ESV Wide Margin Reference Edition (Tru-Tone Portfolio Edition)

I received a review copy of the ESV Wide Margin Reference Edition from Crossway a few weeks ago. I have been a longtime NASB user. The edition that was sent to me was the Portfolio style in TruTone. The cover itself is beautiful. It is very soft to the touch and flexible. It is a delight to hold. It is obviously not as nice as a calfskin cover, but from what I have heard it may be superior to the genuine leather edition. The pages are fairly thick, thicker than most other Bible paper. The paper is not as nice as that found in Lockman NASB's (large print ultrathin reference Bible and the wide margin reference Bible). There is a nice amount of space on the outside edge of the page for which to write notes. It is unfortunate (as many others have written) that the inside margin is too narrow for writing notes. The one request that I have for Crossway is that they switch this edition to a sewn binding. It is glued and eventually will begin to pull away. The glued binding also keeps the Bible from laying completely flat. One interesting note, the box said that the Bible is guaranteed for life! This is an impressive promise.

The translation itself is very similar to the NASB. There are some places where the scholars have updated some archaic words or renderings which are contained in the NASB such as, brethren to brothers; only begotten Son to only Son. There are some places where the ESV has eliminated some of the supplied words that are used in the NASB, which at times has led to greater clarity. Interestingly enough, the ESV does use some anglicized wording that does sound a little odd to the modern-day American reader such as, haughty, rubbish, puffed up (which I realize is a literal metaphor from the Greek language). I will not belabor the point. It is something that each individual believer would need to examine to determine if the language is comfortable for him.

I would like to say that I do believe that the ESV is a very good translation. I would highly recommend it to others. I believe that it is an accurate translation which will be useful to the church. Crossway has also provided many excellent editions of this translation which make it very likely that a believer will find an edition that fits his preferences such as, the personal reference Bible, classic reference Bible, thin-line edition, the single column reference edition, as well as many others. I really like the TruTone editions that Crossway has produced, they make it possible to have a very attractive Bible which is pleasant to hold and use.

If you are interested in this edition or other editions of the ESV, I would recommend that you check out the Westminster Seminary bookstore as a result of their exceptional prices.

It is a glued binding so the Bible does not lay completely flat when opened, but not terrible.  One thing that was surprising is that Crossway now offers a Life-time guarantee on these Bibles.




The wide margins are nice.  The paper is also surprisingly nice.  It is a black letter text in paragraph format, very nice.




The TruTone cover is soft and flexible.  As you can see the Bible does open nicely, even though it is not a sewn binding.

Building Blocks for Believers - An Introduction to Systematic Theology

Christianity is a faith based on cognitive information.  The gospel is a cognitive message.  It is a message with content which is to be believed.  Therefore, from the outset what one believes is vitally important (Jude 3; 1 Tim. 6:13-14, 20).  The primary source of information that we possess about God is found in Scripture.  As a result of this reality, any true valuable study will begin with the Doctrine of the Bible.

I) Bibliology
    A) Nature (authorship)
Bibliology, or the study of the Bible, is foundational for born-again Christians.  It provides the basis for all other studies.  Scripture originated from God (2 Pet. 1:20-21).  We learn that the Holy Spirit moved men to write what was recorded and passed down to use in the 66 books of the Bible.  This acknowledges a human role in the process of Scripture being composed.  In fact, there are only a few sections of Scripture which were verbally dictated by God to the author (ex. Rev. 2-3).  In the majority of places God "moved" the authors to record what He wanted to communicate without overriding the individual personality of the writer (ex. Lk 1:1-4; 2 Tim. 4:9-15).  God was superintending the process of writing Scripture.

Scripture is also described as being "breathed out" by God (2 Tim. 3:16).  Again, this is an indication of the divine origin of the 66 books of the Bible.  God was speaking His truth through those who wrote the Scriptures.

      B) Inerrancy
The subject of errors in the Scripture is hotly debated even today.  The issue must be discussed first, at the level of the original manuscripts (the autographs).  This refers to the first letters written by Paul, Moses, etc...  These documents were inerrant.  The basis for this belief is the nature of the Scriptures.  The Bible is God's Word.  He is the one superintending the process of Scripture being recorded.  God authored the Bible by using men to write what He wanted communicated.  He guided them.  Scripture teaches that God cannot lie (Tit. 1:2; Heb. 6:18).  Since God was the one in charge of the process, we believe that He did not allow errors or false information to be included (Num. 23:19; 1 Sam. 15:29).

The doctrine of inerrancy is extremely important for one's understanding of Scripture.  Yet one must be honest in the process.  The original manuscripts were inerrant.  We possess none of the originals.  Today we possess translations of copies of the original manuscripts.  Over time as the originals were copied, scribal errors were introduced.  Now as scholars study copies of the original manuscripts, they discover differences between various copies.  Through careful study, comparison, and investigation they are able to discover what is likely to be the original reading.  No major doctrine is compromised by the variants found in the copies.  In fact, of the over 5,000 pieces of N.T. copies there is 99% agreement among what is recorded.  Therefore, even though you carry a translation of copies of the original manuscripts, you can be assured that you are carrying the Word of God.

God desired to communicate His Word to His people so that they would be equipped to live in a way that glorifies Him (2 Tim. 3:16-17).  This message is so important that God has preserved His Word over many thousands of years.