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29 Sep, 2016
The Orthodox Study Bible
2 of 2 found this helpful It is difficult to know how to praise this Bible enough, outside of denominational concerns it is the best study Bible you could hope for with clear explanations of parables and references to the ancient world which might not be readily understood by modern Christians. There is a daily prayer guide as well as illustrations of the Icons used as an aid to Orthodox prayer and worship.
I am not Orthodox in the sense that I was not baptised into the Orthodox church but I doubt that a Christian of any denomination would not benefit from owning this Bible. I am frankly frustrated that dogmatic points from other denominations about teachings that they tampered with in departing from this, the original Church, centuries ago, claiming a superiority and primacy which is impossible to justify, have hindered me from recommending it over any other Bible for fear of offending fellow Christians, who are perhaps best thought of as 'victims of their own ignorance' of what has been described as 'the best kept secret of the West'.
In other words I have come to have no doubt that all Christians would benefit by a return to the basic Christian truth preserved by the much persecuted Orthodox Church or at least by embracing the call to unity which is made by the Orthodox Church daily, as part of daily worship, which is the original church going back to the first three centuries and stemming directly from the very earliest churches referred to in the Bible, indeed to the disciples/apostles themselves, in an age before the Roman Catholic Church existed as such, when there was just the Bishops of the various churches before one of them, the Pope, declared his own primacy! This is not an attack on the RC Church rather a call to recognise the historical truth and the needless suffering which the various schisms have caused us all as fellow Christians since, and which perhaps represent a great falling away going back to the first schism...
I leave it to the ordained to come to a place of reconciliation, I only hope that many more will benefit as I have done already from owning this Bible. I have come to understand that vague misgivings about something 'not quite right' about other denominations (I am C of E but have come to think of myself as non-denominational because of it with a leaning toward favouring the monastic approach to God if anything) had to do with the reality that as a simple sincere Christian I am Orthodox at heart. it is a great shame that many sincere people who have genuinely felt drawn to Christ have been frustrated by not finding that which they knew in their hearts to be real made manifest more fully in the local Church of whatever denomination perhaps... perhaps this Bible will help those who know God is drawing them to Himself to fully understand the experience with patient daily reading.