Thomas Nelson’s NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible looks at difficult issues in today’s society and unapologetically answers those issues with Scripture. In other words, it takes a biblical stance on issues that many are afraid to take. It gives answers that many wouldn’t consider politically correct. It doesn’t beat around the bush, but at the same time it doesn’t teach in a harsh manner. It simply gives biblical answers to tough questions. I’m reviewing the hardcover edition – ISBN: 9780310080367 (made in China).
Thomas Nelson provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
_________________________________________________________
This book is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
COVER AND BINDING
This edition is hard cover. It comes with a dust jacket but looks exactly the same with or without it on the front and spine. The back is solid red. It’s sewn and lies open to any page with no trouble. It feels well-made. It doesn’t include a ribbon. The overall size is 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.6″, which isn’t that large for a study Bible.
PAPER
I’m not sure of the gsm, but it feels like mid 30’s or higher to my fingers. This is some of the most opaque paper I’ve seen in a study Bible. It has a slight cream color and a matte finish. It doesn’t glare under direct light. I found the pages easy to turn. I haven’t written in it, but I wouldn’t hesitate to use Bible markers on this paper. This is on my short list of favorite Bible paper. It has 1530 pages.
TYPOGRAPHY
The text is presented in double-column format with a paragraph setting, with poetry in stanzas and letters indented. The header includes the page number in the far outer corner, and the book name, chapter, and verse numbers next to the page number. Section headings and chapter numbers are dark purple.
The font is right at 9 point with a comfortable amount of leading. It’s red letter with both red and black being around a medium darkness. I found it comfortable to read for long periods of time.
It has around 46 characters across with around 9 words per line. There are no references, so the text doesn’t have to share horizontal space with anything and there are no reference keys in the text to hamper reading. It does have footnote keys, but there aren’t that many.
The standard NKJV footnotes are included under the last verse on the page. The include the chapter and verse number and the footnote key (which is a letter).
INTRODUCTION
This is a detailed introduction to the study system. It shows 8 color-coded categories which includes:
- Church
- Corruption
- Economics
- Education
- Family
- Government
- Sanctity of Life
- Virtue
The categories include 38 subtopics, which are discussed within the introduction. The categories themselves are discussed in the next section.
The introduction also covers the 4 content-types, which includes:
- Biblical
- Historical
- Quotations and Writings
- Commentary
It gives information about each one, showing how this Bible uses them.
CATEGORY OVERVIEWS
This section covers the the 8 categories in detail. It discusses the type of content that’s included, the tone of each, and mentions the subtopics for each main topic. The categories cover practically every topic that we face in our daily walk, including relationships with our family, those we work with, government, and even life choices such as education, etc. These categories were chosen well.
BOOK INTRODUCTIONS
Book introductions include a short introduction, background, content, insight, and an outline. It also provides a graph that shows which of the 8 topics and 4 content-types are included within the book. The information takes about 2 pages and provides a good summary of the book. The material is well-written, is easy to follow, and does a great job of laying the foundation about the book.
STUDY MATERIAL
The articles were taken from the Kairos Journal – a website dedicated to providing articles for pastors and Church leaders to help them grow in ministry and dealing with today’s issues. The articles cover the same topics as the website and are a small sampling of what’s available at the there, but there’s still a lot of material here and it works as stand-alone material. The front does provide some information about Kairos Journal including the mission statement, vision, and doctrinal statement. Like always, I recommend doing your own study and use the material for reference.
The Unapologetic Study Bible is unapologetic in the stances it takes. I find that refreshing. The material applies to anyone (everyone has a leadership role of some kind) – not just pastors.
It has over 220 articles within the text, near the verses they’re relevant to. They discuss issues such as abortion, creation, embryonic stem cells, how to keep friends, divorce, and lots more. They’re color-coded according to the topics listed in the front. They provide a couple of Scriptures followed by the teaching.
It includes over 70 quotations from people throughout history about issues in their day and challenges they faced. They show that we deal with many of the same issues they dealt with and they give insight on how they approached those issues.
There are 50 character profiles of people throughout history. It shows how they were unapologetic in their faith and how they sometimes faced impossible situations because of it. They help provide encouragement to readers in facing their own situations.
This is the work of several contributors who are specialists in their fields. Contributors include:
- Mark T. Coppenger
- Michael McClenahan
- C. Ben Mitchell
- Gregory Alan Thornbury
- Emmanuel Kampouris
- Peter Riddell
- Charles Marnham
- Bob Phillips
- Brian Pinney
- Douglas Baker
- Paul L. Gavrilyuk
- Greg Gilbert
- Bradley G. Green
- George Kalantzis
- Tricia Marnham
- Matthew Mason
- Aaron Menikoff
- Glenn B. Nesbitt
- Mark O’Donoghue
- Jeremy Pierre
- David Roach
- Jacob Shatzer
- Richard Stratton
- John Thornbury
- Rachel Tingle
- Nick Tuker
- Shane Walker
TABLE OF MONIES, WEIGHTS, AND MEASURES
This is 3 pages of tables. It shows the unit, monetary value or measure, equivalents, and translations. It also provides a short history some of the units and explanations of others. The tables are helpful for study and I’m glad they’re included.
INDEX OF FEATURES FOR CANONICAL STUDY
This is a large index that works like a table with the Scripture reference being the main focus (or primary key if you’re into databases). It shows the Scripture reference, article, category, subcategory, quadrant (the 4 content types), quotation, and unapologetic profile. It’s easy to search for Scripture references because they’re in biblical order, but you can look through any of the fields to find what you’re looking for.
INDEX OF FEATURES FOR TOPICAL STUDY
This index also provides a table with a focus on the category. It includes the same fields as the Index of Features for Canonical Study. The category field is color-coded so you can search it faster.
FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE UNAPOLOGETIC STUDY BIBLE
NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible is a much-needed study Bible. At a time when many of us are being persecuted for our beliefs, many don’t have the answers to the hard questions and they don’t always know how to find those answers. That’s what this Bible is for. It provides readers with articles about the hard questions with answers to help us lead others through those topics using Scripture.
This isn’t a standard type of study Bible with common tools. You won’t find some of the traditional study Bible tools such as cross references, verse by verse commentary, a concordance, and maps. To be honest I find this type of study Bible more useful. The tools that are left out are in abundance in many Bibles and they’re always trimmed down versions of better stand-alone tools. This allows the study Bible to better focus on its purpose and keep the size manageable.
The material is well-written. I like that it takes on the topics that many try to ignore. Topics such as pre-marital sex, abortion, suicide, homosexuality, evolution, etc., and handles them from a biblical view-point rather than following today’s “ear-tickling” teachers that won’t stand up for God’s Word and preach against sin. Obviously, these topics need to be handled in the right way, with the right attitude, and they are. Anyone looking for well-written answers to those hard questions will enjoy the NKJV Unapologetic Study Bible.
_________________________________________________________
This book is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
_________________________________________________________
Photography by hannah C brown
Thomas Nelson provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
Does this use the new Comfort Print?
Hi Keith. Excellent question! I should have mentioned that. It doesn’t use Comfort Print. The first NKJV’s with new NKJV Comfort Print typeface come out next year.