A Church History Study Bible is right up my alley! This review of the Crossway ESV Church History Study Bible will give you a good look into this new Bible to see if it is the right Bible fit for you.
First Impressions of the Church History Study Bible
Crossway sent me their new ESV Church History Study Bible to review. You have no idea how excited I was about this one! I expected rich timelines, thoughtful articles, quotes and study notes from church fathers, maps of different areas as the church grew and changed, charts of denomination as they veered off (or kept on track)… I expected a lot.
And I wrote this full review very soon after receiving the Bible. However, I sat on in for quite some time thinking that with use, I might like this Bible more. As it turns out, my initial impressions ending up holding true. If anything, I came to like it less.
This Bible did not deliver. At all. I’m ridiculously disappointed in it. The ESV Archaeology Study Bible was so thorough and the ESV Prayer Bible was surprisingly unique and wonderful. I’d just set my expectations so high on this one and it fell so very short.
Physical Features of the Church History Study Bible
The genuine leather cover on this one feels different than other Bibles I’ve received from Crossway. It is thinner and has an almost paper-like texture to it. Only one ribbon marker– which I expect from non-super-high-end Bibles (though I wish they’d change that).
“Extra” Content of the Church History Study Bible
The content is what is supremely lackluster. You have the Scripture, which is good and perfect. That is about half of each page. Underneath, you have study notes from different “voices” throughout Church history. It also has extensive cross referencing, which I can appreciate. The “voices” they chose are mostly modern and from commentaries readily available. (If I wanted Matthew Henry’s Commentary, I’d pick that up easily or download it on Bible Gateway.) Most of the “voices” are unknown. Not many of them are ancient at all. As an example, for Genesis 1, the chosen “voices” are: John Calvin (1509-1564) four times, Matthew Henry (1662-1714) three times, Henry Ainsworth (1571-1622), Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) twice, Edward Leigh (1602-1671), John Trapp (1601-1669), Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109), and Thomas Manton (1620-1677). I think it is clear this is a “History of the Reformation” Study Bible and not a Church History Study Bible.
Another annoyance is that the index of authors contains no page numbers. You have no idea where or how often they were quoted. So if I wanted to see how many times Anselm of Canterbury is quoted and find quote from him specifically, there is no way to get that information other than combing through every single page and looking at every single note.
No charts. The maps pretty much have the basic Bible maps and then to the second century. Nothing beyond that. There is a “modern Middle East” map but it has no demographics– just basic country names and borders. The articles are sparse and incomplete.
Final Thoughts
So, if you’re looking for a Bible with a bunch of quotes from Reformers with some others tossed in there sparingly– maybe this Bible is perfect for you. But it is certainly not a Church History Study Bible. And not sure what is up with the leather quality on the cover. It is not Crossway’s usual standard.
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