Zondervan has published a study Bible
based on former president Jimmy Carter’s Sunday school notes: :
Jimmy Carter, peanut farmer turned president turned globe-trotting humanitarian, now has another line to add to his business card: Bible commentator. Last week Carter published a Lessons from Life Study Bible, with the subtitle Personal Reflections with Jimmy Carter.
With many Democrats embracing the language of faith in recent years in an attempt to win back so-called values voters from the Republican column, Carter’s intense faith life is a good reminder that hardly all Democrats are new to the pew.
Since he returned to Plains, Georgia, from Washington after losing his re-election bid to Ronald Reagan in 1980, Carter has taught Sunday school at the local Maranatha Baptist Church, “about 685 times so far,” he says.
His notes in the new study Bible pull from years of Sunday school lessons. “Like the disciples, we should not be proud, seek an ascendant position or argue about who’s the greatest among us,” he notes in reflecting on a passage from the Gospel of Mark in which Jesus’ followers are debating who among them is the greatest. . . .
Christian publishing house Zondervan compiled the study Bible, which combines Carter’s teachings and notes with the New International Bible Study Bible.
via Jimmy Carter Publishes Study Bible, Discusses Faith-Filled Life – National News Story – WCVB Boston.
Here is the editorial description at Amazon:
The NIV Lessons from Life Bible takes Mr. Carter’s years of teaching Sunday school lessons at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, GA, and meshes them with the text of the NIV Bible. Through ‘In Focus’ articles, ‘Bible in Life’ notes, in-depth studies and insightful observations and reflections, President Carter’s teachings in this Bible provide fresh insights for you to study and contemplate. Features: * The full text of the clear, accessible NIV translation * Foreword by Jonathan Reckford, International CEO of Habitat for Humanity * Bible in Life notes: short, application-oriented notes on particular verses * In Focus Articles: longer articles on particular topics * Short prayers of application on select passages * Reflections: brief one-sentence sayings and quotations by Jimmy Carter * Presentation page
Why? Who would buy this? Is there reason to think that the former president has any special knowledge about Scripture? I also would not buy a Ronald Reagan Study Bible. To look to a politician as our expositor of Scripture gives me major cognitive dissonance.
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