Reddit mentions of The Orthodox Study Bible, Hardcover: Ancient Christianity Speaks to Today's World

>Which major mainstream translation today is a translation of an earlier translation?

The OT in the Orthodox Study Bible is one example.

This isn't true of most translations though, and his overall point still stands.

They literally use the "Orthodox Bible". This is an Orthodox study Bible that I really like. All New Testament books are the same. They differ only in Old Testament books. Here is a table comparing the Biblical canons of the Protestant, Roman Catholic, 3 of the Eastern Orthodox Churches, 4 of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Assyrian Church of the east.

Regarding the eternal state of those outside the Church: We can say nothing about the eternal state of anyone, except that we believe the saints are in heaven praying for us. We must ask for mercy on all people: Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant, heretic, Muslim, atheist, etc. alike.

http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/the-geography-of-heaven-and-hell/

>'Tell me, supposing you went to paradise, and there looked down and saw somebody

>burning in hell-fire — would you feel happy?'

>'It can’t be helped. It would be their own fault,' said the hermit.

>The Staretz answered him with a sorrowful countenance:

>'Love could not bear that,' St. Silouan said. 'We must pray for all.'

We also don't think God is trapped in our altars. He can certainly worth other places, and even in other faiths if he so chooses. We believe ourselves to be the full expression of the Christian faith, but we acknowledge that other Christians have 'this or that' things correct as well. For example, most Christians can faithfully say they believe the Creed, with perhaps (what we regard as) a faulty understanding of what the 'One, Holy, Catholic and apostolic Church', or the addition of the filioque which regard as an improper insertion.

>The only way I can see to confirm any existing denomination is via the Bible, which seems kind of a backwards approach if we're not supposed to interpret the Bible and the Bible itself originates from these traditions. The Bible has earned my trust, but it has done so through reading and interpretation, which is apparently something I wasn't supposed to do.

This might be apropos to your thoughts here: http://fatherstephen.wordpress.com/2011/10/26/is-the-bible-true-2/

>how would one distinguish if someone in the Church is going against the Church if the Church itself is, in the first place, what they're supposed to listen to.

The teaching of the Church is not simply what is taught in this moment in history: We can look back on the census of the Church through the ages. That consensus is what we are to learn from.

>Specifically, the hierarchical clergy, as if someone is better than someone else.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but this system has existed even from the New Testament where Paul lays out the qualifications for an elder. Even most protestant groups have a similar structure.

No clergyman should think of himself as better than you. It does happen, but then, we are all sinful. The struggle for humility is one of the great battles of being a Christian. Even with the things that can go wrong though, we need these people to help guide us in our faith and growth so that we do not stumble off back into darkness.

>I dislike the whole "if you do X, we excommunicate you" approach

Excommunication is fixable through repentance. The reason excommunication exists is twofold. One is to distinguish who is 'not us' (although, properly, that's being declared anathema -- reserved for those teaching things contrary to the faith of the Church). The other is that it is a pastoral tool to help us. We believe communion to be the real body and blood of Christ, and to take communion with certain rots and attitudes in our hearts is harmful to us. Certain things need to be taken to confession and worked on so that we do not hurt ourselves. The desire for communion, since we regard it as the greatest expression of our faith, when it is denied to us can be a powerful incentive to mend our ways.

>Then, the icons, which I find difficult to reconcile with the commandment of "do not make any graven image of anything above or below".

I will be posting a lecture video in this sub on icons that was given at a university. In the mean time:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icon#Eastern_Orthodox_teaching | http://orthodoxwiki.org/Icon

>I feel like we should be humble instead of showing off with pretty things, before we start worshiping said pretty things.

We're not showing anything off. We have simply included beauty in our worship to remind us of the beauty we will encounter in heaven. If we worship the things then we are Doing It Wrong. I have seen plenty of Orthodox Churches that are decidedly ugly on the exterior, but still functioning and containing beautiful icons of Christ in the form of their people.

>Is there anything I need to know before going to an EO church as a non-baptized Christian who knows approximately nothing?

http://www.frederica.com/12-things/

>Is there such a thing as an EO Bible?

In English we have a study bible. I don't know much about the Russian bible market. The only difference is the inclusion of the deuterocanon, and we base our OT off the Septuagint instead of the Masoretic text.

This one is pretty popular

I prefer the Orthodox Study Bible:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0718003594/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_TUt0Db5VESG68

http://www.amazon.com/The-Orthodox-Study-Bible-Christianity/dp/0718003594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1345235510&sr=8-1&keywords=orthodox+study+bible this is the one I use. Out of all the Bibles I have had experience with this is my favorite. You may fond another Bible to be more helpful if you are not Orthodox however.

After flirting with modern translations for a number of years, I think I really do prefer the King James version of the New Testament.

If I am interested in the Masoretic Text version of the Old Testament, I refer to the Oxford Jewish Study Bible. The editors are really straightforward about when the Hebrew is uncertain, but they don't always offer the Septuagint translation as an alternative.

Usually for the Old Testament, I use the version in the Orthodox Study Bible. A bonus is that it contains all of the books that are missing from most Protestant Bibles and a few that don't even show up in the Catholic ones.

Try this combination of books. The first is fantastic in terms of notes, references, etc., and is complete for Eastern Orthodoxy but not for Ethiopian, and has some material that the Ethiopians don't consider. The second should fill in the gaps with Ethiopian material - I don't know how good this version is and would have to rely on the reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Study-Bible-Ancient-Christianity/dp/0718003594/

http://www.amazon.com/Apocrypha-Including-Books-Ethiopic-Bible/dp/1933580690/

There is one single version in English but it is expensive and gets poor reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Ethiopic-Containing-Testament-Apocrypha-considered/dp/B004R1BU3Y/

You might try following some of the links here to see if they can help, perhaps even contacting one of the Churches near you.

http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/links.html

Directory - not sure how good it is.

http://www.eotc.faithweb.com/dire.html

We do not have any complete manuscripts of the "original" Hebrew. The vast majority of English translations of the "Hebrew" Old Testament are not translations of the original Hebrew, but rather a translation of a form of Hebrew that was invented in the Middle Ages by a sect (largely anti-Christian) of Jews called the Masoretes.

So for the Old Testament your choices are to defer to translations of a post-Christian Hebrew text or to translations of the Old Testament in another language. The oldest complete version of the Old Testament in any language is the Greek Septuagint, which dates to the 2nd century BC.

In my opinion, the best place to go for a translation of the medieval Masoretic Hebrew text is probably the Oxford Jewish Study Bible, translated by and commented on by Jewish scholars.

The best place to go for a translation of the Greek Septuagint is probably the Orthodox Study Bible.

The advantage of a translation of the Septuagint is that it includes the entire Old Testament. Modern Jewish and Protestant translations omit a number of books.

In my opinion, the best English translation of the New Testament is the 2-volume Orthodox New Testament, but it's not terribly readable.

I agree with another suggestion that the RSV is perhaps the best overall version. If you opt for this, be sure to purchase a version with the so-called "Apocrypha" (actually called the Deuterocanon by the Church Fathers). The New Oxford Annotated Bible is a good choice. Definitely AVOID the NRSV - Get the RSV.

Check out the Orthodox Study Bible

The Orthodox Study Bible

Thought I’d add the links for the OP.

The original Orthodox Study Bible, hardcover

Ancient Faith Ministries edition of the OSB with added prayers included, hardcover

Ancient Faith Ministries edition of the OSB with added prayers included, leathersoft

I recommend the Orthodox Study Bible: https://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Study-Bible-Hardcover-Christianity/dp/0718003594

OK. Well, first, I'm not Orthodox, I'm Anglican. But the ancient Anglican doctrine lines up with Orthodoxy. Having said that, are you aware of The Orthodox Study Bible? A good, basic, simple resource to follow along with your reading.

As far as a single or double volume commentary from an Orthodox perspective, I don't know of any - maybe someone else can chime in.

I find study bibles to be the most helpful because they have very detailed notes at the bottom of each page as well as thorough introductions. That way, if you get hung up on something, there are references. Also, Bible Gateway allows you to type in a verse or book and see what other translations have for that verse. Very nice for comparison

Maybe Orthodox posters can provide a better opttion but on Amazon, this is the top Orthodox study bible

ESV study Bible is a favorite among a lot of r/Christianity posters

Good luck with your journey, brother

You might go with The Orthodox Study Bible

Here’s the link the above poster recommended Orthodox Study Bible

I'm fairly sure the Orthodox Study Bible is the Septuagint translation of the OT and Psalms.

The Orthodox Study Bible has extensive footnotes full of great explanation placing Scripture within the context of Holy Tradition, often citing and quoting from the Church Fathers. There are color prints of icons interspersed throughout the text!

> The OSB's Old Testament is either based on the NKJV text with corrections from the Septuagint or a fresh translation from the Septuagint, depending on who you ask or perhaps on which book.

Every septuagint I've seen uses the combination of 167, 969, 188, 600, and I'm actually looking for a Septuagint that has an other combination. Many Biblical names translate to something that defines their life. Methuselah translates to the idea that the flood will come when he dies. In the Masoretic Text, Methuselah dies the exact year of the flood. The problem with the numbers of every Septuagint I've come across so far is that Methuselah doesn't just not die in the year of the flood, but he actually lives 14 years past the flood even though he wasn't on the Ark and should have drowned, which makes me believe that it was a translation error or a sign of from God that the septuagint has been corrupted.

> The numbers there are: 187, 969, 188, 600.

> I suspect they might have missed updating the first one (187), as the Septuagint says 167.

I've never seen the combination of numbers that you mentioned, and that makes me very curious. I don't think they missed it if that is true, because it means that Methuselah dies 6 years before the flood instead of surviving it. I read that the Eastern Bibles rely on different manuscripts than the West; that was the reason I started this discussion.

Is this the Orthodox Study Bible that you use?

The only Bible to have all the books Orthodox Christians generally consider Scripture is the Orthodox Study Bible, unless you're Georgian Orthodox, in which case it is missing 4 Maccabees.

But the Prayer of Manasseh isn't a separate book in Orthodox Bibles - it's appended right at the end of 2 Chronicles (after chapter 36).

Here's what I find ironic: there is no Georgian Orthodox Church in Georgia (state), not even in Atlanta. Wrong Georgia I know but it's weird to say "There's no Georgian Church in Georgia."

Did you know Amazon will donate a portion of every purchase if you shop by going to smile.amazon.com instead? Over $50,000,000 has been raised for charity - all you need to do is change the URL!

Here are your smile-ified links:

https://smile.amazon.com/Orthodox-Study-Bible-Hardcover-Christianity/dp/0718003594/ref=sr_1_1

---

^^i'm ^^a ^^friendly bot

I am a consensus reader across text traditions. Therefore, one Bible doesn't cut it for me.

• My own Church publishes the Orthodox Study Bible ($50), but Amazon has it for cheaper. What's unique about it is that it is a mostly Septuagint translation. The psalms follow our numbering instead of Vulgate numbering (and you get Psalm 151).
  
• I would recommend a more purely Vulgate translation--New Jerusalem ($30, typically available from Catholic bookstores, as it is their translation) is actually pretty solid in that regard.
  
• And then, I'd recommend something out of the Masoretic Text tradition: This one, specifically. While I have problems with the NRSV (and its psalter in particular), this particular publication of it is quite fair. The price has come down since I bought my copy, too.
  
• Get yourself a King James (not NKJV, just KJV) for the purposes of literary study. There are places that distribute them for free. Ask at church. (This is perhaps the best Bible for your phone or e-reader: it can be had in digital format for less than $1.)
  
• A paraphrase can be helpful when you need a fresh look at the Scriptures, or if you're new to them. My mom really liked The Message (depending on the publication, it runs in the $15-$30 range) as a paraphrase, but I'll be frank: I've not used paraphrases for my own purposes. I tend to be good with written languages.
  
  If you're really apathetic about which version you get, as long as you get a Bible, ask at church. They will have Bibles for the asking.
  
  No, there are no referrer tags in my Amazon links. I do not do that.

I like this one and this one and find that comparing the footnotes in the two as well as the differences between the text makes for a pretty enjoyable experience.

Orthodox Study bible includes teachings from the church father's in the footnotes and explains the significance behind many biblical events (in particular does a great job of explaining and connecting OT and NT) .
Also has exactly what your looking for before each book explains author and context of the book.
https://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Study-Bible-Hardcover-Christianity/dp/0718003594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495418923&sr=8-1&keywords=orthodox+study+bible

Orthodox Study Bible it has great commentary, with only like one spot I can remember where I was like "ehhh"

But it does explain the use of the Septuagint, and explain some theology, and a glossary to different commentary. It may be a little pricey, but I really enjoy the commentary and am on my 2nd read through. It also includes the lectionary, or rather what the Church has every one reading on the same day of through the year =) hope that helps!
Met. Kallistos Ware has a few books "The Orthodox Church" and "The Orthodox Way" which are good primers of theology, life in the church, and differences between East and West

It's called the Orthodox Study Bible. For the NT it uses, or used anyways, the NKJV but the OT is a fresh translation. The Old Testament is translated from Greek sources (hence the LXX) which are around 1000 years older than the Hebraic texts most Old Testaments are translated from.

http://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Study-Bible-Ancient-Christianity/dp/0718003594

As far as I know, this is the newest English translation of the Septuagint.

There is an Eastern Orthodox study Bible.

1. Read Matthew and Luke through three times.
   
   
2. Then read all four Gospels.
   
   
3. Then re-read all four Gospels in parallel with the Praxapostolos (Acts/Epistles/Revelation). However many chapters of the Gospels you read, read the same number of Praxapostolos chapters.
   
   
4. When you finish #3, start #3 again, but now add a Psalm a day. Maybe break up Psalm 117 into 3 pieces.
   
   
5. In parallel with #4, you might add a chapter or two from the Wisdom Books each day. Make sure your Bible has the Deuterocanonical books Wisdom of Solomon and Wisdom of Sirach (Ecclesiasticus). These books were included in the Bible canon by all Church councils in the first millennium and are very valuable. I recommend the Orthodox Study Bible or Oxford Annotated RSV (not the NRSV) with "Apocrypha". The Wisdom Books are Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach.
   
   
6. Then, in parallel again, you might add a chapter or two of the remaining books of the Old Testament, starting with Genesis and reading through all of the prophets.
   
   I would also recommend you get some first millennium commentaries. For the Gospels you might get the set of Theophylact's commentaries, or consult the commentaries of John Chrysostom (Matthew, John) or Cyril of Alexandria (Luke) online.
   
   I recommend first millennium commentaries because (1) you will find that they are the source of many of the key ideas expressed in later commentaries; and (2) they come from a time before there was a separate "Roman Catholic Church" or "Orthodox Church" or various Protestant churches, all with conflicting interpretations of the Bible.
   

Here is some information about bible versions:

(1) http://orthodoxyandheterodoxy.org/2014/08/11/7-reasons-that-reading-the-bible-tradition/

(2) http://www.saintjonah.org/articles/translations.htm

(3) http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Guide_to_Bible_translations

I recently bought a new bible myself, because I was unsure which would be the best version to use. However, I don't think anyone can go wrong by reading The Orthodox Study Bible

Having grown up in the faith, throughout Sunday School and other various learning opportunities, we never talked about the Apocrypha. It wasn't until later on in life (via a college classmate that asked me about it) that I found out about it.
Giziti says some good stuff. Although I haven't finished Tobit, what I have read is quite interesting!

I also believe that some of the traditions taught in church comes from the Apocrypha. Such as: When Christ descends into Hades, he raises up Adam and all the prophets from their graves. I chatted to one of my protestant friends and they never heard of this, I think it is because it is in the Apocrypha and they do not include that in their bibles.

I read both these side by side. The translations are similar and the commentaries complement each other. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Orthodox Study Bible with Ancient Christian Commentary: http://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Study-Bible-Ancient-Christianity/dp/0718003594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425621764&sr=8-1&keywords=orthodox+study+bible

Catholic Study Bible by Catholic Author and Apologist Scott Hahn:
http://www.amazon.com/Ignatius-Catholic-Study-Bible-Testament/dp/1586172506/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1425621787&sr=8-1&keywords=scott+hahn+bible

Jesus established only one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. If you're serious about getting saved, I'd recommend reading [this.] (https://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Study-Bible-Hardcover-Christianity/dp/0718003594/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1502329145&sr=8-1&keywords=orthodox+study+bible)

The two best things:

1. Read the NT with an excellent commentary. My favorite is the Orthodox Study Bible, and it will give you a much more traditional perspective on NT passages.
   
2. Read The Apostolic Fathers. These are the writings of the earliest Christians right after the NT: so something like 70 CE - 150 CE. These are the people who would have known the apostles. It's fascinating what Christianity looks like from their perspective. (Hint: at least to my mind, not Mormonism.) What I see is a sort of proto-Orthodoxy or proto-Catholicism. And some of the letters are just lovely. (Some are strange.)
   
   I"m planning to read some other history book soon, happy to update when I decide on which ones.

Orthodox Study Bible

There are several Orthodox English translations, although only one that covers the entire Bible - this one:

https://www.amazon.com/Orthodox-Study-Bible-Hardcover-Christianity/dp/0718003594/

Several other (arguably better) Orthodox translations also exist, but only covering parts of the Bible - usually the New Testament. Here is a good one for example:

https://www.amazon.com/EOB-Orthodox-Testament-Patriarchal-extensive/dp/148191765X/

You can try this one out.

Hard Cover

http://www.amazon.com/The-Orthodox-Study-Bible-Christianity/dp/0718003594

Or a bonded leather one

http://store.ancientfaith.com/orthodox-study-bible-complete-bonded-leather/