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MacArthur Study Bible….Are study Bibles a good idea?

JonC

Moderator
Moderator
http://www.roapm.com/store/#!/Bonded-Leather-Bible-5th-Edition-BROWN/p/45188113/category=8846043

I am not a fan of study bibles, as I always feel distracted by the notes, but if I were to recommend a study bible it would always be this one.

It is a written from a Fundamental, Independent, Dispensational,King James Only viewpoint.

Hey Jordan. What is the source of the commentary? (I don't see it on the site, but am assuming you have a copy as it carries your recommendation). Thanks.
 

Jerome

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Can this be elevating the pastor’s notes to the place of Scripture?
The NIV is trash material. :(
Several years ago MacArthur finally relented and published an NIV edition of his Study Bible despite his estimation of the NIV:

"does anybody who reads the NIV care what it means? (Laughter) Obviously you get the question. You know what I’m saying, it’s sort of like a pew Bible." —"Shepherds" Conference transcript

He was given free rein to expose NIV errors in his notes:

"where the text needs to be corrected, can we be free to correct it.” And they came back and said, “Absolutely.”"

He was heartened by one move of the NIV folks:

"they dumped the TNIV which was horrific, gender stuff."
 

JonC

Moderator
Moderator
Several years ago MacArthur finally relented and published an NIV edition of his Study Bible despite his estimation of the NIV:

"does anybody who reads the NIV care what it means? (Laughter) Obviously you get the question. You know what I’m saying, it’s sort of like a pew Bible." —"Shepherds" Conference transcript

He was given free rein to expose NIV errors in his notes:

I notice that in The NIV Application Commentary on Hebrews, George Guthrie disagrees with the NIV interpretation at times.

Dr. Bill Mounce was on the NIV translation committee. He has stated that there are many places where he is convinced that the NIV mistranslated passages. This is probably the case with all translations…or at least all good ones that are not merely one man’s opinion…. It doesn't make the NIV "bad," it makes it a translation.
 

Zenas

Active Member
I just used MacArthur's notes as an example since it's the one I engaged this morning. My questions concern study Bibles in general.

I was reading a passage in John today, and for some reason looked it up in the MacArthur Study Bible. I agree completely with MacArthur’s notes, but the passage is in no way self-defining (there are other interpretations).

If someone is using these study notes, however, is there a danger of merely “taking a pastor’s word for it”? Can this be elevating the pastor’s notes to the place of Scripture? I don’t always agree with the interpretations in the notes, and sometimes they are a minority interpretation with little evidence.

My problem is that the MacArthur study Bible, and other study Bibles I’ve seen, simply present their views as being the right view. They do not, typically, explain why they believe their interpretation to be superior….and indeed, they do not even present the other positions. I have no issues with good commentaries, but the commentary of a study Bible is not good commentary (even if they come to the right conclusion, they don’t explain how you arrived at that conclusion). It seems to me that study Bibles short-cut the learning process and the reader is left with a belief that they don’t really understand (they cannot base their view on Scripture because they merely accepted the explanation of another).
That is a problem with all study bibles but the notes provided can be helpful if you remember that they are the learned opinion of the editor. It would be nice to see several interpretations laid out side by side but we're talking study bibles (one volume) not commentaries.
 

Van

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Hi Zenas, yes comparison of differing sources is essential to sound bible study. I have two Bible Dictionaries, one more scholarly, one more conservative. I have several study bibles (Zondervan, Ryrie, Life Application, and Scofield.)
 

Rippon

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
The NIV is [_ _ _ _ _ _] material. :(
The mods and administrators must be asleep at the wheel. I had reported this post of RW's days ago, and no action was taken.

Rob.Will., you have no reverence for the Word of God to make your ungodly remarks.
If you prefer the NASB, NKJV or whatever version --fine. But do not vilify other translations.

The BB used to enforce rules against your kind of conduct. It's a shame that those "rules" are a thing of the past.
 

thomas15

Well-Known Member
As far as study Bibles go, the MacArthur is one of the better ones. It is my favorite. I think though to the OP question, we don't seem to get ourselves all tied up in knots over the theological underpinnings of a standalone commentary like we do with a Study Bible. Who here on this board has never heard about that the danger of having study notes on the same page of Scripture that can cause confusion? It's an old argument.

How many people here have more than 1 commentary on the book of Romans? Looking for different viewpoints I guess. Same goes for Study Bibles. And Bible translations.
 

thomas15

Well-Known Member
The mods and administrators must be asleep at the wheel. I had reported this post of RW's days ago, and no action was taken.

Rob.Will., you have no reverence for the Word of God to make your ungodly remarks.
If you prefer the NASB, NKJV or whatever version --fine. But do not vilify other translations.

The BB used to enforce rules against your kind of conduct. It's a shame that those "rules" are a thing of the past.

Thanks for keeping the website safe.
 

McCree79

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
[quoting post already edited for breaking the rules]
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Van

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
I've only found one study bible to be objective, making an honest attempt to present multiple views without demanding one be correct. Nelson's NKJV Study Bible....

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002E2UX4A/?tag=baptis04-20

The one in the link says "with complete study system"

Not sure what that means, because the notes in the bible are only about a third of the notes they put together. There is (or at least was) a full commentary available in a separate book. This may be the complete system, but maybe not.

That bible/commentary is worth 5 times the price

Hi JamesL, perhaps you could provide the study note for John 3:5, so we could compare it to Zondervan, Ryrie and MacArthur.
 

Van

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
Here is the Life Application note on John 3:5:

"Of water and the Spirit" could refer to (1) the contrast between physical birth (water) and spiritual birth (Spirit), or (2) being regenerated by the Spirit and signifying that rebirth by Christian baptism. The water may also represent the cleansing action of God's Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5.) Nicodemus undoubtedly would have been familiar with God's promise in Ezekiel 36:25-26. Jesus was explaining the importance of a spiritual rebirth, saying that people don't enter the kingdom by living a better life, but by being spiritually reborn."
 

McCree79

Well-Known Member
Site Supporter
For added comparison here the ESV study Bible notes.

"JOHN—NOTE ON 3:3–6 This discussion of the need for spiritual rebirth further develops the earlier reference to the “children of God” who are “born of God” (1:12–13; cf. 8:39–58; 11:51–52). The phrase born of water and the Spirit in 3:5 refers to spiritual birth, which cleanses from sin and brings spiritual transformation and renewal. Water here does not refer to the water of physical birth, nor is it likely that it refers to baptism. The background is probably Ezek. 36:25–27, where God promises, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean.*… And I will give you a new heart.*… And I will put my Spirit within you.” For further discussion of being born again, see 1 John 2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1, 4, 18. The kingdom of God, a major topic in the other Gospels, is mentioned in John only in 3:3, 5 (see the reference to Jesus’ kingdom in John 18:36"
 
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