspective. I purchased it mainly because the NRSV is the preferred version of my denomination, the Presbyterian Church in the USA (PCUSA). Another reason for my purchase was that the study notes were edited by the late Dr. Harold Lindsell, an evangelical theologian known for his defense of biblical inerrancy. Also, I was very familiar with Dr. Lindsell's earlier study Bible, "The Peoples Study Bible," published by Tyndale in 1986 and formerly available in the KJV and Living Translations.....I believe that both editions are now out of print. Lindsell's study notes in the Harper Study Bible are very similar to those in the People's Study Bible. There are a few reasons that I did not give the Harper Study Bible a 5 star rating: (1.) The type is too small!(2). the page quality could be better so that a highlighter will not bleed through; (3.) it apparently only comes in hardback.....I had my copy rebound in leather by Norris Book Company of Greenwood, MS, and have been very pleased, however. (4.) it does not come in red letter, which I prefer. Other than the above, the Harper Study Bible is an excellent choice for Christians who use the NRSV.
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