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| HarperCollins Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version (with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books) | 
| Author: Wayne A. Meeks
Category: Book
Buy New: $46.03
New (3) from $46.03
Avg. Customer Rating:  55 reviews
Sales Rank: 296878
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Student
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 2368
ASIN: B000GG4G62
Publication Date: January 7, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Book Description
The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is steadily increasing in popularity. It is highly respected among academics, including evangelicals, and popular in theological colleges, where it is preferred to the New International Version. This edition incorporates extensive annotations and the Deuterocanonical books/Apocrypha, making it an ideal edition for students and serious Bible readers. The NRSV sensitively avoids gender exclusivity without any loss of accuracy or clarity, and retains the traditional style of referring to God as `He' or `Him.'
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| Customer Reviews: Read 50 more reviews...
 I guess you get what you pay for! March 16, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I guess you get what you pay for!
That is what runs through my mind as I give thought to The HarperCollins Study Bible. To start off, I have had this Bible for five months ; so I will be speaking as one who has had the Bible for a while.
When I got the Bible, the first thing I noticed was the cover. To pass this thing off as Genuine Leather as to be a stretch. Maybe Genuine Leather is not what it used to be. The cover was very thin and felt like cardboard. It had this shiny coat on top that reminded me of Bonded Leather.
(ps. Watch out for people who say something is Genuine Leather, and the price is really low. Bonded Leather is made by taking strips of Genuine Leather and fusing them together with a type of laminate. So they can legally say that the Bible is Genuine Leather.)
Most publishers are up front and tell you that the Bible is Bonded. I am sure that Harper Collins have not done this; it is most likely "crappy" leather.
Also every page was stuck together from were the gold was placed on the edges. So I had to turn every page of the Bible as soon as I got it. After only a month the gold stamping on the spine of the Bible started coming off. This is unacceptable!
As far as the content, this Bible is right up there with it's biggest competitor, the Oxford Annotated Study Bible. The notes are very helpful, and do not distract from the text it's self. By far the Book Introductions are the best part of this Bible. It shows the historical context of every book; even the Apocrypha! Overall this Bible is good because of its content, and the very low price. However, if you are looking for something were the quality on the outside is just as good as the inside, go with the Oxford. You may spend a few more bucks, but it is well worth it.
 The very best study bible. Buy a cover. You'll need it. September 30, 2007
3 out of 16 found this review helpful
`The Harper Collins Study Bible' for the New Revised Standard Version is one of, if not the best study Bible I've found for serious study. Its closest competitor may be the `Oxford Annotated Bible', which I originally used to prepare Bible Study classes, until a Theological Seminary professor recommended the Harper-Collins. The very first thing which one notices is that the general editor for the Harper-Collins is Wayne Meeks, who, even in my short experience with Biblical studies, stands out as one of the more important mentors of Biblical scholars in the United States.
One thing the Harper-Collins is not is a fancifully colored layout. The text of the scriptures are plainly stated, but with the advantage over Oxford of providing titles for the various subjects and incidents (commonly called pericopes when they appear in the Gospels). Oxford does not have these, and they are an immediate help.
Another thing the Harper-Collins does not have is a Concordance section. Oxford has such a section, and I found it a total waste of space. While their section was a few dozen pages, the Strong concordance runs to over 1200 pages. One can imagine that Oxford left a lot of things out!
The Harper-Collins and Oxford had several features which were virtually identical, such as the maps section and the table of parallel passages in the Gospels. Oxford did have a comparable section for Hebrew Scriptures, which I do not see in Harper-Collins, so that's one point for Oxford.
Harper-Collins also has an eminently useful listing of all Hebrew passages quoted in the Christian scriptures. This is invaluable. I only wish they had done it by both OT and NT books rather than just by OT books.
In the notes, I tend to find Harper-Collins more useful and richer in the number of notes and the amount of information therein, but that may vary from book to book, as different contributors did different books. It is certainly true of the Gospels.
Like some other books, `Oxford' is a brand name which yields good, but not excellent results. If you can get your hands on a Harper-Collins Study Bible, you will not be disappointed, as long as you do not expect it to replace commentaries on individual books.
Excellent translation- superb annotations- binding problems? May 16, 2007
10 out of 24 found this review helpful
The NRSV is a superlative translation of scripture with very few drawbacks. Unlike the writers of the dogmatic, Evangelical-doctrine-riddled NIV, the translators of the NRSV (and earlier RSV) made a real attempt to be literal, yet use modern language. When there is ambiguity or other difficulty in translation, the NRSV includes footnotes that tell the reader other possible readings, rather than arbitrarily choosing what to include and not informing the reader that there are other possible translations (as the NIV does).
The annotations are comprehensive, and were written by the foremost Bible scholars, yet are easy-to-read and shed much light on difficult passages. I would question those who decry this Bible as "un-believing" or "dangerous to the faith." I've had my doubts about Christianity before, but after reading the Harper-Collins Study Bible cover-to-cover, I found renewed interest and inspiration, rather than the alleged detrimental effects being shouted-about by some reviewers.
If to you ignorance equals faith, don't read this version. If honest scholarship that doesn't shy away from difficult concepts is dangerous to the soul, go ahead and burn this book-- but you'll never grow in your faith.
I am no liberal- but I found this Bible to be faith-affirming, and it helped me to see God in a new way that was much more beautiful and wonderful than before. My faith and the way I approach life changed after reading this Bible. It may do the same for you- but it's not the easy kind of self-affirming, indoctrinating Bible study notes sought by some people.
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Many people seem to be complaining about the quality of the binding, etc. It may be that the paperback versions are poor quality, so I would suggest readers buy one of the hard-cover editions. I've never had any problems with the binding or pages and I have the hard-cover student edition.
Thank you for reading this review. If you choose to buy this study Bible, I pray it will help your faith-journey. It will NOT turn you into an "evil unbeliever" as some suggest!
great buy January 9, 2007
6 out of 20 found this review helpful
I got this for a class I took along with the handbook and it was great. Easy to read and follow. Plus it was required for the class. :)
 For liberal theologians September 17, 2006
35 out of 61 found this review helpful
Buyers beware, the Bible commentaries are written by liberal theologians. They tend to disbelieve miracles and try explaining away Divine prophecy by assigning late dates for the books. When I was reading the commentaries, I couldn't help but get the feeling that the writers were trying to destroy my faith. Also, while it is not a bad translation, the NRSV does have some gender-neutrality inserted into it. All in all, I cannot recommend this study Bible. It reads like skeptics and non-believers wrote it.
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