in pursuit of wild things

I recently received the HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible) Apologetics for Students Study Bible to review. To be precise I am just going to review the additional articles, study notes and physical appearance of the book.

The Bible is a nice comfortable weight and size. It has indented tabs which I really like. Old Testament tabs are black and the New Testaments tabs are red. The pages are very thin, making the print on the back page visible. All of the pages have very light gray curved designs and print on the pages as well. I did find these designs to be distracting. My daughter liked the designs. The HCSB is not my favorite translation. I’ve always found the bold print of Old Testament quotes in the New Testament to be distracting. My oldest son said he preferred the bold type to the foot notes. I also felt the margin space should be larger for a study Bible. My kids couldn’t imagine why anyone would write in their Bibles. All that to say I think this study Bible is spot on for the intended market and not for old people like myself! Ha!

I did enjoy reading a few of the articles and book introductions. There are interesting archeological and historical asides called “Bones and Dirt”. These are usually little bits of the historical record that confirm the Biblical narrative. Another set of little notes called “Tactics” are simple apologetic teachings in response to common statements from non-believers. There are also sections titles “Twisted Scripture” throughout the text. These point out Scripture that some groups have misinterpreted (depending on your beliefs). I would like to point out if you are a Jehovah’s Witness, from the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (Mormon) or in any way a New Age Christian then these notes will offend you. I’ll also point out the articles take a middle road view on the young earth/old earth argument. Strictly young earth Christians will not be happy with the shared viewpoint in the article. Some personal accounts are scattered throughout the text showing how individuals dealt with hard issues in their own lives. I also enjoyed reading some of the many (I haven’t read all 120 yet!) articles. The articles are about issues facing Christianity today as well as subjects younger Christians will find interesting.

Through out the summer the “gift of confident faith” is being celebrated with a sweepstakes and a teaching video series from Sean McDowell. The kids and I watched a couple of videos for our Bible devotion time together. I plan for us to watch all of them together. The videos are quick (just over three minutes) teachings over common questions like having doubts, treatment of women, why does God allow evil and so on.

Overall I like all of the features of this Bible. I’m very interested in getting my hands on a copy of the non-student version! What I really love about this Bible is that my kids are excited to get their hands on it and have been begging me to get this review over with so they can have the text!

I’ve been provided a copy to give away. Please leave a comment below or on my Facebook page for a chance to win by August 13th.

“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”): Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway. Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation. I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post. Giveaways are valid only in the USA and Canada.

Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway. If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller / FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days, you are not eligible to win. If you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again. Winner is subject to eligibility verification.”