Best Bible Study Resources for Regular Christians

Anthony Bliss · 2025-02-05T18:02:53+00:00

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I'm looking to empower dedicated Christians to seriously study the Bible. I'm going to teach a class on how to study the Bible and want to help them put together some good resources to aid in their study.

I'm looking for you recommendations for your top study Bible AND your top 3-5 other resources that you would recommend people get first.

Would you suggest handbooks to the Bible, a manners and customs, a commentary like the BKC, etc.?

Give me your lists! Please and thank you!

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MJ. Smith

I am a firm believer that Bible study tools and commentaries are more of a hinderance than a help - they send the message that the Bible is esoteric and hard to understand. People shouldn't think they need to be empowered or trained (although I certainly do train people). They should pick a translation they can understand and simply read - learn to listen to God before worrying about studying His written Word. For those without the background to believe they can do this - first, remind them that the Bible was used as a child's first primer for many centuries then begrudgingly allow them to add a study Bible. Bible dictionaries, atlases, and commentaries should be added only after they are comfortable sitting down with the text - after they've learned to listen so they don't mistake paging through Bible aids as studying the Bible text.

DMB

IVPs background commentary. No fancy dancy; just helpful info.

I've never recommended a 'study Bible' for the reasons MJ gives. Bible writers were speaking to a listening audience.

John

ESV study Bible is excellent but it would depend on on how advanced your students are. It might be too much and too technical for beginners

my very first study Bible was a KJV Ryrie. I really loved that Bible because it gave you information when and where you needed it, but it didn’t bombard you with a bunch of technical stuff to distract you from reading the text of the Bible itself. The study Bible is pretty well balanced, considering that Ryrie is dispensational.

the very first standalone commentary I ever owned just happened to be BKC that you are mentioning. this was many years ago and at that time only the New Testament was available and it was a single volume.

Lukas

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1356756#Comment_1356756

@MJ. Smith can you please explain to me in more depth why you say this and what then you recommend. We don't make use of logos and the commentaries in logos. Please I would love to hear your thoughts. I am not a long time user of logos 2 years, and have only 2.5 years back started with Bible study with the aid of Introduction books and some commentaries. I have also read quite a few books on certain doctrines that have helped me alot in my growth. So please I would like to hear more about this.

Gregory Kavonius

I agree with M.J. Smith, but if you want to to dig deeper, I suggest some of the following:
Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
NIV Cultural Background Study Bible
IVP Background Commentary: OT/NT
ESV or CSB Study Bible Notes
Believers Bible Commentary
Life Application Bible Notes
Jon Courson's Application Commentary

You can also pull up a Passage or Exegetical Guide that helps you locate your resources as you study.

NathanL

"It seems odd, that certain men who talk so much of what the Holy Spirit reveals to themselves, should think so little of what he has revealed to others." - Charles Spurgeon

ESV Study Bible has a wealth of solid information

Michael Foust

Take in that most or few know hebrew or Greek, the best tool for one may not be for the others. Living by the book Hendricks is what I have found, the one that I do not like commantarys.

mab

I give high marks to the Moody Bible Commentary. It does an excellent bridge for many people. The other thing is to encourage people to make use of Logos Notes. This has transformed my entire Bible study. Your notes go with you everywhere and you effectively create your own treasury.

Famille Thevoz

ESV Study Bible

Chronological Life Application Study Bible (unfortunately lacks the NLT Bible text following the chronological ordering on Logos)

Gives you a lot of context and insights.

Daniel A. Peterson

I like the ESV Study Bible, the CSB Apologetics Bible, and the NIV Zondervan Study Bible. For single volume commentaries, I like the Bible Knowledge Commentary, IVP New Bible Commentary, and the Matthew Henry Commentary. The other IVP dictionaries can also be helpful.