CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible: An Honest Look

A Study Bible has the potential to help you grow deeper in your understanding of God’s Word. There is a rich history in Christianity of peoples experience with the Bible that can shape our own. The CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible aims to do just that. But let’s take a closer look at it and see if it really does.

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Pros	Cons
-Readable Font and Translation -Commentary from Church Fathers -Aesthetically Pleasing	-Lacks Apocrypha -Lack of Additional Features -Study Notes Can Be Overly Allegorical

Key Takeaways: The CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible combines a readable translation with insightful commentary from Early Church Fathers. However, its lack of Apocrypha can give it a less broad appeal for some. Overall, the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible is worth buying for a unique perspective on the Bible.

Who Should Buy It: The CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible has broad appeal across denominational lines and is an excellent resource for those interested in deepening their understanding of Scripture and early Church history.

Features Overview

For the purposes of this review, I am reviewing the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible, Brown Cloth-Over-Board.

The features of the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible include:

• 27 Articles
• 24 Biographies
• Twisted Truths
• Quotes from Augustine’s “Confessions”
• Study Notes from Early Church Fathers
• Apostles Creed
• Nicene Creed
• Book Introductions
• Maps
• Concordance
• Biographical Index

The unique features of this study Bible is the commentary and biographies from the early Church Fathers of the second, third, and fourth centuries.

There are 24 biographies of the most influential early church Fathers. People like: Antony of Egypt, St. Benedict, Cyril of Alexandria, Eusebius, Ignatius, Jerome, Oirgen, and more. These biographies are typically one page in length and provide a nice introduction to who they are discussing.

Another key feature is the “Twisted Truths” scattered throughout the Biblical text. These point out where the early church drifted from orthodox Christianity. As such, they provide a brief glimpse at common heretics and heresies like Arius, Marcion, Modalism, etc.

Surprisingly missing from the Twisted Truths is Gnosticism. Most of the “Twisted Truths” are 3-4 short paragraphs in length. As such, it may have been better if they were longer full length articles as some of these still affect the Church today.

Product Details

The following chart provides the product details for the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible, Brown Cloth Over Board, from Christian Book, as I was unable to find the product information on the publisher’s website. The third column is the same details for the specific Bible I own.

Details	From Website	Personal Bible
Translation:	Christian Standard Bible (CSB)	CSB
Format:	Hardback	Hardback
Pages:	2,000	1,778
Size:	7″ x 9.75″	6.9″ x 9.5″
Font Size:	10 pt.	8.8 pt.
Weight:	3.9 lbs.	3.6 lbs.

This chart shows that the product description is fairly accurate to what you will get.

So, let’s take a look at some of the key features and see if the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible is something you really want to get.

Study Notes

The CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible boasts study notes from the writings of the early church fathers that offer challenging and helpful insights to the Biblical text.

The Compiler’s note at the front of the Bible will let you know that they sought to present a wide range of interpretations and approaches from both East and West Christianity. As such, you probably won’t agree with every study note you read in this study Bible.

Nor do the study notes represent a complete understanding of early church thought and doctrine.

Another thing to note is that some of the study notes can be overly allegorical. This is characteristic of some of the early church methods and approaches to Bible reading and Bible study. For example, on Origen’s comment when Joshua defeats the northern cities, he writes,

“The horse, of course, is hamstrung when the body is humbled by fastings and vigils and by every pain of self denial. And the chariots are consumed by fire when the word of the Lord is fulfilled in us, as he says, ‘I came that it be set ablaze!’ [Luke 12:49].

Those persons already revealed themselves to burn in that fire who said, ‘Was not our heart burning within us, when he opened the Scripture for us?’ [Luke 24:32].

Also therefore, the horse is called ‘false for salvation’ [Ps. 33:17] if we allow impulses of the body to be endured unbridled and if we do not subdue the wanton and haughty necks of the flesh by the yoke of self denial.”

Origen, CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible

That said, the notes in the study Bible provide an excellent look at early Christian thought and we can learn much from them. Overall, these insights from ancient giants of the Faith remind readers that their faith is ancient and can be refreshed by the wisdom of yesterday’s saints.

Font and Page Quality

Overall, the font and page quality of the CSB Study Bible is excellent. The size of the text makes the translation even easier to read.

	Advertised	Actual
Biblical Text	10 pt.	8.8 pt.
Study Notes	8 pt.	5.7 pt.
Articles	Not mentioned	5.7 pt.

Overall, the size of the biblical text is easily readable and easier to see. The study notes are a little small but still readable, though it can be challenging in a dim setting.

The articles have the same font size as the study notes which is both unusual and disappointing. When looking at the articles they clearly had room the page to use a larger font, and possibly chose a smaller one for aesthetic reasons.

Page Quality

The quality of the pages of the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible is exceptional. The pages are thick enough that you don’t feel afraid to turn them.

That said, there is some ghosting issues that may make me hesitant to write in this study Bible with anything other than a pencil. Though, ghosting is normal on biblical pages and I’ve seen worse than this Bible.

Another thing that I want to mention is the color of the pages. They not the typical white, but more of a creme yellow color (?) that I find quite pleasant.

Articles

The CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible contains 27 articles and 24 biographies. These articles highlight a key selection of one of the early Church fathers on core doctrines of the Christian faith. Some titles include,

• Creation Out Of Nothing (Augustine)
• The Son of God as the Second Adam (Ireneaus)
• Philosophy as the Handmaiden of Theology (Clement of Alexandria)
• Begotten, Not Made (Origen)
• How to Think About God (Hilary of Poitiers)
• Praying to God as Father (Tertullian)
• Christian Worship in the Second Century (Justin Martyr)
• Preaching to the Poor and Rich (Gregory the Great)
• The Canon of Scripture (Athanasius)
• and more

Overall, these articles do an excellent job of explaining how some early Church fathers thought about key theological doctrines of the Christan faith. That said, they can be a little short and at times I would like more information.

Thankfully, the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible has a Recommended Reading List that lists both primary writing of the early church fathers and secondary sources to help and encourage readers to dive deeper into Church History.

Another thing, I would have liked to have seen with these articles is different Fathers’ quotes on the same article. Like they are having a conversation about the topic.

Book Introductions

The CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible has book introductions for all 66 books of the Bible. And are identical to the CSB Spurgeon Study Bible except for the last section.

They include both the historical, cultural, and literary contexts as well as a devotional aspect. As such, they are both informative and meditative. This provides a nice balance not always found in other study Bibles.

The section headings include,

• Circumstances of Writing
• Contribution to the Bible
• Structure
• A Church Father’s Commentary on a particular Book

The circumstances of writing section includes basic background information that will discuss the title, author, date of writing, and cultural background of a particular book. This is stuff you will find in most study Bibles.

The contribution to the Bible section explains how the particular book relates to the rest of the Bible. It helps readers keep a focus on the big picture story of the Bible.

The Structure section provides a literary overview of the structure of the book. It is not in outline form, but rather a couple of paragraphs.

Handling and Portability

One of the most important things to consider when looking at study Bible, or any Bible, really, is how well it handles. Can you get good use out of the Bible and it stand up to wear and tear for years?

To test this, I placed my thumb on a page and left it there for five minutes as if I were reading the page. After the five minutes I removed my thumb and analyzed how well the page held up.

Doing this with the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible resulted in no wrinkling of the page whatsoever. This is a testament to the high quality of the pages.

The quality of the pages, along with the hardback cover makes the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible durable to everyday wear and tear.

Portability

Another factor to consider is the portability of the study Bible. The CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible is a big book and weighs a lot. As such, it quickly get tiring to carry around and would best be suited to stay at home and use as a home Study Bible.

Overall, the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible can be a valuable resource for those who want insight from the early Church Fathers. But it’s not ideal for everyone. So, be sure and check out this article where I compare the CSB Ancient Faith Study Bible to other Study Bibles.