I confess: I have never read the entire King James Version of the Bible. I grew up in the 1980s, and I vaguely remember some dispute in my church when the New International Version replaced the KJV in the pews. But Bibles in my possession have always been either “New” or “Standard,” or both.
I confess further: I have at times been numbered among those who find KJV language to be quaint, outdated, “not modern English,” and an easy target for ridicule. Thou shalt not claim the KJV as good enough for Jesus or Paul. And everybody who is anybody knows there is no art in heaven. We pray to our Father who is in heaven. Hallowed be his name.
Yet the Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible intrigued me, and the publisher graciously gave me a free copy to review. And I must say: This Bible almost persuaded me to use the KJV for my 2016 speed read.* This study Bible is something special.
What it Does
Like other study Bibles, the Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible (RHKJV) presents the full text of Scripture with study notes at the bottom of the page. But the RHKJV notes do a few things that make it unlike other study Bibles:
- One-sentence summaries for each chapter.
- Plain-language definitions for archaic terms. (Granted, most other translations don’t use as many archaic terms, but it would still be nice if they “translated” Christianese jargon into ordinary language.)
- Application!
Allow me to expand on this third point. Every chapter of the Bible has study notes ending with “Thoughts for Personal/Family Worship,” which suggest potential applications of the chapter. These applications don’t always flow from the chapter’s main point, but they’re still usually very good. They’re not so specific as to become dated, and they’re not so general as to be useless to real people. I couldn’t believe the amount of space dedicated to such thoughtful application, but it fits with the editors’ vision to offer “a study Bible to feed your soul…a study Bible to instruct your mind…a study Bible to discover your roots.”
The RHKJV has short book introductions that get to the point quickly. Three cheers!
In addition, the RHKJV has three sets of articles.
- Theological topics (57 one-page articles). These articles are inserted at relevant points in the biblical text, such that you can read about Satan after Job 1-2 or about adoption after Romans 8.
- How to live as a Christian (36 one-page articles). At the end of the volume, these articles direct Christians on topics such as the fear of God, how to pray, and fleeing worldliness.
- Church history (20 one-page articles and 9 creeds & confessions). There is one article for each century of church history, along with ecumenical creeds (such as Apostles’ and Nicene) and Reformed confessions (such as Belgic and Westminster). When I hit the articles about church history, I could not put this volume down.
There is a little more standard fare at the end: yearly reading plan, table of weights & measures, concordance, and maps.
What it Doesn’t Do
Unfortunately, this Bible does not please the eye. It has so many words that it may discourage some before they give it much of a chance.
- There are no maps except for those on the last 14 pages.
- There are no charts or tables to make information more digestible.
- The typesetting of the KJV text retains some ancient conventions that might turn off many readers. The font has an ancient feel and is not easy to read. Every verse is printed as its own paragraph, and paragraph symbols (¶) show up along the way.
- The notes and articles use a sans serif font, which is more suitable to digital reading than print.
Also, this Bible doesn’t offer a range of perspectives on hot topics. The editors tended to choose one perspective and run with it. If you’re into 6-day creationism, a young earth, a global flood, reading the Song of Solomon as an allegory of Christ and the church, amillennialism, and a presbyterian and reformed flavor of Protestantism, you’ll be at home here. It’s not so in-your-face as to be uncharitable, though, so if you have different perspectives on any of these issues, you’ll still gain much from this Bible as it feeds your soul and instructs your mind.
Conclusion
I’m happy to recommend the Reformation Heritage KJV Study Bible to you. Of course, the KJV is something of an elephant in this Bible. But if you remember to use your study Bible as a reference and not as a Bible, the translation is no big deal. Of course, if you already love the KJV, this purchase should be a no-brainer.
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*I had so much fun with my ESV Reader’s Bible last year that I must do it again. But the KJV might be just the thing for 2017.
This was helpful, Peter. And by all means, read the KJV one time through. Just check your local library first to see if they have an online subscription to the OED. You’ll need it.