BOOK REVIEW: The title of this new Bible is misleading …

I won’t use this space to rehash my dislike of how Christian publishers are constantly cooking up new ways to repackage the Bible to have a new niche topic Bible to expand their revenues. But when I saw that Thomas Nelson has now published a “Apply the Word” study Bible in the New King James Version (NKJV), it caught my interest.

It wasn’t the version of NJK that captured my attention (I don’t use the NKJV or recommend it), it was the idea of having a study Bible that focused on applying the Word. Even though the Bible is God’s written word to us, the Bible is useless to us if we don’t apply the Word of God to our lives. So what could be better than a study Bible that focused on applying the Word?

But after going through this Bible I was disappointed because, at least from my exploration of it, the name of this Bible is misleading. It is a study Bible, complete with book introductions, colorful maps, a concordance in the back of the Bible, and a host of notes littered throughout the chapters. But there was nothing whatsoever that made the notes in this Bible focused on helping the reader “apply the word” to their lives.

Nothing!

On the front flap of this Bible, the publisher writes, “Application notes provide insightful guidance and ideas for applying the scriptures to your life.”

You would have to have such “application notes” to be able to call a study Bible the “Apply the Word Study Bible” — right?

Well, as I’ve stated already, this Bible has lots of notes from Genesis through Revelation, but there is nothing about these notes that can be described as “application notes.”

Nothing.

By all appearances, Thomas Nelson simply took their NKJV Bible, a new set of notes, and slapped on the completely unrelated title of “Apply the Word” and published it as a new study Bible. If you enjoy the NKJV Bible, there’s nothing wrong with having this Bible as your study Bible. But don’t expect the notes to have any focus, helps, or real suggestions about how to apply the word to your life.

As for me, I find it bothersome that the title of this Bible is truly misleading. But hang on, I’m sure they’ll be some new kind of niche Bible coming along soon to take our attention from this one …

Scotty

I received this book free from the publisher in exchange for this review. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”