Disciple's Study Bible

Holman's Disciple Study Bible

Looking for one of the best Baptist study bible that you will enjoy and get many years of use from,  then you came to the right place. This is a review of the Holman disciple study bible by Holman publishers published in 1984. This is the old school study bible, not to be confused with the new Disciples study bible that was published On November 15th 2017, using the Christian standard version (CSB.) This is not that bible. This is a whole lot better.


I actually ran across a few of the old  '84 New International Versions in Hardback below...

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Publisher: Holman Bible Publishers
 
Title: The Disciple's Study Bible
 
Version: New International Version NIV, The Zondervan Corporation
 
 
 
 

Holman NIV disciple's study bible Review

  
Hey there, hi there, hello there, William here for the Holman Disciples Study Bible,...
 
Glory to God, let's jump right into this review of the Disciples Study Bible new international version 1984, which in my opinion is the best NIV version. The bible that I am reviewing is older and I got this DSB around 1986. 

The Disciples Study Bible Exterior Elements
 
This particular bible is a grey Feora bonded leather cover. It is perimeter stitched, and from looking inside the spine it is also smyth sewn. This is important because it keeps the pages together and is stronger than glue downs like most hardback and paper back books. This bible came with one 1/4" double satin ribbon marker and of course I did hack my bible and glued into the hub four 3/8" grey double satin ribbons. 
 
 
As you can also see in the images above this bible has four raised hubs on the spine. After owning four bonded leather bibles, I suggest that anyone thinking about getting one, D-O-N-T. That is just my suggestion. The reason behind this recommendation is they break down over time. Of course any bible will break down to some degree over time, but my experience with bonded leather which is real leather pieces epoxied together to form a bond, dry out even with conditioning and proper cleaning and they crack around the edges, and head and tail bands. 
 

 
 
  This makes for an ugly bible that will need rebound or placed in a protective cover. If you can't afford a good quality leather bible than I highly recommend a smyth sewn hardback bible. I really like hardback bibles. You can take them with you and not worry about spills and things like that. They are durable. 
 

Why so many ribbons?

Since this is a study bible, I use the ribbons for...

  1. One ribbon for the Old Testament
  2. One Ribbon for the New Testament
  3. One for studying the Doctrines of the bible 
  4. One for the concordance. This makes it easy for word studies etc.
  5. The last ribbon is for the Life Helps of the disciples study bible. You can see all the contents in the photo below.

 
Between The Covers: What is in the Disciples Study Bible? 
 
  1. 27 Major Bible Doctrines
  2. Annotated from Genesis to Revelation,
  3.  summarized, indexed and traced in Church history (Southern Baptist)
  4. 24 pages of Full color illustrations on Doctrine and Chronology
  5. Theological Introductions of each book of the bible
  6. Glossary of theological terms
  7. A good concordance
  8. 95 pages of Life Helps articles all about discipleship and how to disciple others.
  9. 8 Pages of full color maps  
I only own three study bibles and this is the most comprehensive study bible that I have. Now I am not saying that it is the largest study bible. I haven't seen the MacArthur, which I understand it is very doctrine oriented and very large.


Like most study bibles the font is going to be small. This bible I believe has a 7 to 7.5" font and the study notes are probably about 6". The study notes themselves are very comprehensive and full of theological doctrine. There are seven (7) pages that explain the outlines of doctrine so that you can use the study notes as a guide. 





  If you end up finding this bible (used of course,) at a garage sale or a local used book store get it. Especially if you are a baptist, because the theological doctrine was all built around the baptist belief.
 
Bible Introductions
 
 
  One thing this bible has is a really far- reaching theological introduction to each book of the bible. 



 


There are even doctrinal charts you can study using either the theological introductions which are helpful or the study notes themselves. 


There is a section in the back for any theological terms you may or may not know. 


 
Not forgetting there is a complete summery of all 27 doctrines explained that one could study. Add just all of the theological doctrines with a study of the Baptist faith and message 2000, you could walk away with doctrine of divinity without going to college. 



What really makes the Holman's Disciple Study Bible Special?
 
 Learning to become a disciple and disciple making. The Disciple topic is as hot as evangelism. How many books do you have on your bookshelf right now about the subject of evangelism? See when the subject of discipleship and disciple making come up what do you think about? 
I know I think about Jesus calling the twelve, Paul the Apostle, in the book of Acts and his epistles writing to Timothy. 

  I know on my book shelf I have at least six books and some MP3's all on the subject of evangelism. This includes Way of the Master by Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort. Discipleship is more intimate than evangelism. 
 
  • For the Disciple it is the learning process of biblical doctrine
  • How to properly use and divide the word of truth (the bible) 
  •  Learning the teachings of the bible including how to share the Gospel
  • Discipleship is a personal discipline and a deepening relationship with Christ
  • Discipleship equips you to reach out into your community for the Kingdom of God
  • You'll discover how to pray in your closet, corporate prayer, and intercessory prayer.
  • Why your local church is essential to your spiritual growth 
 

 
As you make your way through the disciples Study bible you'll learn and apply what you learn to real life which reinforces your disciple training. You will go from abiding in Christ to fruit bearing person of God in Christ. I use to own a set of LifeWays the disciples path guides, and I studied that along with the disciples study bible even though it used the CSB and I have to let you know it was a remarkable journey. You'll discover how to use the disciples cross which wasn't in the disciples path.

 
Year's ago I remember my mother in law had a few three ring binders in her basement that caught my interest it was titled "Master Life: Discipleship training" which was published by Convention Press now Life Way,a publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1982. I only bring this up because in that series the author Avery Willis Jr. had the Disciples Cross teaching. 

I have to wonder how much of the Master Life:Discipleship program is in this study bible. Just a thought and as I Go through the names of the contributors Avery Willis Jr. name is not mentioned. I snag a photo online of what my mother in laws binders looked like. Notice the Disciples cross on the cover and compare it to the one above. Very similar.



 
Is Christ's words in Red?
 
Yes and dark too. Plus the color seems to be consistent through out the Gospels. Generally, I don't really care if Christ's words were in red or not. With a study bible that has small font to begin with the colorization is very helpful. Take a look...
 
 

Histories of Major Doctrines
 
The Disciples study bible leaves no stone unturned in this bible. Along with all the theological doctrines you even get the histories. 29 pages of biblical doctrine and church histories. 
 
 

 
The Disciples Study Bible Maps & Charts
 
The disciples study bible has plenty of Charts and maps that will aid you in your study as a disciple. The history even covers the doctrine of Election and discusses the debate that is ongoing today.
 
 

 
The maps will give you a birds eye view of the lay of the land in biblical times. This would include lakes, rivers, mountains, and ocean that could be obstacles such as the Red Sea in the Exodus story, Jesus's paths that he took during his three year ministry, etc. 
 


  As you can clearly see, the maps and charts are very colorful and annotated. Maps show the importance of geography and archeology as well as the journey taken from the biblical characters.

 
Pros of the Holman's Disciple Study Bible 
  •  Smyth sewn binding keeps the pages together longer because the signatures are sewn together with binders thread. Better than a glue down. I still wouldn't keep it in the car or on the dashboard on cold or hot days. 
  • I really like the raised hubs on the spine it gives the bible more of a reformation feel :)
  • The text isn't to small for my old-er eye's, and it is very readable. 
  • This bible has Jesus's words in red and it is a dark red. I really like that and the redness stays consistent. 
  • The bible maps are the best. Very colorful as you saw in the images above. These have to be the best maps in any bible I have in my library.
  • The parts I really love is the theological doctrines, History, and the Life Helps in the back of the bible. This trio would be reason alone to hunt for this particular bible. 
  • One pluses is that the introduction to each bible book is at the beginning of the book. This is great. You don't have to go to the back of the book to get a feel for the content. The introductions are theological and historical in nature and are longer than many bible introductions
  •  The text does seem to be lined match but I can't tell you for sure whether it is or is not.
 
Cons of the Disciples Study Bible
  • The bonded leather shows some signs of where at the head and tail. The cause isn't really age,, but I did use to keep my bible on a book shelf standing upright. The wear comes from my fingers gripping the head band and pulling the bible toward me. Please don't do that. Instead put the bible back in the box or lay it flat on a shelf. The tail that is cracked comes from pressure of the pull plus it bends the tail and yap standing upright. Bonded leather as it gets older does dry out and begins to crack.  I think it is due to the epoxy, but what do I know.
  • The study notes are small, even though I can still read them is amazing enough. 
  •  The disciples study bible has the common thin bible paper so markers will bleed through if you try to use them. I use Crayola twist-ables in this bible
  • If you dislike "ghosting" then you will not enjoy this bible. The ghosting is due to thin paper and the other side comes through. 
  • The front cover of the bible seems to have a sail boat stamp on it which is the trade mark of the Holman's Disciples Study Bible. But the stamping you can barley see. I guess it wasn't pressed hard enough.  
Conclusion of The Disciples Study Bible
 
The Holman's Disciples study bible, is a perfect Baptist bible, especially for the southern Baptist, I think they used the Baptist Faith and message in the theological doctrine, and I think a person that has been called into the ministry or leadership. If you plan on evangelizing, why leave those you witness to in the wind, invite them to a disciples bible study, disciple them and help them find a good biblical church. I use this bible during my studies to make sure that they are biblical and sound. I like to use the maps in my bible to get a feel for the land and area around the cities and towns when it comes to a particular war. I also use them to see where not only Jesus walked during his earthly ministry, the Apostles as well. 

This is a well thought out and put together bible. Remember, I said at the beginning, this is not the new Holman's Disciple study bible that use's the Holman's Christian standard version or CSB, that was first published in 2017. This is the older version and it uses the New International Version NIV 1984 update by the International bible society and Zondervan bible publishers. 
   I can't wait to get my hands on the new Disciples Study bible not only to review but to compare the old and the new.

I don't give stars or anything like that with my reviews. I will let you know that this bible is heavy on Biblical doctrine and Discipleship. If that is what you feel you need in your life is to learn more about the nature of God, (OT) and have a more personal relationship with Christ, (NT) while  benefiting your family, local church and community for the kingdom of Heaven, this is the study bible you need to be on the look out for. I can't praise this study bible enough.

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