Thanks for your continuing interest in The Lutheran Study Bible. I wanted to let you know that we are doing well in the preparation of digital editions of The Lutheran Study Bible. We anticipate that by the end of April/early May we will have several digital options for you. I do not have prices to announce at this point, but here is what I can tell you. TLSB will be released in digital formats allowing it to be used on all desktop and laptop computers, either Mac or PC, and on all iPhones, iTouch and iPads, Blackberries, or other mobile devices if they are able to read ePub or Mobipocket files. TLSB in digital format will be able to be used on the Amazon Kindle, Sony Reader and Barnes and Noble Nook or any other e-book reader that can read ePub or Mobipocket files. We will release a LOGOS edition as well, for use as a stand-alone resource, or as part of your larger LOGOS library, if you own more LOGOS resources. LOGOS is software available for PC or Mac computers. LOGOS has an iPhone app as well and no doubt will be releasing Android versions in the future.

The Lutheran Study Bible — Digital Format Chart of Options

For PC Desktop and Laptop Computers:
LOGOS
Amazon Kindle (.azw)
Adobe Digital Editions — e-Pub (.epub) or ePDF
Mobipocket (.prc)
Barnes and Noble e-Reader — e-Pub (.epub)

For Macintosh Desktop and Laptop Computers:
LOGOS edition
Adobe Digital Editions — e-Pub (.epub) or ePDF
Mobipocket (.prc)
Barnes and Noble e-Reader — ePub (.epub)

For E-Readers:
Amazon Kindle
Sony Reader
B&N Nook
Apple iPad
Any E-Reader device that accepts DRM protected e-Pub and/or ePDF files

For Mobile Devices:
LOGOS iPhone App for iPhone, iTouch, iPad
Amazon Kindle App for iPhone, iTouch, iPad
Amazon Kindle App for Blackberry
Barnes and Noble’s e-Reader for iPhone, iTouch, iPad
Barnes and Noble’s e-Reader for Blackberry
Or any mobile device/application that can read DRM protected e-Pub and/or ePDF files

After literally a couple months of waiting for them to get it all set up, Amazon finally has managed to get our listing of The Lutheran Study Bible up and fully operational. The Amazon “look inside” feature is fully engaged so you can enjoy poking around in the book. Take a look.

I received this very interesting message from a former manager of a Christian bookstore, who has a lot of experience with many Study Bibles. I told him that his remarks were not “goofy” at all but spot-on. I think you will agree:

In the late 80′s and early 90′s when I was fresh out of Bible college that I worked in and then managed a Christian Bookstore. I was familiar with the Scofield Reference Bible (my parents bought me one in 1978), the Thompson Chain Reference, the Open Bible (even the Walk through the Bible edition), and the Ryrie Study Bible. I was there for the release of the NIV Study Bible–and gave them away as gifts. I saw the Disciple’s Study Bible appear from Holman. I was there at the 1990 Christian Retailers convention in Denver when one of the “scholars” who worked on the New Revised Standard Version openly stated that they “fixed” the wording in part of Hebrews where it quoted the LXX rather than the “actual Hebrew” and became completely, openly convinced that I would never, ever use that translation with a church group nor recommend it to anyone ever—You don’t correct theopneustos words, they correct you. I saw the Life Application Bible and the “English translation explosion” and for a few years reviewed every new Study Bible or translation that came out.

Then the Holy Spirit took what I had learned from my Baptist professors and helped me to understand that the Sacraments weren’t pretty pictures, but that God actually worked through them. And as I searched for where God would have me go, I found the complete works of a fellow called “Martin Luther” at the State Library of Michigan (of all places). I read and I read and I read. I found a man whom the Holy Spirit had changed through the Word of God and who thought as did I and I could sense the Holy Spirit using this text. No, not in some sort of pietistic “outside of scripture” way, but as God led Luther to use the scriptures, the Holy Spirit then worked with them on me.

All that is to lead up to this: I had almost the exact same experience as I read through the notes of The Lutheran Study Bible. It’s as if the commentators jumped back to an earlier era of Lutheranism. I say that because much of what I read outside of Luther or Chemnitz (even a lot of Walther) really didn’t thrill me. It either seemed like a response against the Zwinglian-Reformed or it was just an empty stating of Dogma rather than an interaction with the Risen Christ. But this new Lutheran Study Bible doesn’t leave me just intellectually stimulated; it goes deeper.

Most of the problems I now see with the Zwinglian-Reformed Study Bibles stem from the fact they focus either on a conservative cerebral exercise or they tend to drum up a false emotional-based sensation that focuses “on the horizontal” (Jesus and me—and really, it’s me) rather than leading us back to Christ and having the emotion that sometimes naturally flows come from interaction with the “vertical” by the Holy Spirit using the Word.

What I have experienced in just two days of using my new LSB is not only cerebral, but it’s deeper. It’s not only emotional, it’s emotion based on a relationship with Christ through His Word—it’s hard to explain without sounding goofy.

I guess all this is simply to say, “Thank you.” “Home Run.”

I bought one of these for my “classical dispensationalist” Father-in-law, but I think he’s really, really going to be blessed by it (even if he won’t like the chart in the beginning of the Revelation).

Thank you

Randy Keyes Lansing, MI

I enjoyed reading this post today from the blog site: Dead Theologians. I think you will too. I particularly enjoyed his remark that he will probably being using The Lutheran Study Bible because it is a better reflection of Reformation theology than The Reformation Study Bible. Here is his post:

Tradition Envy

I’m pleased to report that we have received, as of today, every edition of The Lutheran Study Bible. You may place your order here, or call 800-325-3040. We have temporarily run out of the Larger Print Hardbacks and are getting more printed as soon as we can. Demand has simply far exceeded our anticipation/expectation on the Larger Print editions. I strongly urge orders to be placed sooner, rather than later. We are now taking orders in the thousands every few days. Busy times! You can read more about The Lutheran Study Bible at: http://www.cph.org/lutheranbible We are working very hard to get orders shipped out ASAP, and there are many thousands of orders. We are also working hard to get the imprinting done as quickly as we can.

Please remain calm. Do not panic. No pushing or shoving. Be patient. Your copy is coming!! Grin.

So, let’s recap all the editions we have to choose from, or, rather, that you have to choose from.

Regular Print Hardback

Regular Print Hardback Thumb Index

Genuine Leather Regular Print (in black and burgundy)

Genuine Leather Regular Print with Thumb Indexing (in black and burgundy)

Bonded Leather Regular Print (in black and burgundy)

Bonded Leather Regular Print (in black and burgundy)

Larger Print Hardback

Larger  Print Genuine Leather (in black and burgundy)

There is no thumb indexing available in larger print, the notches would cut into the text at the margins. And there is no bonded leather option in Larger Print.

Other Options

Ribbon markers

Custom canvas book covers, for both regular and larger, in black and burgundy.

Sheet/page magnifiers.

Two types of page/tab Bible book markers.

Again: You can read more about all these things and order them from: http://www.cph.org/lutheranbible or call 800-325-3040.

A dear veteran soldier of the cross, Pastor Daniel T. Moriarity, sent me this message, and with his permission, I’m sharing it with you:

Paul Timothy, I just wanted to let you know that I burst into tears when I began paging through my new TLSB. That first picture of Jesus pushed me over the edge. Oh, and they were tears of joy! I have a son and daughter who are Lutheran educated K-12 (our daughter Bec is also a graduate in BSN from CUW). Our son cradled his Bible like a baby (he lives with us). Linda (my wife) paged through it with oohs and aahs and “Look they have the Catechism” (and other serendipitous discoveries). And the list of contributers is so wonderful–for me to see former students of mine (Scott Murray), and SONS of classmates of mine (Benjamin Mayes), and colleagues and classmates of mine (Tim Maschke and Andy Steinmann), and “Cap” Ehlke, who worked with us on GOD’S WORD. I felt like Adam, “At last, at last…” only this is a truly marvelous work that every Lutheran can be proud of. Thank you again for this magnum opus! God’s richest blessings, and may His Word “find free course” in all the lives it touches! Part of my tears are for giving this Bible to our daughter Rebecca who is married to a Mormon, but is still a member of a Missouri Synod congregation. I’m hoping–and actually I know–she will use this for her own personal study and edification in witnessing to her husband. The tears are to be able to trust an entire Bible like this into my daughter’s (and son’s) lives for years to come–without one blink of hesitation.”

The new hymn for the observance of Reformation Day, “The Holy Word of God Endures Forever,” written by Pastor Stephen Starke, to the glory of God in honor of the publication of The Lutheran Study Bible, is now available as a Lutheran Service Builder file. You can find it in two locations: at our Web site and at The LCMS’ Commission on Worship site. It is a free download. It is also available in free PDF format as well.

The 1545 Edition of the Luther Bible

The Story of The Lutheran Study Bible

The story begins in 1521 in an isolated room at Wartburg Castle, a mountaintop fortress in Eisenach, Germany. Martin Luther had been taken there under protective custody by Elector Frederick the Wise after being declared to be not just a heretic but an outlaw by Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Frederick gave Luther safe haven and protection to prevent his arrest and execution, both very real threats and dangers imposed on Luther as a result of his bold confession of Christ and His Word. Consequently, Luther had nothing but time on his hands, and he put that time to very good use.

Among other projects during his exile at the Wartburg, Luther translated the New Testament into German, which was published in September 1522 after his return to Wittenberg from the Wartburg in March 1522. Luther’s work of translating the Bible continued until the end of his life. He and a team of colleagues continued working on the translation of the Bible, including the entire Old Testament, and in 1534, the first complete “Luther Bible” was published. It was repeatedly updated in new editions until Luther’s death in 1546.

Already in the first complete edition of the Luther Bible, we see the beginnings of a great tradition in the Lutheran Church: providing an annotated edition of the Bible, with helps and notes for the reader. Why? In Acts 8, we read about an Ethiopian court official who was reading from the Bible, and when the Holy Spirit sent Philip to him, the Ethiopian asked Philip, “How can I understand this, unless someone guides me?” (v. 31). It is the desire to explain the meaning of the Bible that is the foundation for all the various study editions of the Bible that have been published in the Lutheran Church since 1534.

Early Lutheran Study Bibles

One particularly famous study edition of the Bible was an enormous three-volume work containing the entire Bible, as well as Luther’s notes and observations on every book of the Bible. This edition was prepared by the great orthodox Lutheran theologian Abraham Calov, and it is this Bible that was owned by J. S. Bach, the famous Lutheran church musician, who read and studied it carefully. The so-called “Bach Bible,” complete with Bach’s signature on the title page, is now part of the rare book collection at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. Another large and very popular study Bible project was the Weimar Bible, which was begun by Johann Gerhard but completed in the later 1600s after his death. This Bible contained application notes for the reader.

Dr. C. F. W. Walther, the first president of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, was particularly proud of the fact that the Missouri Synod was instrumental in the publication of an American edition, produced by the American Lutheran Bible Society that Walther and others had founded and whose rights and properties were eventually turned over to the Missouri Synod. The Altenburg Bible is a massive multi-volume work containing for each chapter of every book of the Bible devotional thoughts based primarily on the writings of Martin Luther and also a prayer. It is the most comprehensive study and devotional edition of the Bible ever produced in the Lutheran Church.

The German Lutheran study Bible tradition in the Missouri Synod continued into the early twentieth century, with each Bible containing Lutheran notes and studies. Concordia Publishing House sold more recent printings of the Weimar Bible and kept the Altenburg Bible in print as well. This tradition came to an end somewhat abruptly in the first few decades of the twentieth century when the Missouri Synod moved from being primarily a German-speaking church to an English-speaking church. Interestingly, also at this time the apocryphal books that had been in every edition of the Bible since the time of Luther no longer appeared in English editions of the Bible published by Concordia Publishing House.

Read more…

LCMS Board of Directors member, President/CEO of Lutheran Social Services of the South, and Vice-Chair and Lead Director of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Mr. Kurt Senske, offers these words of endorsement for The Lutheran Study Bible:

“The Lutheran Study Bible is a required addition to the personal library for every Lutheran layperson. The well-written accessible prose examines in depth each book of the Bible and provides context, history, translation notes, maps, easy-to-read charts and overviews and exhaustive cross-references. These features guide Biblical students to a richer understanding of His Word and how we can apply it to our daily lives. The Lutheran Study Bible is certain to be a comfortable, constant companion on my personal spiritual journey.”

Dr. Kurt Senske,
President & CEO – Lutheran Social Services of the South
Vice Chair & Lead Director – Thrivent Financial For Lutherans

Concordia Publishing House is rolling out The Lutheran Study Bible and along with the Study Bible comes a family  of other resources and helps. Let me describe them for you. Please pass this along to your various InterWeb networks. I shot a couple of iPhone pics this morning of the resources that have come into inventory here and are ready to be ordered. You’ll find these items listed on the various sign-up sheets/order forms/posters sent out a few weeks back in the promo kits. The free downloadable is…ah…only available as a free downloadable, well, just read this and you’ll see.

How to Use The Lutheran Study Bible: FREE Downloadable

This resource can be used in a Bible Class on a Sunday morning, or a small group, or for individual use. It explains the features of The Lutheran Study Bible and shows people how to take advantage of the wide variety of study tools and helps built into the Bible itself. It is a “user’s guide” for The Lutheran Study Bible. It is intended to be used by people who have absolutely no previous experience with a Bible, and also by folks who have had lots of experience. You can customize it however you wish for your needs and purposes. Where can you find this study? It is on the DVD-ROM data disk that went out in the promotional materials for The Lutheran Study Bible. You’ll find it there, but anyone can download it for free from CPH’s website. Did I mention it is free? Yes, it is.

Life By His Word: CD-ROM

This is a series of Bible studies that cover the entire Bible, chapter-by-chapter one page reproducible/customizeable Bible studies. The easy-to-use, one-page format gives study leaders the option to teach an entire Book of the Bible, or any portion of it. The adaptable format can be customized/modified for local needs and purposes. The CD includes PDF files for easy printing directly from the CD, and RTF files that can be customized. You can order it online at CPH.ORG and view samples here.

But wait…there’s even more!

The Lutheran Study Bible Journal

This resource offers you help as you read the Bible prayerfully through two years. A page for each day’s reading provides brief Law/Gospel life applications, prayers, and a personal index to help you see how all of Scripture applies to your daily life. Each page provides room for you to record your thoughts and prayers, and gives you a prayer for you to use with each day’s reading. It is offered in a cover design that will appeal more to men and one for women. Here is a sample you can view.

“You’ll find The Lutheran Study Bible to be a whole resource center under one cover! It’s also practical to use, even if you’re in the very early stages of becoming a Bible student. This volume can be a tool in God’s hand to overcome Biblical illiteracy, and to shape His people with the mind of Christ. Its way of introducing you to daily, prayerful Scripture reading is such a blessing.”

Rev. Robert Bugbee, President
Lutheran Church-Canada

Many people are excited to have received their copy of The Lutheran Study Bible, others hearing of this, are asking, “Hey! Where’s my copy of The Lutheran Study Bible?” Here’s the latest information: While we had hoped to be shipping out all editions by the end of this week, today we determined that we are not going to be able to begin shipping any thumb indexed or leather editions of The Lutheran Study Bible until the week of October 11. Why? The manufacturing process on thumb indexed and leather editions is taking us a tad longer than we expected. Of course, we are still running well ahead of the announced publication date of October 31. In order to save our customers money, we are not shipping partial orders, that is, if there is an order placed that has regular hardback editions, along with any of the thumb indexed or leather editions, we will hold on shipment until we can fill that order entirely. Thanks for your patience and understanding!

“Both lay and clergy alike will make good use of the copious study notes, maps, charts, cross-references, and articles included in The Lutheran Study Bible. I appreciate the attention paid to the writings of the church fathers, which preserve this important part of our heritage. This is an excellent study Bible following in the tradition of the Weimar Bible, the study Bible of 17th century Lutheranism. It will be a valuable addition to every personal Library.”

Rev. Gaylin R. Schmeling, President
Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary

“The Lutheran Study Bible displays a remarkable array of virtues: translation notes, a running chronology, and extensive cross references. Noteworthy among its many strengths are: first, significant theological commentary and reflection that draws on the entire history of interpretation with special place given to Lutheran hermeneutical perspectives [that] will enrich every reader’s reflection on the meaning of the Biblical text for their life; secondly, the careful and faithful historical discussions place the Biblical text within its classical setting while noting, but not unduly engaging, alternative theories of dates and authorship. In a word, The Lutheran Study Bible keeps the text and its message before the reader by ordering related issues such as authorship and date as servants of the text rather than distractions. The result: the Christ-centered character of the Sacred Scriptures is everywhere on display. That is the greatest virtue of all.”

Rev. Dr. Dean O. Wenthe

President, Concordia Theological Seminary

Fort Wayne, Indiana