The Wesley Study Bible was released February 1, 2009 by its publisher Abingdon Press

Abingdon Press

Abingdon Press is the book publishing arm of the United Methodist Publishing House which publishes sheet music, ministerial resources, Bible-study aids, and other items, often with a focus on Methodism and Methodists. Abingdon Press was begun in the early 1900s by The Methodist Church, and is...

. It is a New Revised Standard Version

New Revised Standard Version

The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible is an English translation of the Bible released in 1989 in the USA. It is a thorough revision of the Revised Standard Version .There are three editions of the NRSV:...

 edition of the Bible

Bible

The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...

, without the Apocrypha

Biblical apocrypha

The word "apocrypha" is today often used to refer to the collection of ancient books printed in some editions of the Bible in a separate section between the Old and New Testaments...

 books.

The Wesley Study Bible has comprehensive notes on the text written by over 50 Biblical scholars along with life application notes

Life Application Study Bible

The Life Application Study Bible is a study Bible published by Tyndale House Publishers. It has been available in a number of editions that use various Bible translations, including the New Living Translation , the King James Version , the New King James Version , the New International Version ,...

 written by over 50 pastors. The General Editors of the Bible are William H. Willimon

William H. Willimon

William Henry Willimon is a bishop in the United Methodist Church in the U.S., currently serving in North Alabama. He is best known as a theologian, writer, former Dean of the Chapel at Duke University, and as one of America's best known preachers...

, United Methodist bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham, Alabama

Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...

 and Joel N. Green, professor of New Testament Interpretation at Fuller Theological Seminary

Fuller Theological Seminary

Fuller Theological Seminary is an accredited Christian educational institute with its main campus in Pasadena, California and several satellite campuses in the western United States...

. The notes draw extensively on Wesleyan theology and specifically on the works of John Wesley

John Wesley

John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...

, especially his Notes and his sermons. Wesleyan theological terms are easily explained. There are 19 pages of color maps in the back of the 1,616 page Bible.

Those who worked on the Bible were drawn from eleven churches based in North America with Wesleyan roots. They are The United Methodist Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church

African Methodist Episcopal Church

The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the A.M.E. Church, is a predominantly African American Methodist denomination based in the United States. It was founded by the Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the...

, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church

The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, or AME Zion Church, is a historically African-American Christian denomination. It was officially formed in 1821, but operated for a number of years before then....

, Christian and Missionary Alliance

Christian and Missionary Alliance

The Christian and Missionary Alliance is an evangelical Protestant denomination within Christianity.Founded by Rev. Albert Benjamin Simpson in 1887, the Christian & Missionary Alliance did not start off as a denomination, but rather began as two distinct parachurch organizations: The Christian...

, Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

Christian Methodist Episcopal Church

The Christian Methodist Episcopal Church is a historically black denomination within the broader context of Methodism. The group was organized in 1870 when several black ministers, with the full support of their white counterparts in the former Methodist Episcopal Church, South, met to form an...

, Church of the Nazarene

Church of the Nazarene

The Church of the Nazarene is an evangelical Christian denomination that emerged from the 19th century Holiness movement in North America with its members colloquially referred to as Nazarenes. It is the largest Wesleyan-holiness denomination in the world. At the end of 2010, the Church of the...

, Church of God (Anderson, Indiana), Free Methodist Church of North America, The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army

The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....

, Wesleyan Church

Wesleyan Church

"Wesleyan" has been used in the title of a number of historic and current denominations, although the subject of this article is the only denomination to use that specific title...

 and the United Church of Canada

United Church of Canada

The United Church of Canada is a Protestant Christian denomination in Canada. It is the largest Protestant church and, after the Roman Catholic Church, the second-largest Christian church in Canada...

.

A limited black genuine leather edition was published in October 2009 by HarperCollins Publishers

HarperCollins

HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...

 and available only from Cokesbury

Cokesbury

Cokesbury is the retail division of the United Methodist Publishing House. While it is an agency of the United Methodist Church, Cokesbury serves Christians of all denominations...

.

A previous study Bible, now out of print, was the Wesleyan Study Bible

Wesley Bible

The Wesley Bible was a study Bible published by Thomas Nelson publishers which utilized the New King James Version ....

 published by Thomas Nelson

Thomas Nelson (publisher)

Thomas Nelson is a publishing firm that began in Scotland in 1798 as the namesake of its founder. Its former US division is currently the sixth largest American trade publisher and the world's largest Christian publisher. It is owned by the private equity firm Kohlberg & Company...

, and using the New King James Version

New King James Version

The New King James Version is a modern translation of the Bible published by Thomas Nelson, Inc. The New Testament was published in 1979. The Psalms in 1980. The full Bible was published in 1982. It took a total of 7 years to complete...

. The only connection between these Bibles is the similarity of name.

External links

• http://www.wesleystudybible.cokesbury.com