Explore the Word with the NLT Study Bible
CBN.com It's being called a "revolutionary breakthrough in study Bibles." Today, Tyndale Publishing House released the NLT Study Bible, which offers numerous special features and study notes to help readers better understand the Scriptures.
A team of 48 scholars and editors have been at work over the last seven years creating the NLT Study Bible, but this kind of study resource has been in Tyndale’s plans since they first launched the effort to create the New Living Translation nearly twenty years ago, said Mark Taylor, president of Tyndale House and Executive Editor and Chief Stylist of the NLT Study Bible.
The NLT Study Bible is the first study Bible to release simultaneously not only in a print version, but in a fully-searchable online version, and in the three major electronic Bible formats including WordSearch, PocketBible, and Logos. Enclosed in each Bible package will be a card that provides the purchaser with a unique user code for access to a fully searchable online version of the NLT Study Bible —including the complete text, the study notes, and other NLT Study Bible features.
“More and more pastors and Bible teachers are adopting the New Living Translation as their text to preach and teach from,” said Blaine Smith, an associate publisher at Tyndale. “And we know that many, or perhaps most, people preparing sermons and Bible lessons today are doing so on computers. This makes online access to the text and study materials of tremendous benefit to NLT Study Bible users.”
To familiarize readers with the new Bible, Tyndale has set up a Web site, www.NLTStudyBible.com, which offers previews of the new features as well as comparisons of the NLT Study Bible to other study Bibles.
In addition, General Editor Sean Harrison maintains an informative blog (http://www.nltstudybible.com/blog/) about the new Bible where readers can learn more about the development process used in publishing the NLT Study Bible, discuss study materials, and learn about nnotable developments in the world of biblical scholarship or Bible translation.
Tyndale’s President Mark Taylor recently discussed the new Bible.
What do you think makes the NLT Study Bible unique among study Bibles?
The NLT Study Bible is a wonderful combination of the readable text of the New Living Translation and the world-class scholarship of the writers who created the study notes. Some of the best biblical scholars in the world wrote the notes for the NLT Study Bible, seeking to answer all of the questions the average reader will have as he or she reads through the Bible text. So, for example, the notes and articles in the study Bible help the reader understand the ancient Near Eastern concept of the covenant, and how the covenant is central both to the OT and to the NT. We comment on how Lot could make his horrible offer to send his virgin daughters out to be ravaged by the gang of men surrounding his house (
). We talk about the relationship between circumcision (OT) and baptism (NT).The truth is, in most study Bibles the notes try to explain the text because the text needs to be explained. But in the NLT Study Bible, the text itself is self-explanatory. Still we know that readers always have questions: What was going on here? Why did he say that? What is the relationship between these two people? The NLT Study Bible tries to answer the questions that the average reader is going to have—not to understand the text, because the text itself is already understandable, but to help the reader understand the bigger picture of what is being communicated and why.
Early in the process of editing the NLT Study Bible, I did a comparison of all the notes for Exodus in the NIV Study Bible and the NLT Study Bible. Interestingly, I found only 30 percent overlap on the kinds of topics addressed in the notes. So even if someone already has one or more study Bibles, they will gain vast new resources by adding the NLT Study Bible to their treasury.
What are the features of the NLT Study Bible that you think readers will welcome most?
In addition to the study notes, there are theme notes, personality profiles, longer articles, introductions to the Old Testament and the New Testament, maps, charts, and timelines. But what really struck me personally as I participated in editing all of this material was the book introductions. The introductions help the reader get an overview of everything that is going on that book. Whether it is one of the Old Testament books of history or one of the New Testament letters, the book introductions help the reader get an overview before diving into the text.
Tyndale already publishes a number of Bible products that have set the standard, including the Life Application Study Bible, The Life Recovery Bible and The One-Year Bible, which have unique purposes and audiences. What would you say is the unique purpose and audience for the NLT Study Bible?
The purpose of the NLT Study Bible is to provide pastors and lay-people with the tools they need to understand the Bible beyond understanding the words themselves—to help them understand the bigger picture of the stories and themes of the Bible. In terms of audience, we believe the NLT Study Bible will be the best study Bible available for serious Bible students—from pastors preparing sermons, to Sunday school teachers preparing lessons, to individuals working their way through group Bible studies or personal devotions.
Most of today’s leading Bible publishers are for-profit companies who exist to make money for the shareholders. Where does the money from sales of NLT products (including the NLT Study Bible) go, and what difference do you think that makes in how Tyndale approaches the publication and distribution of Bible products?
In 2001 my parents gave most of the stock of Tyndale House Publishers to the Tyndale House Foundation. So we are a tax-paying company owned by a not-for-profit foundation. The company pays royalties to the Foundation for every NLT Bible that we sell, and the company also pays dividends to the Foundation to help support its program of making grants to other charities all around the world. (In 2008, the Foundation will make grants totaling $4.6 million.) In this way, we fulfill our corporate purpose both by the products we publish and by helping other ministries do what they do best. It's the best of all worlds!
Can you give us some examples of the kind of work the Tyndale Foundation supports?
We have a broad list of organizations to whom we make grants. For example, each year we make a major gift to The Seed Company, an affiliate of Wycliffe Bible Translators that trains people from minority languages to translate the Bible into their own language. We also support various Christian social service agencies here in the Chicago area—and everything in between!
A few years down the road, what will cause you to say that the publication of the NLT Study Bible has been successful? How do you measure that personally, and as the president of Tyndale?
Our corporate purpose is to “minister to the spiritual needs of people, primarily through literature consistent with biblical principles.” The problem is that we don’t usually see how our products are helping people grow. But it’s always rewarding to hear from readers who say that the NLT has revolutionized the way they read and understand the Bible—or how a particular book has helped them navigate a life crisis. As we stand on the threshold of the publication of the NLT Study Bible, I have absolute confidence that it will open new windows of understanding for millions of readers.That’s why we do what we do!
Purchase your copy of the NLT Study Bible
More book excerpts and author interviews
Blog: Book Bytes
For more stories like this one, sign up to receive Entertainment News from CBN.com in your email every week .
