Strictly speaking, the Authorized (or King James) version of the Bible was never “authorized.” King James favored the project for both personal and political reasons. But as the spiritual head of the Church of England, he did not order the use of the new translation. For years, the new translation received severe criticism—similar to the criticism leveled at today’s translations. Even Lancelot Andrewes, one of the most learned of the King James Version translators, preferred to use the Geneva Bible.
Perhaps the Geneva Bible most irritated King James and convinced him that a new version was needed. The marginal notes in the Geneva Bible were critical of monarchies and national churches. The fact that the Calvinists in Geneva had helped produce the Geneva Bible was an added incentive for a new version in the language of the people. At any rate, one of the rules given to the King James translators was: “No marginal notes to be affixed,” except notes relating to Hebrew or Greek.
Today the situation is reversed: we honor the King James version and resist its critics, and we prefer it with as many notes as possible. Annotated editions of the King James Bible continue to be published, and the public buys them. Like makes of cars or brands of toothpaste, each edition has its promoters and detractors, almost to the point of making one’s choice of study Bible a test of orthodoxy or spiritual fellowship. The young Bible student looking for a study Bible has so many choices that he may not know how to make a sane selection. Perhaps the best known is the Scofield Reference Bible, edited by C. I. Scofield and published in 1909 by Oxford University Press. A corrected edition appeared in 1917, and in 1967 The New Scofield Reference Bible was published. More than a million and a half copies of this new edition have been sold. (I understand that there is a group dedicated to preserving the original edition! Apparently they feel the editors of the 1967 edition deviated too much from Scofield’s interpretations.)
Cyrus Ingerson Scofield was born on August 19, 1843, in frontier Lenawee County, Michigan. While he was still a lad, his family moved to Wilson County, Tennessee, where he lived until he was seventeen. When he should have been enrolled in college, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and served with distinction for four years. He received the Cross of Honor for bravery at Antietam. After the war he relocated to St. Louis with his oldest sister, who had married into a wealthy family. Unwilling to permit his brother-in-law to pay for his education, Scofield went to work as a land clerk, examining titles. In two years his promotion to chief clerk provided sufficient money to study law. He passed his bar examinations at age twenty-six and was elected to the Kansas legislature. An efficient lawyer and politician, he was appointed by President Grant as U.S. Attorney for Kansas. He served for two years and then returned to St. Louis to practice law.
Another attorney, Thomas S. McPheeters, a dedicated Christian, was one of Scofield’s close friends. Scofield was battling alcoholism. McPheeters came to Scofield’s office in September 1879 and said: “For a long time I have been wanting to ask you a question that I have been afraid to ask, but that I am going to ask now. Why are you not a Christian?” He then took out his pocket New Testament and reasoned with the lawyer. Scofield wanted more time to consider the matter, but McPheeters would not give in. The Holy Spirit won the case: the two men prayed together, and C. I. Scofield gave his heart to Jesus Christ. Instantly the chains were broken, never to be forged again. Scofield wrote in later years: “The passion for drink was taken away! Divine power did it, wholly of grace. To Christ be all the glory!”
Like Dwight L. Moody, with whom he would be associated, Scofield became active in the YMCA. He also grew under the ministry of James H. Brookes, whom he called “the greatest Bible student I have ever known.” Scofield developed a hunger to know the Word of God. One day he visited C. E. Paxson, a Christian friend, and found him drawing lines in a new Bible. “Man, you’re spoiling that fine new Bible!” Scofield protested. But Paxson showed him he was connecting Acts 8:5 and 8:8 to demonstrate that Philip’s preaching of Christ brought great joy to the city. Scofield’s logical mind instantly caught the importance of the lines that were “ruining” Paxson’s Bible, and from that hour he marked cross-references in his Bible. Scofield’s experience in Paxson’s office was his first step toward editing the most famous study Bible in English.
Scofield abandoned law in 1882 to pastor a new Congregational church in Dallas. There were twelve members, eleven of them women. Within two years a new building had to be constructed to accommodate two hundred members. Scofield’s Bible-teaching ministry was blessed by God both at home and in the various conferences where he spoke, including the famous ones at Niagara and Northfield.
In 1895, Scofield became Moody’s pastor at the East Northfield Congregational Church, where he ministered for seven years. He also served as president of the Northfield Bible Training School. He returned in 1902 to the First Congregational Church in Dallas, but the most important event of that year took place in New York City. While there to minister, Scofield visited Alwyn Ball, a Christian businessman who had encouraged his ministry. Ball asked what projects he was working on now that he had finished writing a correspondence course. Scofield replied that he had been thinking for years of preparing a reference Bible, to help serious students study the Word more systematically. Ball immediately approved the project, and the two of them took it as confirmation of the Lord.
Scofield tried pastoring the church while preparing the reference Bible, but after a year of frustration, he resigned. Much of his work from 1902 to 1909 was done in Montreaux, Switzerland. On several occasions Scofield was too ill to work, but his wife would continue with the project until he could rejoin her. We who read the Scofield Reference Bible today can appreciate the enormous amount of editorial work and proofreading. Of course Scofield consulted other Bible teachers (whose names appear on the title page), but the final writing and editing were his own.
On two occasions the work was almost destroyed. After he shipped the material from Europe to America, the boxes were lost. He and his wife prayed fervently until they located the priceless shipment among the baggage of immigrants who had come over on the same ship. While completing the final manuscript, the Scofields lived in a tent in New Hampshire, and the tent caught fire. Had the wind shifted, the manuscript in a nearby shed would have been destroyed.
Scofield did his work well. Even those who do not follow the dispensational approach to Scripture can benefit from the chain-reference system, the definitions, and the doctrinal summaries. The men who gave us the revised edition helped strengthen some points and solve some problem areas of interpretation.
The success of the Scofield Bible has encouraged other editors and publishers to enter the field. One of the latest—and best—is the Ryrie Study Bible, published in various editions by Moody Press and edited by Charles C. Ryrie, former professor of systematic theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. Ryrie’s credentials as a Bible scholar and teacher certainly need no defense; even those who do not follow the Scofield-dispensational approach to the Bible admit that Ryrie is well-equipped for such an ambitious task.
This is not a “reference Bible” as such, although it does have a good system of cross-references. Rather it is an annotated Bible, with hundreds of marginal notes that explain and apply the text. While much of this information is available in standard Bible helps, it is good to have it alongside the text. These annotations cover more ground than those of Scofield, including historical data, archaeological information, cultural background, and doctrinal definitions and explanations. There is such a great wealth of information in these annotations that even the seasoned student will find them useful.
Ryrie introduces and outlines each book of the Bible. Some of the outlines are analytical (e.g., Matt., John, Acts, and 1 Thess.), while others are interpretive (e.g., 2 Tim. and 1 Peter). I prefer interpretive outlines that “open up” the book. But all the outlines are good, though some are a bit long. I am glad Ryrie did not caption the outlines, “The Outline of . . .” As G. Campbell Morgan said, “There is no such thing as the outline of a Bible book. I prefer to say an outline.” No outline is inspired or final.
The editor is to be congratulated for breaking away from some time-honored dispensational “doctrines,” such as a pre-Adamic race and a “gap” between the first and second verses of Genesis. He also makes it clear that Cain’s sin was his unbelief, not his bloodless sacrifice. I have not yet read every note, but the ones I have read are helpful and practical. The experienced student who finds some of the annotations rather obvious (Luke 7:24–25, for example) must remember that this Bible will be used by believers who are at much earlier stages in their spiritual growth and Bible knowledge.
The Ryrie Study Bible is available in two texts: the Authorized Version and the New American Standard Bible. I commend Ryrie for preparing notes for both texts; it must have been a monumental task. He has also provided at the back of the Bible a number of extra helps: a harmony of the Gospels, a summary of Bible doctrine, various articles about the Bible and its origin, a topical index, an index to the annotations, maps, and other helps. There is also a concordance.
We have come a long way since King James ordered the omission of interpretive notes, and I am glad we have. As long as we keep in mind that the text, not the notes, is inspired, and that even the wisest men make mistakes, we will profit from the dedicated scholarship that produces such tools. There is no excuse except laziness for the
Christian who lacks a working knowledge of the Bible. Which study Bible is best? The one that helps you the most. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. The important thing is to study God’s Word consistently, using whatever helps are available, and then put it into practice.