The Apologetics Study Bible: Understand Why You Believe by Anonymous
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The Apologetics Study Bible is the latest addition from Holman and the Christian Standard Bible. As its name suggests this is a very specific type of study bible. Like all study bible, this a resource or tool. Still there is enough here for every reader, and every follower of Christ is an apologist.
As stated this resource is tied to the Christian Standard Bible, a very readable and reliable Bible translation. Like any very good reference Bible this one has lots of useful features. Each book of the Bible contains an introduction defining its authorship. Another feature of the introduction is a defense of the reliability of the book in the canon of Scripture. This is fitting for a resource focused on apologetics, defending the reliability of the source. Each introduction also contains a unique feature highlighting a specific issue of the book, from challenging myths to the importance of the book in the greater scope of Scripture. Fortunately, these introductions are just that and not a commentary. The reader is given just enough information to grasp the book. One minor note is there are no outlines provided for each book.
Throughout the text there are plenty of study notes to help illuminate and expand the readers understanding of the Biblical text itself.
The heart of this Bible is its apologetics resources. The lion’s share of the material is in articles spread throughout the text. The articles range from topics such as “Are the days of creation to be taken literally” to looks at Islam and sexuality. One of the strengths of these articles is they are not tied to specific political, social or other areas. Each article is tied to a scriptural text as its basis. Each article, whether it is about sexuality, science, or ethics is backed biblically.
The authors range from Russell Moore of the ERLC of the Southern Baptist Church to John Frame of Reformed Theological Seminary and the late Chuck Colson. There are plenty of these articles to cover most of the issues the church faces today. Along with top notch scholarship contributing these articles they are presented as readable and accessible to the reader. No Seminary degree or philosophy background needed.
The second notable feature is the twisted scripture index. R Alan Smith has brief comments on 20 passages of Scripture showing how various groups have taken scripture and twisted it to their own views. (See Genesis 1:2 and vampires for an example)
The final part I want to mention are the biographies. There are 12 articles introducing prominent apologists from church history. These biographies range from Augustine to C.S Lewis. While not extensive (a paragraph or so) they are sufficient to encourage the reader to read more about the person. The articles also encourage the reader that the church has wrestled with questions and successfully defended the faith for thousands of years.
This publication will not address every topic or answer every objection or question it is a solid, valuable resource to aid the reader to understand and defend the faith as well as give the believer confidence in the faith handed down throughout the ages
Thinking About Theology 