As many of my readers know, I use the HCSB (Holman Christian Standard Bible) translation of the Bible for many reasons.

Today, I saw a great review of the HCSB by Bruce Ashford at Between the Times that highlights the five major distinctions and improvements of the HCSB over other modern translations. He starts his post with “I stand corrected.” Bruce has realized that the HCSB isn’t a Southern Baptist translation (a stereotype I thought was put to rest years ago, but apparently not). I love Bruce’s realization that the HCSB is “a faithful and elegant translation which should have more than a little cross-denominational appeal.”

The best part is, the HCSB now has a few options for Bible readers. Their newest addition is a phenomenal study Bible with about 15,000 study notes. This study Bible can also be viewed online where the user can make their own notes and read study notes and even link to the text when blogging, tweeting, or sharing on facebook.

Here’s an excerpt from the online study Bible for Genesis 1:1:

1:1 This opening verse of the Bible, seven words in the Hebrew, establishes seven key truths upon which the rest of the Bible is based.

First, God exists. The essential first step in pleasing God is recognizing His existence (Heb 11:6). Second, God existed before there was a universe and will exist after the universe perishes (Heb 1:10-12). Third, God is the main character in the Bible. He is the subject of the first verb in the Bible (in fact, He is the subject of more verbs than any other character) and performs a wider variety of activities than any other being in the Bible. Fourth, as Creator God has done what no human being could ever do; in its active form the Hebrew verbbara’, meaning “to create,” never has a human subject. Thus bara’signifies a work that is uniquely God’s. Fifth, God is mysterious; though the Hebrew word for God is plural, the verb form of which “God” is the subject is singular. This is perhaps a subtle allusion to God’s Trinitarian nature: He is three divine persons in one divine essence. Sixth, God is the Creator of heaven and earth. He doesn’t just modify pre-existing matter but calls matter into being out of nothing (Ps 33:6,9; Heb 11:3). Seventh, God is not dependent on the universe, but the universe is totally dependent on God (Heb 1:3).

Other recent additions to the HCSB lineup is the Apologetic’s Study Bible and the leather-bound Minister’s Bible.

Perhaps my favorite HCSB resource is a 62 page Gospel of John excerpted from the Apologetic’s Study Bible which is entitled Is Jesus Alive Today? The evidence and why it matters to you. This has the beautiful HCSB translation along with dozens of short contributions from noted apologists dealing with apologetic issues in the text of John. It only costs .99 at CBD so I buy a bunch of them at a time and give them away to people I am telling about Jesus.

So now, not only is the HCSB a wonderful modern translation, but you can find some phenomenal resources depending on your needs. I would encourage anyone to take a second look at the HCSB and put aside any stereotypes you may have about this “faithful and elegant translation”.

Now I want to hear from you! Which translation do you use? What are your impressions of the HCSB? If you don’t use it now, would you consider using it in the future?