REFORMATION HERITAGE STUDY BIBLE – KJV
Edited by Joel Beeke
Reformation Heritage Books.
2217 pages. £26.41
ISBN 978 1 601 783 240
Although translated at the beginning of the 17th century, some Christians still treasure the King James Version (KJV) or Authorised Version (AV) of the Bible. Certainly its language is majestic and has beautifully influenced the English language over the centuries.
Set out in a similar style to other study Bibles with footnotes and articles, this gigantic publication based on the AV text will prove a help to many people. Each book of Scripture is given an introduction with a synopsis of its contents. The footnotes are full of insight, but it is rather an anachronism that many of them consist simply of bringing the language up to date for modern readers e.g. Genesis 19.24-25 ‘brimstone’, we are told, means ‘sulphur’; Genesis 19.27 ‘gat up’ is to be understood as ‘got up’. This all seems rather strange.
The end of each chapter is marked in the footnotes by a short set of ‘Thoughts for Personal / Family Worship’. These are mini-sermons.
A set of articles on topics of systematic theology is scattered throughout the book, but the ‘Study Helps’ at the close are of particular note. A group of articles on how to live as a Christian has a strong Reformation flavour. There is also a summary of church history – one page for each century and, on top of this, many of the historic statements of faith of the church are reprinted in the back of this Bible, including the Athanasian Creed, the Belgic Confession, the Heidelberg Catechism and the Westminster Confession of Faith. Though the language of the AV is archaic, this study Bible really provides the opportunity to have a great many worthy resources at our fingertips. However, there may be an ‘AV only’ philosophy behind this publication which many of us find out of step with the dynamic spirit of Scripture itself and in some cases can even tend towards a form of idolatry.
