A Review
Over the last few months, I have begun to appreciate the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), beginning with a couple of reviews published in February and March of 2017. It is quickly becoming my favorite pulpit Bible. I am becoming increasingly excited as Study Bibles are becoming available based around the CSB.
CSB Apologetics Study Bible For Students is the first such text to cross my path. As I approached this Study Bible, I had two questions. How does it compare to the original version of the Apologetics Study Bible and how does it compare to earlier editions of the Apologetics Study Bible For Students.
First, how does the CSB Apologetics Study Bible For Students compare to the original Apologetics Study Bible? There are two obvious differences. The footnotes are basically the same between the original version and the student version, except that Bible references have been updated to use the CSB. I did not check every footnote in all 66 books of the Bible, but I did check those in Philippians (my current preaching text) and in the Psalms (for an example from the Old Testament). It is possible that translation decisions did not allow every footnote to use a CSB reference to support a footnoted comment.
The second difference is that sidebar material has been substantially revised from the original to the student version. In some cases this means that similar topics have merely been rewritten by a different author; in other cases, new material has been added.that will be appreciated by students (though non-students might find some of these new comments of help - e.g. the article on pornography).
The differences between the previous edition of the Apologetics Study Bible For Students and CSB Apologetics Study Bible For Students are less dramatic - mostly accounting for the change to using the CSB. As would be expected, textual footnotes are those found in the CSB rather than the original translation.
The bottom line is this, pastors and libraries might consider having both a copy of the original Apologetics Study Bible and a copy of the CSB Apologetics Study Bible For Students. The differences in the sidebars would make having both editions available an important addition to a library - personal or otherwise.
Students might be advised to keep a copy of the CSB Apologetics Study Bible For Students handy while in school (or until starting seminary). They can consider adding the Apologetics Study Bible (or other helpful Study Bibles) to their personal library as they are given additional responsibility in the church.
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This review is based on a free copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.
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