The Orthodox Study Bible...reviewed by a Protestant!

I have gotten a lot of requests to review the Orthodox Study Bible over the past year. A viewer was nice enough to send me a copy, so here are my thoughts on it!

* The address for Conciliar Press where you can write for more information on The Orthodox Study Bible or Orthodox Church in general is:
P.O. Box 76
Ben Lomond, CA 95005-0076

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[Apakmanski]

Having been a Protestant (Baptist, Lutheran, Reformed, Covenant, Evangelical) for 30-years, and Orthodox for 12-years, I am impressed with the critique of the Orthodox Study Bible. Well done. To be fair, it was their first-ever study bible, so we may see improvements in the future. It is important to understand that the goal in Orthodoxy is not to make everyone a theologian, but to help everyone achieve theosis (transformation and union with God). This is achieved through a myriad of actions including, but not limited to, repentance, confessional accountability, prayer, fasting, almsgiving, the Eucharist, the communion of the saints, anointing with oil, prostrations, worship in the Liturgy and by attending special services, especially during Holy Week. Orthodoxy is truly transformative for Christians who let it penetrate their lives.

[BrainBarfTV]

I’ve been a Protestant my whole Christian life and God put Orthodoxy in front of me recently. I just started reading this Bible yesterday and as someone who is considering converting to Orthodoxy, I gotta say I love reading it. A lot of the doctrines and concepts in Orthodoxy are ignored or merely glossed over at best in most Protestant churches in America, so having a Bible that’s easy to read and sort of “holds-your-hand” through church history and tradition is invaluable to me right now. I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in Orthodox Christianity.

[lukagumberidze]

Thank you for reviewing this study bible respectfully.

In my country, 80% of population is Christian. Christianity was preached in the 1 century and the kingdom of Georgia became Christian in 4th century.

Most of the Christian churches and monasteries here in Republic of Georgia are Orthodox.

I love my church and I also love every Christian of the world ❤
Thank you once again for reviewing it respectfully.

May God strengthen us all in faith and understanding of each other's views

[hollisthompson]

I am Russian Orthodox. I would say I liked the video, but I would say that the Orthodox Church does believe itself to be the only true church, and that may be the reason the writers did not put in the differing viewpoints since the view is that what the church teaches is the same as what scripture teaches

[ZZZELCH]

This was a well-balanced approach and sincere. Thank you.
-An Orthodox brother in Christ.

[prophetivansonofthor]

The Orthodox Study Bible is designed for the English Speaking Orthodox Faithful who are beginners in reading the Bible and it's designed to give a "spiritual fill" or in other words, it's design and purpose is to be SIMPLISTIC for its readers in both the text and the commentary with an emphasis on the Orthodox Faithful needing BOTH Scripture and Tradition and that is the "feel" that I got from reading this (translation of the) Bible. It is what the Scholars who translated the NRSV would refer to as "Canonical Reading" instead of a "Critical Reading" and it is PERFECT for beginners, especially those who have a hard time reading the Douay Rheims or King James Version. It's actually perfect for it's purpose. There is nothing in this Bible that would "overwhelm" the reader. It makes the Bible "absorbable" and you're supposed to prayerfully and humbly "receive" the Word of God as you would with the Eucharist. It's a really good Bible to have. Just like a child learns how to drink milk before he learns how to chew meat, this Bible is like milk.

The whole purpose of this Bible is in it's name. It's for Orthodox Christians. So an Orthodox Christian won't have any "reservations" or "resistance" when reading this Bible, he is just to "absorb" it the same way a child learns his language WITHOUT QUESTIONING or having a critical approach. Wikipedia has interesting things to report about this Bible, such as if it's truly an Orthodox Bible or not, but that's another topic. There's also a translation called "the Eastern Orthodox Bible" and there's another 2 volume New Testament translation by the "Holy Apostles Convent" which is also full of footnotes in the back of each book where they cite Church Fathers commentaries and give you the Greek renderings, Grammar and other things. They mention Bruce Metzger's book and Manuscript tradition and they have a translation of the Psalms based on the Septuagint. You should do a review on that.

Anyways, I agree with you that it's not a "Study Bible" for "Students of the Bible" in the sense of understanding what the text renders with commentaries explaining the linguistics and historical contexts etc. The moment you get "critical" or you endeavor into apologetics or anything else is the moment you get other translations of the Bible if you're not familiar with the Greek or Hebrew.

[bigbake]

As a Christian in the process of converting to Orthodoxy, I thought this video was extremely fair and informative. Well done and thank you

[AAna_Stasiaa]

Fair review. I wanted to point out that the LXX is not later than the masoretic. The LXX is used because that is what was in circulation among helenized greek speaking jews at the time of Christ. It was translated into Greek by Jewish scribes well before Christ. The masoretic comes about 1000 years later, and there was no Jewish cannon of scripture before that. The LXX is important because that's what the Lord and the Apostles had and prophecy about the Lord are cited there.

[benba-gtgo]

As a ex muslim turned Christian I would highly recommend this and the prayer book as well

[joachim]

The Revelation is a vision of the Orthodox Divine Liturgy on a cosmic scale. Rather than read it publicly, we enact it every Sunday. For a good commentary on the Revelation though, I strongly recommend "The End: A Study of the Book of Revelation" by Scott Hahn. It's a long audio lecture series you can find online for free.

[thelimatheou]

Some feedback from an Orthodox Christian :)
Your assertion at 17:44 that the study notes 'reflect a later interpretation' is incorrect. The Masorectic text used by many English Bibles comes centuries after the Septuagint - we know this because the Septuagint is confirmed by the Dead Sea Scrolls AND Jesus & the Apostles. The Masorectic revision of the OT began in the 1st century, making many modifications in reaction to Christianity.
I was a bit confused that you seemed to be disappointed that the Orthodox Study Bible doesn't explain heterodox views. It is the Orthodox Study Bible, after all...
We Orthodox do not ignore Revelation - it's simply not part of the liturgical calendar.
I have 8 pages of maps in mine. Perhaps you have an older version?
We Orthodox believe the Church is the authority when it comes to interpreting Scripture, as it is the Church who gave us the canon. Remember, there was no Bible for centuries after Christ. In addition to the traditions passed on via the Apostles, we have no ambiguity when it comes to interpretation of Scripture. We have the commentaries of the Church Fathers to assist us in this as well.
While St. Augustine is recognised as a saint by the Orthodox, we do not agree with his interpretation of Scripture, and this is one of the fundamental points at which the East & West diverge. Augustine's ignorance of Greek along with his erroneous philosophical foundation led him to (in our view) misinterpret Scripture and make the mistake of original sin. St. John Chrysostom, a contemporary or Augustine's, wrote extensively on this during his rebuttals against Pelagius.
As a final note, I think many Christians in the West feel they are forced to choose between Roman Catholicism (which scismed away from Orthodoxy) & and one of the many thousands of Protestant churches (which schismed away from Roman Catholicism) if they are to be part of a faithful, Christian community.
The Church established by Christ through the Apostles STILL exists - and it is the Orthodox Church. We're here, waiting for you all!
Thanks for your review. God bless.

[boehadden]

Hey JM! Thanks for doing this review. As a former Protestant, now Orthodox Christian, and someone who enjoys and benefits from your teaching, I was excited to see you review the Orthodox Study Bible! You asked us Orthodox to share our thoughts on your review--so here it goes.

It seems to me that your review was very fair. And I think you are right, it is not a study Bible that gets into the text the way a Western study Bible might. That made me wonder why--why doesn't this Bible do that? Here are a few reasons why that might be (just my educated guesses, right off the top of my head): 1) As you know, the place of the Bible in the Orthodox Church is different than much of Western Christendom and vastly different than some forms of Protestantism. Though the study of Scripture is encouraged for all, individuals are not encouraged to interpret (i.e. figure out dogma from) the Scriptures on their own (but rather in the context of the Church). There is a great emphasis on interpreting Scripture in-line with how they have always been interpreted by the Church/Church Fathers. 'Innovation' is a four-letter word in the Orthodox world of Scripture interpretation and liturgical practice. So, that many of the notes tell you how a church Father interpreted the passage totally fits with the Orthodox 'phronema' around Holy Scripture. 2) The Orthodox approach to Scripture does not limit itself to figuring out what the original author intended. What the West would call allegorical or figurative interpretations (as long as they are in line with classical Christian teaching) are no less valid. We see, for example, great wonder and awe in God's love toward us that He foreshadows the events of Christ's baptism in Noah's flood and dove. It is typical for the Orthodox Church to interpret the Old Testament through Christ in such ways. 3) Ancient Faith Publishing has a history of being part of Protestants' journeying into the Orthodox Church. I suspect that the study notes focusing on what the Orthodox Church teaches are written with a strong sense of helping those Ortho-curious Christians from other traditions understand the Orthodox teaching--so, as you rightly point out, they don't go into text criticism or sharing how other Christians interpret the passage differently. Another reason may be that, the Orthodox Church has just never had to, or felt a need to, ask many of the questions the Western Christian world has needed to or wanted to ask.

It would be very nice to have an Orthodox Study Bible that does engage with text criticism more. There are certainly many Orthodox Biblical scholars who could contribute to such a task.


I will just note for whoever reads this comment: Protestants often view the Roman Catholic church and the Orthodox Church as two sides of the same coin. But there is a distinct Orthodox mindset that is hard to describe that sets it apart from the West. In that mindset, Orthodox see the Roman Catholic church and Protestantism as two sides of the same coin. I heard this but didn't understand it when I was a new Orthodox. But after many years it makes complete sense to me now. The Western Christian (Catholic and Protestant) approach, mindset, and theology differs in some crucial ways from the Eastern Orthodox approach. We often use the same terms and so think we understand each other, but we define many of those terms so differently that we miss a deeper understanding of each other.

So, here's to continued dialogue, love, and understanding toward building each other up in Christ!

I thought your review was informative, gracious, and very helpful. Thanks so much for doing it!

I love your ministry. Please keep up the good work!

Your brother, Erik

[SuperFree]

It is interesting to hear the views of a Protestant when confronted with Orthodox belief. Because of the many, many innovations to understanding of the faith and the Bible performed by both Catholics and Protestants of many kinds over the centuries, this is to be expected. The only Christian Church which has never formally split on the basis of theological understanding or belief is the Orthodox Church, for over 2000 years. So the Orthodox study Bible reflects that. This is because the Orthodox do not believe any individual or group of individuals in the Church is infallible. Rather it is the collective Church, guided by the Holy Spirit in a conciliar way which is infallible over time. And this "timeline" stretches right back to the very beginnings of the faith, reflected in the Scriptures they themselves assembled and used. The Orthodox Study Bible enforces the traditional faith and beliefs, it is not a tool to use to make up your own mind. The Orthodox have a problem with that for obvious reasons.

[seekingtruth]

I have many resources as a former Catholic to study the bible, but now I am joining the Orthodox church and can't wait until this bible arrives next week. I appreciate the video

[Olgaleigh]

Just purchased this Bible and was happy with your review. Thank you, this Bible is exactly what I am looking for. I want to know what the church affirms and what the early church fathers thought. So helpful for those that want to do more digging into the orthodox faith but don't know what to do first and also has a lot of information on feast days and prayers so you don't have to purchase extra books to read until ready for that step.

[steadfastgodcast]

Wow I watched all 38mins of that, as an Orthodox Christian myself I found your review very informative. Thank you and may the Lord bless you

[markjoslin]

There are no other viewpoints. Orthodoxy holds the way.

[UNAJacob]

So glad to see you review this! As a protestant myself, I have considered getting a copy of the OSB just for the Septuagint.

[joshua_wherley]

I was Lutheran (LCMS) before becoming Orthodox in an OCA parish. I bought an OSB during my catechesis. I think that your review is entirely fair and sensible. I'm not crazy about how thin the pages are, it's like they're almost fragile. But, that's a minor preference, certainly not indicative of the overall product. I know the OSB has its detractors and I have my thoughts, but I think it's a good effort and certainly helpful for those looking to understand the Scriptures from an Orthodox point of view, regardless of whether they're in the Church.

[lancehiltbrand]

I grew up Methodist and since that split, Ive been visiting a Greek Orthodox church. I like it. It takes a diciplined approach and employes a methodology to faith. I havn't really found anything I disagree with or if Im really looking to.

I would think many of the topics in this study bible would be a lead-in to have deeper discussion with the Priest because of the sensetive nature of the topic. Lord knows how some of us have interpreted things we though we had a solid grasp on.