Do you have a study Bible?

Question

I read Thomas Jefferson's when I was young.

In his day, gentlemen would annotate different parts of the Bible, underlining the parts of scripture that they believed were truly the word of God, and which parts they thought to be fabricated.

They would meet to discuss agreements and disagreements. The Bostonians’ Bibles would be almost without a mark. Thomas Paine's would have only a few sentences left. Jefferson's was somewhere in the middle.

This is how we came to have separation of Church and State, thank God, not by hiding from the Bible, but by studying it.

Answer 1

Yes, I have numerous. My professional library burned in1984 or I would have more. I used Kittel in Hebrew and Nestle in Greek, Eurasmus and Jerome in Latin, and Aland's Synopsis both in Greek and German (He included the Gospel of Thomas as well). I've read the Septuagint, and most of the major English translations. I read Jefferson as well, he cut out major portions. My ordination bible was the New English. The Bible I underline and annotate the RSV (I dislike the NRSV, finding it a practice in obfuscation). I dislike The Living Bible because of its changes to the actual text, not only in its paraphrasing but also in its evangelical bias in explicaion and expansion of texts which I find dishonest. I was not fond of the earlier editions of TEV, but their scholarship greatly improved by the Third edition, and their Old Testament, because of its concrete simplicity I find paradoxically far closer to the Hebrew than most English bibles. I also appreciate that they came out with an edition with the Apocrypha and Deuterocanonicals approved by Orthodox and Catholic authorities. I love the Jerusalem Bible for its scholarship, poetry and footnotes. For grandeur of language, accuracy of translation, and metre for reading I love the 1611 COMPLETE King James authorized Bible. I use the New Living translation in The Recovery Bible for jail ministry. The Tanakh I read for better understanding of the Jewish applicaion of Scripture. I also read three versions of the Qu'ran (although incapable of doing so in Arabic). If more people read, discussed and applied any or all of these we'd have a better world.

Answer 2

Jefferson and Paine et al were "victims" of the Age of Enlightenment" a precursor to the German Liberal Theological movement (such as Reinhold Niebuhr etc).They didn't believe in the miracles of the Bible and either dismissed them entirely or tried to find natural causes (such as Immanuel Vilokosky did 'Worlds in Collision')
The Separation of Church and State is nowhere in the Bill of Rights or the Constitution at all. It was lifted from a letter Jefferson wrote to a pastor friend of his.
Thomas Paine for all his rabble rousing before the Revolution ,ended up remaining a British subject and dying in London.
By the way,I use a Scofield Study Bible,New King James Version.As well as" ALL" J. Vernon McGee's Commentaries.

Answer 3

Yes, I have a few. Sanford has retractable highlighters that are very good in muti-colors. I've had a few mini-strokes so I get numbers mixed up. I do remember what area of the page a scripture I want is located. The highlighted color helps me pick it out well.

The trouble I have is remembering to mark it in all three Bibles.

Answer 4

Yes, The Nelson't Study Bible - New King James Version. I really like it.

Answer 5

Yes, I'm an atheist with an NIV study Bible, a gift from one of the Christians in this forum. And yes, I've been reading it.

Answer 6

Yes, I have the Comparative Study Bible that has 4 translations side by side:
NIV, KJV, Amplified, NASB

Answer 7

Yes
I use the Full Life Study Bible

KJV

Answer 8

Yes, I have a study Bible and yes I mark it up.

Answer 9

Yes I have several versions

Answer 10

Yes, I have three and have another on the way!