On the heels of announcing the new translation for the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) in June, B&H has teamed up with David C. Cook and Baker on publishing resources based on the new text.
The new translation, renamed the Christian Standard Bible (CSB), will be available in a full line of Bibles and other products from all three evangelical publishers through the new partnership starting in 2018. B&H will release initial CSB products in March 2017.
“We selected like-minded houses to reach different constituencies,” said B&H’s Bible publisher Dr. Jeremy Howard. “Baker has power in reference and academic products, and David C. Cook has curriculum power. Both can reach whole new markets.”
The HCSB was first published in 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers, which is now known as B&H. Having Holman in the title was “an oddity, not an asset,” said Howard, and renaming the new translation reflects its modernity. The translation committee consisted of biblical scholars from around the world and across all denominations, including Baptist, Presbyterian, Lutheran, Anglican, and non-denominational backgrounds.
David C. Cook will use the CSB as the base translation for a new church-wide initiative designed to help more people engage with the Bible, and additional product lines will be announced later this summer
“The release of the CSB is a big initiative for B&H,” said Verne J. Kenney, executive publisher at Cook. “Any time that we’re able to leverage our dollars for a publishing project with either an editorial or marketing partner of like mind, it makes sense to seize on that opportunity.”
Baker Publishing Group will begin publishing Bibles in the CSB in 2018, including its first release, the Baker Illustrated Study Bible. Brian Vos, editorial director for Bibles at Baker, described the forthcoming Bible as Baker’s “capstone project.”
“It was natural to match our reference books with the CSB for our flagship study Bible,” he said. “The Bible scholars explained their vision for the translation and there is a resonance there—I see the spirit of generosity and unity with which it was done.”
Partnering on the CSB is the latest in a long history of Baker working closely with B&H, an imprint of Lifeway Christian Resources, which carries many Baker books. “B&H was very open to partnering with us and we have flexibility with the number of study Bibles,” said Vos. “It’s a deep, open-ended partnership.”
