Richard L. Pratt

In my opinion, the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible is the best modern Reformed Study Bible. Unfortunately, it was published at a time when Reformed people were deserting the NIV in droves, usually in favor of the ESV.

The NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible is based on the New Geneva Study Bible, which was later renamed the Reformation Study Bible. It was originally published in the NKJV in the mid 1990's and is now available in the ESV.

The translation issue aside, the show more advantages it has over the NKJV/ESV Reformation Study Bible (RSB) include more extensive study notes and the inclusion of the Reformed confessions. While many of the notes are the same as the RSB's, others are different or more detailed. Due to the inclusion of the confessions, some of J.I. Packer's original articles were deleted in favor of new ones. (Those articles by Packer can also be found in his "Concise Theology.") Unfortunately, when the ESV version of the Reformation Study Bible was issued a couple of years after the NIV Spirit of the Reformation Study Bible, the study notes and articles do not appear to have been changed or enhanced from the original NKJV version and no additional material was included.

Even if you don't like the 1984 NIV, if you are primarily looking for a reference work instead of a Bible for general use, this is the Reformed Study Bible to get if you have a choice. For those who do not adhere to Reformed theology, this is still an excellent resource if you're interested in learning about Reformed theology.

Unfortunately this Study Bible appears to be out of print and is now difficult to find at a reasonable price. Hopefully it will be reprinted at some point, but that would be somewhat unlikely in the near future given the current hegemony of the ESV and the ESV Reformation Study Bible. Since Zondervan is a publisher for the NASB, it's theoretically possible (albeit unlikely) that it could be issued in that translation. Perhaps an electronic version could be made available for the Kindle, Logos or some other platform. show less

A good refresher if you have been offer worldview apologetics before, but might be rusty. I would not recommend this book to someone who is brand new to the idea of worldview apologetics. Pratt summarizes much and doesn't give lots of detail, assuming the reader can make some logical progressions on his own. Not an ideal teaching scenario for a new apologist.

The author knows the burdens many of us carry because of inadequate prayer lives. He offers clear Biblical direction on how to pray more effectively.

Easy to understand and follow, though still hard to put into practice... Some of the examples in the end of how to actually carry out the apologetic method are surprisingly weak and unhelpful (e.g. "What about other 'sacred' books?")