With all of the internet hooplah surrounding the release of another new study Bible (ESV Study Bible), it might have been easy for many of you to overlook the latest study Bible from Holman Bible Publishers. The Apologetics Stuy Bible (available only in the HCSB) is a fine piece of scholarship and study material. I love it and have often referred to it for help since recieving it as a gift a few months ago.
The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) is a wonderful translation in the tradition of formal equivalence translations (see Leland Ryken’s article on formal v. dynamic equivalence here). The language is easy to read and the built-in helps with the HCSB easily rival any other modern translation of the Bible.
Most interesting for this Study Bible is that it is dedicated to apologetics. This is the only study Bible of which I am aware that dedicates itself to this important discipline, and Holman has done a wonderful job of collecting scholars and information to make this volume both appealing and helpful. With contributions from men such as Chuck Colson, Ravi Zacharias, Norman Geisler, and J.P. Moreland, you are sure to be challenged and blessed from the extra-biblical texts contained in this work.
An article you may find beneficial, How Can Jesus’ Death Bring Forgiveness?, was written by one of my favorite seminary professors, Dr. Chad Brand,
The NT speaks of Jesus’ death providing forgiveness in at least three ways. First, Jesus’ death was a sacrifice for our sins…Second, the NT speaks of Christ’s death as a “propitiation for our sin (Rm. 3:21-26). This word, hilasmos, carries the meaning of “an offering satisfying God’s wrath toward sin,” yet remarkably God himself provides this offering…Third, and realated to both points already made, the Bible speaks of Christ’s death as a substitution.
Any serious student of the word will be benefited greatly by a good Study Bible (or several) and The Apologetics Study Bible is a great Bible to choose. I would especially encourage it for college students as they look for a text to carry to class, it is often very beneficial to have the notes from credible scholars to support you as you defend the truth-claims of the Bible in the face of liberalism
