[.ca] Authorized King James Version: The Old Scofield Study Bible (ISBN 0195274687)

The best study Bible I own - bar none:
I own and use the NIV, NASB, NKJV, RSV and NRSV study Bibles and three Life Amplification Bibles. While each of these Study Bibles have their individual strengths and weaknesses, all are indeed helpful in understanding the everlasting messages given to us from God. It is not my intention to critique each version in detail. My purpose for this review is to, hopefully, add some information a first time Study Bible buyer might find useful. Of the Study and Life Amplification Bibles I own, Dr. Scofield's is my personal favorite for several reasons. I will briefly describe those reasons. A\c Some Study Bibles somewhat overwhelm the reader with information while others are far too abbreviated. Since the foregoing statement is a personal opinion, I will not name the too much and too little Study Bibles. I do not want to add more confusion to a selection so important to one's spiritual growth. Dr. Scofield's essays, commentaries and explanations are an excellent middle ground to the above listed pros and cons. B\c All study expositions are thoughtfully placed on the same page - bottom - of the passages they refer to. As way of example, Dr. Scofield lists the Greek, Aramaic and Hebrew words that can have more than one translation and tells the reader the possible meanings of the translations. However, Dr. Scofield does not restrict his commentary to semantics. He also explains difficult passages and gives details about customs and life in Biblical times. Other Study Bibles do this also but Dr. Scofield's approach is far more "down to earth" and in clear language. C\c The center column cross-references are exceptional. The first to last listing of a particular word or idea is cross-referenced so the reader can easily go back or forward to see each reference. This is very useful in understanding the growth of God's plan for us. I own the NKJV and the KJV. The NKJV of Dr. Scofield' New Study Bible does not have his original notes and comments. I find the study notes in the NJKV scanty compared the original KJV. Finally, a comment about the various Bible versions. The NIV, NASB, RSV, NSRV, et al are in today's English. Some people find these versions easier to read and some say the KJV is difficult to read. Others claim the KJV is inaccurate. True, we now have more documents than the translators in the 1600s BUT the message is still the same. I, personally, prefer the KJV to all others. I will read a couple chapters in the today's versions and stop. That is not the case with the old KJV. I will read an entire chapter at one sitting. The reason is the beauty of the English of the time King James commissioned the translation. Yes, there are words we no longer use like thee, thou, art, and verb endings like dost and commeth. To me, that is the sheer poetic beauty of the language. The Old English has a lyrical flow that is a pleasure to read. I could compare the Old English to reading Italian opposed to Russian. The KJV Old Scofield Study Bible is an excellent choice for those beginning to study God's word and those who are more advanced. Oxford University Press does a superior job in printing and binding. My copy is genuine leather and indexed. I am very pleased with my purchase and would not hesitate to buy this Bible again.

New Scofied is the Best!:
I purchased my New Scofield Study Bible (NIV) about six years ago and it is the best Bible I have ever owned. I am a loyal dispensational Christian and I believe that the dispensational approach is the only way that the Scripures fall in place and make sense; seperating law from grace, the church from Israel, the Old covenant from the New Covenant. This is the only way you are able to rightly divide the word, as Scofield would say. I also own a copy of the old Scofield 1909 edition as well as the NIV Scofield, and let me tell you that Scofield's notes and his essays helped open a whole new world of understanding God's word. Until I learned to stop mixing law and grace, the Old Testament (Covenant) with the New Testament (Covenant), the Gospels (part of the Old Covenant) with the Epistles (New Covenant), I didn't know exactly where I stood with God.--"Was I still under the condemnations of the Old Testament?" But praise God for CI Scofield and dispensationalists like him; he opened the door of understanding and knowledge of the whats, hows, whys, and wherefores, of how to rightly divide the Bible, and yet how it all fits together. I have to hand it to Oxford. I am impressed with the quality and workmanship of my Scofield (NIV). Mine is black genuine leather, and everything from the high quality handsewn (smyth sewn) binding to the excellent quality paper make this a top of the line Bible. And yet if I had chosen a Thompson or a Ryrie or even a Cambridge Bible of comparable quality they would cost quite a bit more; sometimes 20 dollars to even 50 dollars more. Something else: some people criticize the NIV--and unjustly. The NIV is a very accurate and faithful version that has relied on the earliest and best manuscripts of the Bible. Some critics (usually the KJV only crowd) have accused the NIV translators and editors of leaving out certain verses of the Bible that appear in earlier versions. The NIV editors are perfectly justified in doing so since these verses in question never appear in the most reliable and ancient manuscripts. These verses were probably inadvertantly added in translations over the centuries. BTW, I don't hear the NIV fans attack the KJV only people for having verses in their Bibles that were added and don't appear in the ancient Greek manuscripts.

Best buy:
Great binding, soft (real not pressed) leather and the notes are helpful and handy. Someone else suggested The Companion Bible as a better study Bible. I have to disagree. Scofields notes are only to help guide you, the Companion Bible will bogg you down (and build your arms) with far too many notes to be helpful to the average reader. I have the same feelings for the Ryrie Study Bible. Scofield is the way to go and Oxford Press offers a high quality Bible at a good price. (note: avoid the so-called "New" Scofield, buy the "Old" Scofield Study Bible)

Best Study Bible I've Ever Had:
While I have the KJV, the ASV, the Moffatt, and several others I've found the Scofield Reference Study Bible the most helpful. It has stayed true to the KJV. I first bought it in the 1970s, (the1967 version), but that version became so dogeared, with loose psges after over 30 years of use, that I went looking for a new one, and found the 1998 version which I bought almost a year ago. Like I said, it's the best, because of the concordance, topical index, annotations, better marginal references than the other one, and maps. The footnotes are a bit off at times, but that's minor compared to the "gold" contained in the scriptures which is why I bought it in the first place!

Best Study Bible I've Ever Had:
While I have the KJV, the ASV, the Moffatt, and several others I've found the Scofield Reference Study Bible the most helpful. It has stayed true to the KJV. I first bought it in the 1970s, (the1967 version), but that version became so dogeared, with loose pages after over 30 years of use, that I went looking for a new one, and found the 1998 version which I bought almost a year ago. Like I said, it's the best, because of the concordance, topical index, annotations, better marginal references than the other one, and maps. The footnotes are a bit off at times, but that's minor compared to the "gold" contained in the scriptures which is why I bought it in the first place!