The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, Third Edition (Hardcover...

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	• The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, Augmented Third Edition, New Revised Standard Version, ... Oxford University Press, USA, 2007 - 2432 pages average customer review:based on 136 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

How about a review of the Book for once?

I am sure you are getting tired of reading everyone's opinions. I am going to review the actual book. For starters, the NRSV text can be easily found in etext form by way of Google or a similar search engine, so go preview it if it is new to you. Next, the study notes are extensive and are concerned only with putting the text in historical context, discussing the difficulties of translations and little tidbits on what has been suggested by research. This means no doctrine whatsoever, and no attacks on believers of the doctrines. Whether you are Christian or not you should find this commendable, because that is a difficult thing to do.

Yes, some of what you are hearing about gender-neutral is true, 'brothers and sisters' in place of 'bretheren', 'humankind' in place of 'mankind' (what is the difference?), but don't worry, no 'Father-mother' combinations. The text still says 'Father'. That reviewer obviously knew nothing about what he was saying. Besides you would think Oxford scholars would have the sense to put 'Parent' if asked to eliminate 'Father'. Like I said, Google an etext and preview the translation.

I must admit I haven't read the essays in the back yet, but like anything else, including the study notes, I would definitely take these with a grain of salt. There is no reason to flip out if they don't coincide with your beliefs - they only would if you wrote the notes yourself, afterall. If you consider the Bible authoritative, it is perfectly okay to read this. Likewise if you believe the opposite. The annotations do not address this, and will give you an opportunity to see with an 'outside-looking-in' point of view. This could be very healthy.

As for the book's construction, it is bound well and will probably last through a good deal of use. Great typeface and size, and easy to read. Format is double column text with single column annotations. The original footnotes of the NRSV are present, there is a concordance, and about 14 maps. Timelines and topical index at the end behind the essays. Book introductions are longer than most study Bibles.

Why only four stars? It was glue bound and not woven.

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Well Written Annotated Bible

I bought this as a gift. The recipient told me he was very happy with it. He does a lot of Bible study and seems to be pleased with how this book clarifies and explains the context of what is being said.

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EXCELLENT Study Bible

I recently ordered this item for my husband for a Christmas present. We both used it in our religious studies classes and found it an incredibly informative and easy biblical text to use. He loaned it to his brother who liked it so much that he never returned it! This one even has the included Apocrypha, which was a nice extra the earlier edition did not include. DEFINITELY a worthwhile purchase for the price and is good for old or young bible students!

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The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha, Third Edition (Hardcover 9700A)

Amazon's service is wonderful. I like it.

Finally!

The previous Annotated Oxford with the RSV translation has long been outdated, however excellent it once was. With the NRSV, one had hoped it would not take OUP so long to update its annotations too. Alas, it did. Those of us who could not wait for OUP to get it together simply bought the HarperCollins Bilbe Study. One or the other suffices, even if OUP's scholars have historically been among the very best. In terms of layout, HarperCollins is better.

The NRSV is clearly superior to all alternative translations in English (just remember its mandate required inclusive language when it comes to human members, wherever it did not change meaning, which, when used, the NRSV notes the original masculine gender in its notes). It is also without an ulterior agenda, such as the NIV, ASB, and other Evangelical fundamentalists' skewing of meaning, nor is it bereft of competent language, such as NAB, REB, and NJB. Besides being the most literal, it is also the most poetic and literate translation. Bruce Metzger's (ed.)introduction to the NRSV translation is critical, albeit short, reading. The annotations of both books, HarperCollins and Oxford, are sufficient for nearly all purposes short of a commentary.

Jean Calvin's Evangelical maxim that the "Bible is the literal and inerrant Word of God which alone is sufficient for salvation" is nonsensical and absurd as it is ridiculous (the Bible does not contain that maxim, which defeats Calvin's theorem). The Bible is first, foremost, and always the "Book of Spiritual Perfection," a "Collection of Divine Parables," or widely one perspective of Salvation History. All other claims about being "literal and inerrant" are simply preposterous and absurd (see, Metzger's other archeological and textual works that just make hay of such silly notions).

All but casual readers will require a commentary, as context and parallels are vital to understanding the authors' objectives and their backgrounds that contribute to their meaning. Both the Oxford Bible Commentary and the New Jerome Biblical Commentary are excellent, one-volume commentaries. All others can be disposed-of as fundamentalist-slanted misinterpretations to "fit" preconceived notions and agendas. Northrop Frye's "Great Code" is one of the very best literary perspectives (he has several others). Any book by biblical scholar Raymond Brown will open treasures you would never have imagined are "evident" throughout the Bible (e.g., "Birth of the Messiah" and "Death of the Messiah" are breathtaking for the insights Brown demonstrates).

Above all, remember, the Bible is not isolated verses (that's an interpolation), it is a number of different and varied stories with anagogical, not literal, meanings. Polysemy was well-understood in the early Middle Ages, where the literal, moral, figurative, and anagogical were always the "steps" to understanding. Catherine of Siena insists "those who read the Scripture literally, do without understanding, because the light is clouded by their own pride and selfish love."

Never take an Evangelical slant as meaning for anything, since they take sentences out of context, ignore the "big points" and obsess over the trivial, and consistently demonstrate they are ill-equipped to read anything, much less the Bible. E.g., their preoccupation over homosexuality (which ignores David and Jonathan's love 2 Sam 1 and Jesus and his Beloved Disciple) can best be seen for the nonsense it is in Romans, Chapters 1 AND 2 -- they seem to skip 2. They can quote Paul's prologue with abandon, but then they abandon what that prologue leads to, which, after pillorying homosexuality, Paul insists that judgment of others is far worse than homosexuality, because it is idolatry (the worst of all sins, dear fundies!). And also remember, Paul rejects ALL sexuality, but "permits" men (yes, only men) to have sex within marriage, since it is better for men to marry than perish! (Women and slaves are not a concern of Paul's, see, 1 Tim 2:8-15 for example.) While in 1 Timothy, meander over to 1 Timothy 3:15, which states unambiguously that the Church of the living God, not the Bible, is the pillar and bulwark of the truth. Also, 2 Timothy 3:10-4:5 may be helpful, recalling that "scripture" in this text refers to Hebrew Scriptures, since Christian scriptures had yet to come into existence (in fact, this epistle was subsequently adopted as a part of Christian scripture, in the 16th century!)

The Bible is a beautiful, provocative, and interesting collection of works that tell many different stories. But until Guttenberg in the 16th century, only elites had access to this literature, and yet Christianity flourished and prospered without anyone, but clergy, having anything close to what we call a Bible (no such thing existed even proximately until the fifth century). How, then, did people know anything, if they did not have a Bible? Answer: Because the Bible was merely a "tool" of the Church, for use by the Church, written by Church members, and collected by churchmen over centuries. Remember 1 Tim 3:15, in which the Bible itself claims the Church, not the Bible, is the pillar and bulwark of truth. The Bible is the "Book of Spiritual Perfection," not the literal and inerrant Word of God. Approach the Bible accordingly!

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, page 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

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