READR

Review of Nelson’s Biblical Cyclopedic Index

Nelson’s Biblical Cyclopedic Index: The Best Bible Subject Index Ever (Paperback) Created by Thomas Nelson Publishers

When I first received the Nelson’s Biblical Cyclopedic Index Book – Best Bible Subject Index Ever, I was surprised by the size. I guess I had expected that a reference book is made to be large, heavy, weighty…maybe to represent the material within ;) Upon further inspection, I was content with the references within but don’t feel that it lives up to the “Best Bible Subject Index Ever” tag. Perhaps this is because I have been spoilt by owning the Thompson Chain Reference Bible by Kirkbride. Having an index, topical pieces, drawings, maps etc in the back of a “large” Bible has been useful but this is not to discredit the work that Thomas Nelson have put into this guide. The layout is easy-to-read, well laid out with a good choice of font and page structure. The additional Word Study sections will be useful for people looking to get some additional information on a particular word, although I had noticed that some reviewers disliked some possible biases in the material. All in all, I would see this as a good first reference guide for word studies with, in my opinion, one usability downfall. The Thompson Chain Reference Bible, in all its weighty glory, has a major advantage in the way they present their word index. The publishers provide snippets on the first few most popular Bible verses on a subject. This means that you can almost do a mini word study straight from the page. They also provide verse snippets (pardon the overuse of snippet – small section of wording) that are displayed as: Loved – John 3:16 “For God so loved the world….” and this makes it so much easier when wanting to find a particular verse. These are the only points that could improve this book but I would still recommend this to a person looking for a basic, word study index book.