The Holman Christian Standard Bible has always been a very significant and important Bible, but seemingly little used in the UK.
This is the new version. It is the Christian Standard Bible (CSB) from Holman Bible Publishers, a division of Lifeway Christian Resources.
Customers and shops are already telling me that this CSB Bible is doing very well in this market. I’m glad, as it is a very good Bible and I am pleased to include it in another book review.
And now …..
CSB Apologetics Study Bible
The CSB Apologetics Study Bible helps Christians better understand, defend and proclaim their beliefs in an age of increasing moral and spiritual relativism.
This edition includes new articles and extensive study material from today’s leading apologists. It has been revised and updated to reflect relevant apologetics issues and questions being discussed today.
The CSB Apologetics Study Bible includes commentary from over 90 of the best apologetics thinkers of our day including Lee Strobel, Josh McDowell and Ravi Zacharias.
There is a special lead-in article from Lee Strobel (from ‘The Case For’ series) entitled ‘How Apologetics Changed My Life’.
It’s probable that no other study Bible currently has the depth of resources that address the hard questions of faith and life. This Bible will strengthen the church and give confidence to those who share its faith.
There are 60 ‘Twisted Scripture’ explanations for commonly misunderstood passages. There are also 25 ‘Tactics’ that help readers answer frequently heard anti-Christian arguments. There are book introductions throughout, and the text is presented in a two-column size. The font size is 9.75 point.
There are additional free resources available on www.apologeticsbible.com
At around £34, this Bible presents some excellent apologetics material indeed. My view is that it’s well recommended.
The brand new CSB Bible from Lifeway Christian Resources
Over 20 years ago, a team of more than 100 top conservative scholars from 17 denominations came together to make an English translation faithful to the original Scriptures - the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Broadly this was achieved, and the translation has worked extremely well, particularly in North America.
Around 3 years ago - and under an English stylist, Michael Card - the translators began reviewing the text of the HCSB Bible to provide today’s readers with a new translation that is more ‘accurate and readable’ – the Christian Standard Bible (CSB).
In 2015, I published a small book, ‘The Guide to Selling the Bible’ (Together Magazine, ISBN 978-0-9932454-0-4), and obviously this revised Bible was not included! However, the Holman Christian Standard Bible is there. This new CSB Apologetics Study Bible would be an excellent addition to the range.
Proverbs 3: 5-6 (CSB): ‘Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight’.
The Barna Group reported recently that only 37% of Americans read their Bible once a week or more. Ownership in the USA remains very strong but readership and engagement are actually quite weak. In fact, the number of those who are sceptical towards the Bible has nearly doubled from 10% to 19% in just three years. Sadly, this is now equal to the number of people who are Bible engaged, who read the Bible at least four times a week and who believe it to be the inspired word of God. America is heading down the same road as Europe!
Lifeway Christian Resources believes that one factor cannot be denied: the importance of a reader’s translation of the Bible. This is an important aspect of the new CSB revision from the Holman Christian Standard Version.
The translators are looking for that ‘sweet spot’ - the balance between ‘Fidelity’ and ‘Readability’ that opens the door for people to read and understand the Scriptures.
Where is the CSB Bible in terms of a combination of ‘fidelity’ and ‘readability’?
The publishers have printed a chart developed by Global Bible Initiative. This shows the CSB revision as being:
(1) better than the ESV in terms of readability.
(2) better than the NIV in terms of fidelity.
This is impressive - and this constitutes a major consideration for customers endeavouring to purchase a new Bible.
I hope that the Christian Standard Bible will rank alongside many of the versions of the Bible in the UK market. It deserves to do so.
Eddie Olliffe
Bookseller and Distributor for the past 35 years. Now Consulting Editor of Together Magazine. I blog on Christian Spirituality, UK Publishing and Bookselling matters.