FORT WORTH, Texas (BP) — A new study Bible compiled by women for women with special attention to passages of interest to women was introduced by general editor Dorothy Kelley Patterson during a chapel service April 9 at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The Study Bible for Women, from Holman Bible Publishers, was produced by an all-female team of scholars led by Patterson, wife of Southwestern Seminary President Paige Patterson. Rhonda Harrington Kelley, wife of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary President Chuck Kelley, served as managing editor.
Following the chapel service, the seven-member editorial committee signed copies of the study Bible.
“Scripture provides all you need for ‘life and godliness,’ and The Study Bible for Women is the perfect tool for discovering this provision,” Patterson said in introducing the new resource.
The Study Bible for Women, which features the full text of the Holman Christian Standard Bible, includes an introduction for each book explaining key themes, outlining the book and situating it in its historical context. Study notes highlight important truths and provide insights on difficult passages. At the end of each book is a devotional application for women.
Woven throughout are explanations of foundational doctrines, profiles of biblical women, discussions of biblical womanhood, word studies and answers to hard questions prompted by Scripture.
In 1995, Patterson and Kelley led the editorial team for The Woman’s Study Bible, published by Thomas Nelson, which has sold 1.5 million copies.
With The Study Bible for Women, they hope to reach a new generation by addressing the issues and concerns faced by women today.
This latest study Bible is the third in a trilogy of biblical resources — which also includes The Women’s Evangelical Commentary on the New Testament and The Women’s Evangelical Commentary on the Old Testament — that Patterson and Kelley helped create for women.
“All three volumes should be on the desk of women serious about Bible study and teaching, but the study Bible is a volume that can be the companion for a woman wherever she may go — a virtual library of information at her fingertips,” Patterson said.
Tim Jordan of B&H Publishing said The Study Bible for Women is “a substantive resource that provides women a variety of tools for reading, understanding and applying God’s Word in their lives.” It also “equips women to unlock the riches of God’s Word for themselves and to teach others to do so,” he said.
“We care deeply about high biblical fidelity,” Jordan said. “You can trust the content of this study Bible.”
Patterson said a godly woman “will seek to conform her beliefs and behavior to Scripture, not pick and choose what Scripture is most agreeable to her own desires. Attentiveness to the Word of God, willingness to explore its depths and eagerness to meet and fellowship with its divine Author will inspire your readiness to become a wise woman whose life is securely built on the rock of doing whatever the Lord says.”
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Based on reporting by Michelle Tyer, a writer for Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).
