But I have to agree about the serious lack of presence in the market place. I just went into a Lifeway store today out of curiosity. They had two big displays of Lifeway recommended Bibles. I saw two copies of the Apologetics Bible there, but that was the only HCSB they had! I looked through the rest of the Bible section and struggled to find any other copies of the HCSB.

I agree. I only JUST discovered the CSB in the past few months. The website seems stuck in a ‘limbo’. So far as I know, the on-line text is still the first-edition text.

Much of the products that they seem to have offered are still listed, but the links are dead. You cannot view anything about many of the products, even if you did succeed finding it for-sale somewhere on the web. Thankfully http://www.christianbook.com/ has a wonderfully user-friendly site, and they still have a good deal of CSB product on-hand.

I’ve found through speaking with Holman, and e-mail, that the 2010 print edition is not due until LATE in the year, possibly October. One year is a long time for for this translation to sit idle in the marketplace, with no product on the shelves, and no marketing presence to speak of.

I frequent both Berean & Family Christian bookstores, and I’m lucky to find ANY copies of the CSB. When I do, it seems to be the Apologetics Study Bible, for whatever reason. I went to the local Calvary Chapel bookstore on campus. This is a congregation of around 14K! Neither the volunteer, nor the assistant manager, had ever so much as HEARD of the HCSB! They did have an inquiry about the NET bible, asking if it was in stock. They were cluesless as to that one, also. I dropped off one of my CSB’s for a couple weeks, and I havent’ yet been back to see what they think of it.

Thank you for your excellent interview with Dr. Blum. I appreciate Dr. Blum’s candor and your insightful questions. The CSB has become my favorite translation. It surpasses the NIV in accuracy and yet it is translated in clear, natural English. Quite an accomplishment. I appreciate the ESV as a fine literal translation, but it shows marginal improvement over the NASB. When one adds the NASB’s italicized word additions and ample translation notes, the NASB trumps the ESV as a helpful translation. Because of the literal translation methods used, both tend to be quite “wooden”.

To produce a translation that is accurate, readable and elegant is no small task. The HCSB hits the mark on all three counts, but could use a bit more polish in the elegance arena. The first edition did have a few “unique” translations and I felt that too many of the “alternate translations” in other versions found their way into the text of the HCSB (with the traditional translations relegated to footnotes as “alternate translations”). Hopefully, this will be addressed in the second edition, as will the translation of Isaiah 53:10.

I personally appreciate the CSB’s use of half brackets to indicate the addition of words, as opposed to the italics used in the KJV, NKJV and NASB. I also appreciate the capitalization of pronouns referring to deity. This practice is becoming more prevalent in Christian literature. The bold font in the New Testament indicating a quotation of Old Testament scripture is also helpful. I am thankful that the boxed text feature will be dropped in the second edition.

I have read select comparisons of the CSB text in the first and second editions. The second edition appears to be a judicious improvement of an already exceptional translation. I would encourage interested parties to contact Broadman and Holman and ask them to update their website. The ESV website does a much better job of promoting that translation. The CSB deserves better representation on the web. Thanks again Will, for your excellent interview. Please continue to post any updates.

I just came back to read the interview again, and read through the comments, and I never did respond to your question – “Can you explain that perception to me?” regarding why it “makes it a Baptist translation.”

I think it’s old misidentified perception in my mind. The only cessationist that I ever came across when I was young, were Baptist. I guess it just stuck with me – I to have to purge that out of my thought process.

However, I have evolved a bit since

My only concern is that Dr. Blum recommended that people leave comments to the publishers on the website. Unfortunately, every time I’ve asked a question or submitted any thoughts on the B & H website, I’ve never received a response from them. This may not be the ‘best’ way to get in touch with them.

Right now I have to first edition, but I’m anxiously awaiting the 2nd ed. and that will be my all-purpose Bible.

I hate to do it, but I’m parting ways with me NASB (so sad). It has too many inconsistencies and wonderful as it is.

The HCSB is the clear winner, for it is incredibly readable and accurate to the biblical languages. The ESV has nothing on the HCSB.

The HCSB is the way to go!