A Study Bible by the Church
J. Mark Bertrand has a typically comprehensive review of a fantastic new Bible design by the folks over at EvangelicalBible.com–one the best places to get high-quality editions of Holy Scripture. Their new Schuyler ESV Bible is clearly designed with care and precision, but it’s not just the goatskin cover and Jongbloed-printed text block that stand out with this edition.
This volume includes the great ecumenical creeds and confessions of Protestant Christianity bound under the same same cover as the Biblical text. You’ll find:
- Apostles Creed
- Nicene Creed
- Chalcedonian Creed
- Athanasian Creed
- Augsburg Confession
- Articles of Religion
- Westminster Standards
- London Baptist Confession
Including these documents accomplishes a similar goal to that of a study Bible, with one significant difference: the views summarized are not those of an individual, or even a committee of scholars, but of a confessing church. They represent a collective endorsement and exposition of the faith contained in Scripture. While there is a great deal of consensus among the confessions, there are differences, too -- and I think that's helpful, as well, to those of us who want to have an informed view of what our fellow believers actually confess (as opposed to what they're accused of believing, if you see what I mean).I absolutely love this idea. This also got me thinking about what a uniquely Anglican study Bible might look like--and I think it'd be similar, in that it would include the great creeds and the 39 Articles of Religion. I'd also like to see excerpts from the Church Fathers, the Book of Common Prayer, and the English Reformers.
It seems that if you’re looking for the kind of Bible that has non-intrusive study helps that have endured the test of time, you could do a lot worse than the Schuyler ESV.