Brief Description:
The New Open Bible is a somewhat unique study Bible as it does not have footnotes
as most of the other ones do. It does have an interesting Topical Index to the
Bible which is over 300 pages long at the beginning of the Bible. This format
appears to go back to at least the 1960's in a reference Bible named The New
Encyclopedic Reference Bible which has the exact same index, only entitled the Biblical
Cyclopedic Index. The original was published by Zondervan but printed by Royal
Publishers out of Nashville (may have been linked to Thomas Nelson). The Open
Bible then came out and was published by Thomas Nelson. Over the years,
improvements were made, leading to The New Open Bible, and currently The New
Open Bible Study Edition is being sold.
Advantages: The New
Open Bible Study Edition, referred to hereafter as the NOBSE, contains a wealth
of information. It has the best book introductions and outlines of any study Bible I
have seen. The Visual Bible Study Aids are a new feature that consist of full
page, fairly in-depth treatments of various theological and historical issues, as well as
personalities, maps, and charts. There are many other study helps, charts, a fine
concordance in the back and the excellent Thomas Nelson full color maps. The lack of
footnotes probably adds to the readability, as there are fewer distractions. The
exception to the "no footnotes" layout is a fine set of notes linked throughout
the Bible that are a specially designed "Christian's Guide to the New Life."
This is a very good introduction to Christianity, particularly for a new convert
who has very little knowledge of the Bible. Strong local church emphasis. It
is written from the premillennial point of view, and the notes and outlines on Revelation
are very good, though some of the other positions are briefly touched on.
Disadvantages: The main weakness
is that there is so much information that many users of NOBSE probably don't even
know half of what is in it. But, this problem lies more with the individual than
with the NOBSE, as it is meticulously indexed. In this format, with very few
footnotes, many of the passages that may need some explanation are not explained at all,
which is the strength of the other study Bibles with the same page footnotes linked to the
verses being discussed. Center column references would be nice, also.
Recommendation:
The
New Open Bible Study Edition is an excellent study Bible and a good choice for a new
believer in particular.
