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Overview
Features commentary from over 90 of the best apologetics thinkers of our day in one resource, including: Ted Cabal, Lee Strobel, Paul Copan, Norm Geisler, Hank Hanegraaff, Josh McDowell, Albert Mohler, J.P. Moreland, and many more—plus a special lead article from bestselling author Lee Strobel (The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, The Case for a Creator, and many more) entitled “How Apologetics Changed My Life.”
FEATURES:
- Over 100 articles from apologists on today’s leading topics
- Study notes on every page to help explain difficult Bible passages
- “Twisted Scriptures” focusing on commonly misunderstood passages
- Index of special articles for quick and easy access in the front of the Bible
- Book introductions with special emphasis on apologetics
- Profiles of key Christian apologists, including Anselm, Athanasius, Augustine, Joseph Butler, C.S. Lewis, Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Origen, William Paley, Blaise Pascal, and more
- Apologetics charts in the back of the Bible detailing the Bible’s credibility and key apologists
- Distinctive page layout and design
- Two-column text format
- Black-letter text
- 9.75-point type size
- Smyth-sewn durable binding
- Ribbon marker for easy referencing between pages
- Concordance
- Presentation page for gift-giving
- Full-color maps
The CSB Apologetics Study Bible features the highly readable, highly reliable text of the Christian Standard Bible® (CSB). The CSB stays as literal as possible to the Bible’s original meaning without sacrificing clarity, making it easier to engage with Scripture’s life-transforming message and to share it with others.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781433651205 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | B&H Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 10/02/2017 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 1728 |
| Sales rank: | 462,204 |
| File size: | 19 MB |
| Note: | This product may take a few minutes to download. |
| Age Range: | 3 Months to 18 Years |
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Genesis
GENESIS
AUTHOR
Although the author of Genesis is not identified in the book, its integral part in the Pentateuch (Genesis — Deuteronomy) suggests that the author of these five books was the same person. The books of the Pentateuch give evidence of unity through their common plot, theme (divine promises), central figure (Moses), and literary interconnections. Jewish and Christian traditions attribute the Pentateuch to Moses, whose life paralleled the events of Exodus — Deuteronomy (see 2 Ch 23:18; Lk 16:29,31; Ac 28:23).
Passages in Exodus — Deuteronomy testify that Moses authored diverse materials (Ex 17:14; 24:4-8; Nm 33:2; Dt 31:9,22). Although we cannot be certain about the contents of the "book of the law [of Moses]" (Jos 1:78; 8:31;23:6; 2 Kg 14:6), its association with Moses established a "psychology of canonicity" that set the pattern of divinely authoritative writings (Nm 12:68; Dt 18:15; 34:10). Scholars have usually recognized that minor post-Mosaic contributions must exist in the Pentateuch, such as the report of Moses's death (Dt 34). Some have contended that the first-person ("I") sections were written by Moses and that another author set them in a third-person ("Moses") narrative frame. Prior to the nineteenth century, the consensus remained that Moses wrote the essential whole, probably during the wilderness sojourn.
THE RELIABILITY OF GENESIS
Since the events of Genesis preceded Moses, this raises the question of where he got his information. For most of the Christian era, the principal explanation was divine revelation coupled with the availability of written records, such as genealogies and stories.
Gradually, though, by the nineteenth century, a new consensus arose among "critical" scholars. They believed that the Pentateuch was the product of a series of unnamed Jewish editors who progressively stitched together pieces of preexisting sources dating from the tenth to the sixth centuries BC. Instead of being Mosaic, the Pentateuch was viewed as a mosaic. Such scholars today often view the stories in the Bible's first five books as fabrications conceived hundreds of years after the supposed events, perhaps during the exile.
There is significant evidence, however, that Genesis reflects the political and cultural setting of the second millennium BC. The structure and contents of chapters 1–11 generally parallel the Babylonian epic Atrahasis (ca. 1600 BC). Social and religious practices among the patriarchs correlate better with the earlier period than with the first millennium BC. For example, Abraham's marriage to his half-sister Sarah was prohibited under the Mosaic law (20:12; Lv 18:9). It is unlikely that the Jews of the exilic period would have fabricated offensive events or preserved such stories unless these were already well-entrenched traditions. Also the prevalent use of the El compounds for the name of God (e.g., God Almighty–El Shaddai, 17:1) in Genesis contrasts with their virtual absence in first-millennium BC texts. The tolerant attitude toward Gentiles and the unrestricted travels of the patriarchs do not suit the later setting. The evidence, when considered as a whole, supports the position that Genesis remembers authentic events.
GENESIS AND ANCIENT MYTHS
The parallels between chapters 1–11 and creation and flood myths have elicited the question, Is the Bible merely a Hebrew version of myths about beginnings?
When weighing the importance of parallels, these principles should be kept in mind. First, not all parallels are equally significant, since minor ones can be attributed to common content. Second, the identity of who is borrowing from whom cannot be definitively concluded. Often it is best to assume a universal memory as the source. Third, the functions of the stories are much different. For example, the flood story of the Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic is incidental to the main idea of telling how Gilgamesh sought immortality. In the Bible, by contrast, the flood narrative is central to the development of the theme.
That the Bible's theology is divergent from the polytheism of antiquity argues against the Bible's dependence on sources from other cultures. The author of Genesis was aware of the cultural context of the nations and often crafted his accounts to counter the prevailing view. The historical framework of chapters 1–11 (e.g., "these are the records of," 2:4; 5:1) and the genealogies (chaps. 4–5; 10–11) indicate that the author presented a historical account, not a literary myth.
THE CREATION
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. A
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the surface of the watery depths, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." There was an evening, and there was a morning: one day.
6 Then God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters, separating water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above the expanse. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." B Evening came and then morning: the second day.
9 Then God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry land "earth," and the gathering of the water he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the earth produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds." And it was so. 12 The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 Evening came and then morning: the third day.
14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night. They will serve as signs for seasons C and for days and years. 15 They will be lights in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night — as well as the stars. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the sky to provide light on the earth, 18 to rule the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 Evening came and then morning: the fourth day.
20 Then God said, "Let the water swarm with D living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the large sea-creatures E and every living creature that moves and swarms in the water, according to their kinds. He also created every winged creature according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them: "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth." 23 Evening came and then morning: the fifth day.
24 Then God said, "Let the earth produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that crawl, and the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. 25 So God made the wildlife of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that crawl on the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, A and the creatures that crawl B on the earth."
27 So God created man in his own image; he created him in C the image of God; he created them male and female.
28 God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls D on the earth." 29 God also said, "Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This will be food for you, 30 for all the wildlife of the earth, for every bird of the sky, and for every creature that crawls on the earth — everything having the breath of life in it — I have given E every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good indeed. Evening came and then morning: the sixth day.
1:1 The Hebrew word for "God," Elohim, is grammatically plural but does not indicate a numerical plural (i.e., "gods"). Hebrew uses the plural form to indicate honor or intensity, sometimes called the "plural of majesty." The pairing of a singular adjective (Ps 7:9) or verb (Gn 20:6) with Elohim shows that the one God is intended. From the Israelite standpoint the oneness of the true Deity is never in question. In Dt 6:4 "The LORD," that is, Yahweh the God of Israel, is called "our Elohim," and declared to be "one."
1:14-18 The lights were "signs" that mark off time periods. They were not to be heeded as astrological signs, correlating heavenly movements with events on earth. The worship of heavenly bodies is condemned (Dt 4:19).
1:26-27 "Let us make ..." (3:22; 11:7; Is 6:8) does not indicate multiple gods. Such a view would be inconsistent with the singular "his own image" (Gn 1:27; see 5:1-2). Ancient theories of the universe's origin typically explained creation as the outcome of sexual cohabitation between male and female deities or of a battle between a deity and a hostile entity. The Bible uniformly affirms that God is asexual with no corresponding female consort. God made the universe by his authoritative speech, not by battling deities. Gn 1 was written in part to show that the view of the physical world current at that time (i.e., that physical objects represented the work of various deities) was wrong. The cosmos is inanimate and entirely under the control of the one God. Plural and singular forms are combined in 1:26-27 (see "the Spirit of God," v. 2), reflecting God's unity and yet his fullness. Subsequent scriptural revelation develops this further.
Although humans are created in the "image" and "likeness" of God (the terms are essentially synonyms; see 5:3), it does not follow that God has a body. "Image" or "likeness" often refers to a physical representation of something that may be non-material. Humans were created to serve as God's representative to govern the earth.
2 So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed. 2 On the seventh F day God had completed his work that he had done, and he rested G on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, for on it he rested from all his work of creation.
MAN AND WOMAN IN THE GARDEN
4 These are the records of the heavens and the earth, concerning their creation. At the time I that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5 no shrub of the field had yet grown on the land, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for the LORD God had not made it rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground. 6 But mist would come up from the earth and water all the ground. 7 Then the LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
8 The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he placed the man he had formed. 9 The LORD God caused to grow out of the ground every tree pleasing in appearance and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden, as well as the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river went A out from Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became the source of four rivers. B 11 The name of the first is Pishon, which flows through the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12 Gold from that land is pure; bdellium and onyx are also there. 13 The name of the second river is Gihon, which flows through the entire land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is Tigris, which runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die." 18 Then the LORD God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper corresponding to him." 19 The LORD God formed out of the ground every wild animal and every bird of the sky, and brought each to the man to see what he would call it. And whatever the man called a living creature, that was its name. 20 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the sky, and to every wild animal; but for the man G no helper was found corresponding to him. 21 So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to come over the man, and he slept. God took one of his ribs and closed the flesh at that place. 22 Then the LORD God made the rib he had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man. 23 And the man said:
This one, at last, is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called "woman," for she was taken from man.
24 This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame.
2:2-3 "Rested" (Hb shabat) does not imply fatigue but means only "ceased." God stopped because his work of creation was complete.
2:4-26 Chapter 2 is a second creation account only in the sense that it gives a more detailed accounting than chap. 1, not a contradictory one. While chap. 1 provides a general description, chap. 2 is specific. Twofold accounts were common in ancient theories of creation (e.g., the Babylonian story of Atrahasis). The differences in the order of creation events are due to each narrative's distinct purposes. The first gives a loosely chronological account, gathering creation events into a discernible pattern to show the symmetry of creation's purpose. The second is topical, focusing on the sixth day by expanding on the creation of man and woman. Gn 2 presupposes chapter 1 and does not duplicate all the creation events.
2:7,21-22 The creation of the first man and woman is not myth. The author of the account intends to portray a historical event. The first man (Hb adam) is treated in genealogies as a historical individual named "Adam" (5:1; Lk 3:38). Since the name Adam means "man(kind)," the author also intends him to represent humanity in general (Gn 3:17-18; see Rm 5:12-21). The account of the man and woman's creation views them as special creations, not merely types of humans. The concept of evolution of humans from lower forms is inconsistent with the author's purpose in this narrative.
2:10-14 The lack of archaeological evidence for the garden of Eden does not mean that it existed only in myth. Despite advances in archaeology, what has been discovered of the ancient Near East is only a small percentage of what might one day be found. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates exist today in modern Iraq. The identities of the Gihon and Pishon are uncertain but may have been local streams or canals. Floods, climatic changes, and land shifts since ancient times may well have brought about significant changes in topography.
THE TEMPTATION AND THE FALL
3 Now the serpent was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You can't eat from any tree in the garden'? "
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit from the trees in the garden. 3 But about the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God said, 'You must not eat it or touch it, or you will die.' "
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "The Apologetics Study Bible"
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