Post Tenebras Lux – “After darkness, light.”
The Latin phrase found on the Reformation Wall in Geneva, Switzerland, encompasses the purpose of both The Geneva Bible and The Reformation Study Bible: to bring the light of Scripture to a darkened world.
In 1988, a group of publishers envisioned a Bible in the tradition of the original Geneva Bible with study notes from a reformed perspective. They requested Dr. R.C. Sproul to be the general editor. Energized by the idea, Dr. Sproul was in charge of assembling a team of international scholars who would be able to put together this resource.
In searching for a team of scholars, it was important that the study notes stay true to Reformed theology and thinking. An editorial committee was established and included Dr. James Montgomery Boice, Dr. Edmund Clowney, Dr. Roger Nicole, and Dr. J.I. Packer as associate editors, Dr. William Evans and Dr. John Mason as assistant editors, Dr. Bruce Waltke as the Old Testament editor, and Dr. Moises Silva as the New Testament editor. In addition, fifty other international scholars were chosen to work on each book of the Bible with the New International Version serving as their foundation. Once a book was completed, it was routed to the appropriate editor, passed to Dr. Sproul, the entire editorial committee, and then back to Dr. Sproul. It took three years before all of the preliminary study notes were finished.
In 1992, the decision was made to switch to the New King James Version under a new agreement with Thomas Nelson Publishers to carry on the project. Due to the change in translation, it took the scholars an additional three years to re-write all of the study notes to agree with the NKJV. In the process however, they were able to refine the notes and make them even more accessible to the layman. Finally, The New Geneva Study Bible was released in 1995.
In 1998, The New Geneva Study Bible was renamed The Reformation Study Bible. Now in 2005, we are pleased to announce the release of The Reformation Study Bible in the English Standard Version. The distinctive attribute of The Reformation Study Bible is not the Scripture translation. The content of explanatory notes and reformation theology found in this Bible greatly benefit the layperson trying to study Scripture. In this day and age, there is a constant assault on the integrity of Scripture, which has served to undermine people's confidence in the trustworthiness of the Bible. The contributing scholars of The Reformation Study Bible have the highest academic credentials. Each is committed to the inerrancy of the Word of God and willingly submits to the authority of the Book they are trying to explain. In addition to the study notes, Dr. J.I. Packer includes more than one hundred sidebars on the core doctrines of the Christian faith.
The English language is only a small part of this continuing project. It is our hope that one day The Reformation Study Bible will be available to anyone in any language. "I believe that this is the most important project that I have ever been engaged in or involved with in my entire life." said Dr. Sproul. "It is my prayer that this Bible will be as useful to you as the original Geneva Bible was to our forefathers in the English-speaking world."
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