A Bible for DEEP Study!

I recently received the new Evangelical Study Bible for free as a member of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid in exchange for my honest review. There’s a TON of deep study materials in this Bible!

It is a full-color Bible, so there are many beautiful pictures throughout the Bible. Some of these introduce the books of the Bible, while others illustrate various study materials along the way. It’s definitely very aesthetically pleasing.

At the beginning of each book, there is a good introduction to the book. It provides dates, authorship, and themes discussed in the book. As the name of the Bible implies, it does all of this from an evangelical perspective.

The actual text of this NKJV Bible is large and clear. While not clearly marketed a large print Bible, it is some of the largest text that I’ve seen in a Bible. The study notes are a bit smaller, but still larger than many study notes I’ve seen in most Bibles, and certainly readable.

The Bible is also full of maps, commentary, cross references, and much more. Check out this gallery of images to get a taste of what it contains.

You can purchase this Bible from the FaithGateway Store or on Amazon (affiliate link). If you want a Bible that allows you study more in depth, this looks like a great one!

A New Bible for Students

I received the new NIV Student Bible for free as a member of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid in exchange for my honest review. And it seems like a good one!

At the beginning of each book of the Bible, there are some helpful notes to introduce the book.

There are also helpful commentary notes on many pages in the form of a “guided tour.”

This running commentary does a great job of guiding the reader through the major themes and ideas of Scripture.

I find that the Bible is designed in a slightly fun, different way.

These design elements break things up a bit and give the reading experience a nice touch.

There are also cross references listed at the bottoms of the pages.

These can be super helpful in finding related passages of Scripture.

In the back of the Bible are several helpful maps, references, and definitions.

All in all, the Bible looks like it’s put together with a lot of care and thoughtfulness to help students get a lot from their Bible study.

You can purchase the NIV Student Bible on FaithGateway or Amazon (affiliate link).

Church kids will love this Bible!

If you’re looking for a fun, colorful Bible for your child, take a look at this one!

I received this Bible for free as a member of the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid in exchange for my honest review, and I can honestly say, it’s great!

As soon as you open the Bible, you find that the interior invites you to color the first couple pages, which (I think) is a very fun touch.

The last two pages are also able to be colored.

Each book of the Bible has a brief introduction to the Bible, written in a way that’s easy for children to read.

There are also notes throughout the Bible, helping kids understand more about what they’re reading.

As far as the text of the Bible itself, it’s the International Children’s Bible. It’s easy to read, but may sound a little different to those who are familiar with the Bible. For example, Genesis 1:1 says:

In the beginning God created the sky and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

While “the sky” is certainly a valid translation of the Hebrew, we’re used to reading “the heavens,” so it may sound a little strange to our ears. Nevertheless, it may be a good rendition for children who often have difficulty understanding abstract things like heaven.

All in all, I think it’s a great Bible that many children will love.

You can purchase this Bible on FaithGateway or Amazon (affiliate link).

Jonah, like you’ve never read it before

I was sent a digital copy of the Book of Jonah: Word for Word Bible Comic (NIV Translation) in exchange for a review through the Bible Gateway Blogger Grid. I’m a little late on giving the review, but better late than never!

The Book of Jonah has a special place in my heart. It’s quite simply one of the most beautiful and relatable stories in the Bible. With my family, we’ve heard it quoted from memory, watched it performed at the Sight & Sound Theater, and we’ve even memorized it.

So I seriously jumped at the opportunity to read and review a graphic novel version of the Book of Jonah! I read it to my kids a few nights ago, and I spend some time this last couple days gathering my thoughts about how I should go about this review.

Anyway, that’s a whole lot of introduction to say this: this is the Book of Jonah like you’ve never read it before.

I mean that in both a good and a bad way. The story of Jonah is engaging, and the illustrations that this graphic novel add to the story help the reader to picture what’s going on. At times, the illustrations even add a type of commentary. For example, in the opening verses, there’s an illustration of the people of Nineveh worshiping what they believed to be the gods of fish. I appreciated this attention to detail!

But negatively, it can be easy to miss some of the words of Scripture. In order for it to read more like a graphic novel, some of the words of the Book of Jonah are deemphasized, or almost even invisible because it renders it as grey text on a grey background. I can definitely understand why this was done, as it makes the story flow better as a graphic novel. But it can also, at times, cause the reader to miss something from the story.

Nevertheless, I think this is a great tool. It would make a great gift for those people who enjoy this style of reading and art, and want to see the Bible come alive in this way. It’s available for order at https://www.wordforwordbiblecomic.com/buy