The Open Bible (1975) King James Version. Royal Publishers/Nelson. 1272 pages. [Source: Bought]
First sentence: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Start date: June 8, 2024
End date: July 5, 2024
I had heard great things about "early" editions of the Open Bible for years. I was SO excited to find a copy thrifting. I paid a little over three dollars. Depending on where you open The Open Bible, you may or may not get the impression that it is in fact a study Bible. If you have a narrow view of what makes a study Bible a study Bible, then you may still have that opinion. If you are looking for a study Bible that offers study notes--commentary notes--on every chapter of the Bible, then this is not the study Bible you are looking for. If, however, you are looking for a Bible with study helps--no matter where they may be found, then this one could be quite the thing.
Most--if not all--of the study features are located at the BEGINNING or the END of the Bible.
There are book introductions and outlines at the start of each book. There are a light amount of end of verse references AND a few end of verse clarifications on the text to help with archaic words. Speaking of which, there are SOME spelling changes to update the text. I was SO THRILLED with this. Messianic prophecies are indicated by stars in the Old and New Testaments.
The New Testament offers FIFTEEN Christian Life Study Outlines and Notes. The fifteen outlines are as follows:
- The Bible--the Word of God
- God
- Jesus Christ the Son of God
- The Holy Spirit
- Sin
- Judgments
- Rewards
- The Church
- Prayer
- Faith
- The Abundant Life
- Repentance
- The New Birth
- God's Plan of Salvation
- How To Witness Effectively
Each features an outline which points you to a handful of Scriptures. Each Scripture features notes.
At the beginning there is a huge section devoted to the Biblical Cyclopedic Index which boasts to be the best blend of concordance, topical index, and syllabus.
It offers dozens of bells and whistles--including a VERY lengthy, very thorough article on HOW TO STUDY YOUR BIBLE. But because all the helps are located at the beginning and end, you might rush right on by and miss out on what the Bible has to offer.
It is double column. It is red letter. The font size is typical or average. If I *had* to guess, I'd say in the eight to nine point range.
Newer versions of the Open Bible do exist. I do think there were some significant changes made.
© Becky Laney of
Operation Actually Read Bible