CSB Apologetics Study Bible, Gray Hardcover, Black Letter, Black Letter, Defend Your Faith, Study Notes and Commentary, Articles, Profiles, Full-Color Maps, Easy-to-Read Bible Serif Type

This is a great Bible for all Christians to have! The apologetics themed footnotes are very helpful in better understanding the text.

I own many Bible studies and commentaries and this one is perhaps the best one for modern study. I also like the student version of this study Bible. The paper is very thin and delightfully crinkly as well.

This is a very well put together Bible, but it’s far too opinionated for me. Just my humble opinion as it doesn’t get references accurate and it seeks to give theology and doctrine from various churches that is not perfectly accurate. My opinion, and I would recommend a different solution however it is very well put together as long as you understand your theology. It would be a great addition to any library as a reference Bible. Again, just my two cents.

Great book

Great tool, many answers to important queries.

GREAT BIBLE. I ordered 7 of these for gifts. One for our Church Library. And 6 for Pastor and 5 Elders. I will be ordering more as the response from those who have received this is WOW ! what a great gift.

I do my best every year to read the Bible through and through and every year I like to get a new translation. This translation was suggested to me and I'm glad I got it. It has lots of extras mixed throughout for a great new understanding of your faith on a deeper level on many different topics, which is easy to understand. The information is useful, I love the extra articles the twisted scripture notes I've read some very interesting things in the little articles that have been helpful, I'm learning a lot. The only downside is the pages they are super thin, and there are times I feel like as I turn the pages it's going to rip.I highly recommend this Bible.

Content:The text is accompanied with articles written by a large variety of Christian theologians, philosophers, and apologists. The featured paragraph notes that clarify sections of commonly misused scripture are potentially handy for seeing the deceitfulness of cults. Some confusing passages of the bible are not commentated very heavily, which can leave many newer bible readers with questions, but overall the notes and articles provided do give a valuable insight to some interpretations of most parts of scripture. These commentaries tend to be applied to groups of verses most often, and some valuable details (cultural expectations, archeological finds, clarifications, cross references, interpretations, etc) in the text are not reinforced or explained very clearly. There have been multiple times where it felt my old Ryrie study bible gave so much more value to a chapter or passage than this one did.Articles?The articles are in general a nice touch. A few have seemed out of touch with their specific placement within a certain book or section of the Bible. Some have seemed a little more presumptuous in their claims and less evidence based, while others asserted a definite doctrinal lean. In general, however, the articles offer an interesting perspective to some Christians' interpretations of the Biblical worldview on society. To those who may take offense at certain articles, the license to ignore said writing remains available.Footnotes and Cross-references:As mentioned, the footnotes and commentaries tend to be a little insufficient. Sometimes they drift more thematic than detail-oriented as I would like, especially when answering common critiques of the vagueness or apparent contradiction of a particular passage. The special note system (short word synonyms, rephrasing, etc) is potentially inconvenient for the new user. It would probably be alright given more practice using it, but the location at the bottom of the page combined with the rather limited amount of notes is a little unfortunate. Some pages have fewer than 10 notes per page. It's not uncommon to find pages with only the bottom inch of text reserved for commentaries.Translation:CSB is a nice compact translation of the Bible that preserves the thought of scripture without getting caught up in more stringent grammar or sentence construction like some other translations may from time to time. It's also relatively comfortable to read and gives a fresh perspective on phrasing or meaning.Readability:The font print size is pretty good. No problems with reading the main scriptural text blocks. Commentaries at the bottom of pages get a little small, but it's generally not a problem given the affordable nature of this book. There is a noticeable amount of bleed-through from text printed on the other side of a given page. It's not that bad, really. I don't mind.Shipping:Showed up in a combined shipping box of 3-4 items. No shrink-wrap, no outer book box, no outer card stock sleeve. Just a hardcover bible with its glossy paper dust jacket sliding around a little in a large cardboard box next to smaller cardboard boxes. Small dent on the top corner of the front cover but I didn't mind because that's not the point of purchasing an Apologetics Bible.Durability:The paper dust jacket is cut just slightly larger than the book covers, so it tends to catch or bend over the edges if you're reading in your lap or on a bed. I normally read this book without the paper jacket so that I don't accidentally tear it.Book nerds:The spine is rather stiff with minimal arched "throw-up". Not really an issue, since the pages drape gracefully with no text buried in the gutter. Books lies pretty nicely on a table. The endsheets seem to be cut wrong-grained (grain perpendicular instead of parallel to the spine). Yes, there are solid black end-bands. I would not advise vertical storage of the book, since the pages will probably sag after a while.The pages feel a little thin, like they could tear or fold too easily.The single black ribbon is nothing really special, but having a good ribbon doesn't matter that much given the following: An avid user of an apologetics study bible for serious cross referencing and comparative work would most likely have dozens, if not hundreds of notes, stickers, book marks, and scraps of paper holding the spots where key verses or articles lay. There's not really any point to Holman making the ribbon any better than it currently is.