AUTHORISED VERSION ENHANCED AND POLITICALLY CORRECT (Rating 5 of 5)
» amarula4@yahoo.co.uk
The Scofield study bible has useful, and in some ways unique features, which enhance the King James or Authorised version of the bible. Scofield had a problem in that at the time of writing he knew that the KJV was not the best text available. New Hebrew and Greek biblical documents had been discovered since 1611, and textual criticism had advanced greatly. However, Scofield manages to preserve the universally recognised beauty of the Authorized whilst enhancing the textual accuracy at vital points with in-line glosses (word or phrase substitutions), with the original King James text moved to the margin. These glosses are indicated by a pair of vertical line | like this |. A good example of this is found in John chapter 1, verse 12: the phrase 'sons of God' is rendered as 'children of God'. This had the double virtue of being a more accurate translation of the Greek 'tekna theou', and is also gender-neutral - politically correct before his time! An Old Testament example would be Ex. 20 v.13, the well known 'Thou shalt not kill'. Here 'kill' is footnoted, and there is a one sentence explanation that, while there are several Hebrew words for 'kill', this instance means 'murder' as it has our modern legal sense of unlawful premeditated killing.
Other features include doctrinal summaries in the form of extended footnotes on the great themes of scripture, such as the section in John's gospel on grace. I think these are best described as conceptually rich and information dense. The coherence of the Old to New Testament sweep is such that several sermons or bible studies could be culled from any one of these summaries. Their usefulness in personal study is immense and sometimes saves the cost of a specialist reference book. The chain reference system enables one to follow a very extensive line of thought from the first bible occurrence of a word or concept through to the last. There are useful organised expositions of Judaistic culture, worldview, and thought habits. An excellent example of this would be the handling of the Hebraic habits of naming and word play (I don't call them 'puns'). One of the most potent of these is his analysis of the Names of God, from Elohim to 'Alpha and Omega'.
Having said all I have to say in a laudatory vein, I have to add that sometimes Scofield's conciseness is too clipped for his own good. He gives cut-and-dried answers to things which would be better handled as 'maybe this, or maybe that', and this is guaranteed to irritate the true scholar at times. He can also make comments which are so text-critically controversial that he would be better off passing over them in silence, an example of this would be the four line footnote on the 'woman taken in adultery' in John chapter 8. But buy it and not regret it is my only advice
Scofield is a dinosaur of theology (Rating 1 of 5)
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Buying a bible with commentaries from Scofield is like buying a Physics textbook by Aristotle. Times have changed. If you live in the past and you think that every major technological and theological development since 1900 is part of a liberal conspiracy, then THIS IS THE BIBLE FOR YOU! If you are a Christian and are also well educated and intelligent, try the Oxford NRSV or the Oxford REB
The Very Best! (Rating 5 of 5)
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It took twenty six years, but my first copy is literally worn out, and another is the only acceptable replacement. One of my requests on returning from military combat was a good study bible. I was presented with twelve different ones by members of my church. My elderly pastor was responsible for the Scofield. It quickly became both my everyday and study source, and still is. I truly believe it was inspired by God for my use
(Rating 5 of 5)
(Rating 1 of 5)
