I love reading the Bible, and I love finding new Bibles with an extra something-something. I have a Bible I love that is specifically for homeschool moms, but I’ve been looking for a study Bible for a while. Enter the NIV Spiritual Renewal Study Bible from Zondervan- it received the 1999 ECPA Gold Medallion Award. The Christian Book Award is an annual award given by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association to honor Christian content in several categories, including Bibles, Children, Inspiration, and Bible Reference.
Here are some of the features of this Bible:
- 66 book introductions focused on the thematic study and spiritual renewal aspects of each Bible book
- Text notes highlight renewal themes as they emerge from the text of the Bible
- Multi-feature character profiles assess how different personalities managed different challenges in their walk with God
- Spiritual keys devotional reading plan: Two cycles (OT and NT) of 49 devotions each leads the reader through 7 keys of spiritual renewal with 7 devotions for each key
- Spiritual disciplines essays that describe the various disciplines of the faith such as prayer, Scripture reading, and others
- Spiritual disciplines profiles: one-page articles that describe how certain characters of the Bible employed the various Spiritual disciplines in their lives
The table of contents contains a section on how to use this Bible (I received the e-book version, a hardcover is also available), including navigation. The books of the Bible are listed in alphabetical order. There is also a user guide, as well as a preface explaining how the New International Version of the Bible came to be.
Each book of the Bible starts with either a book or character profile, giving a little insight as to what the book is about. There are also some Essential Facts. These include the purpose of each book, the author, audience, approximate dates written, the setting, key events, and key people, as well as an outline of the book. After this, each book of the Bible begins.
Scattered throughout the chapters are profile links. These are clickable links which bring up a Footnote box. After the end of the Bible books are study notes, table of weights and measures, a text notes index, devotional index, and a character profile index.
I really enjoy this Bible. It’s fun to read bits of extra information about Bible characters and have the devotional reading plan. I’m glad I have this copy in my arsenal, and I go back to it often.
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