Introducing Pete Socks
Pete Socks has established himself as one of the most reliable Catholic book reviewers out there today. In his seven years of reviewing books and interviewing authors, many have come to recognize him by his online nickname The Catholic Book Blogger. We are pleased to announce that Pete will be bringing his talents and fair reviews to Catholic Stand effective immediately as our new in-house book reviewer.
Each week Pete will provide a review on one of today’s current book releases on the Catholic market. He will also be sharing with us his weekly podcast “Off the Shelf” which he hosts on Breadbox Media where he serves a General Manager. We are excited to have Pete back n a regular role here at Catholic Stand and we look forward to seeing what books he has to share with us and you.
The Great Adventure Catholic Bible
In my years as a book reviewer in the Catholic space I have been afforded many opportunities to review Catholic Bibles. Each of these have had their own special features that makes them unique but not have stood out as truly unique…until now. The Bible I am speaking of that has garnered the attention of many is The Great Adventure Bible from Ascension Press. This Bible, in my opinion, is…..a…..game-changer!
The Back Bone
Quite simply the backbone of this bible is what makes it a winner. There are plenty of other features we will get to in this review but are icing on the cake. What makes this Bible special is the complete integration of the Bible Timeline developed by Jeff Cavins. If you are unfamiliar with the Bible Timeline it is a system that breaks the Bible into an essential narrative and supplemental books via a unique color-coded system.
The color coding allows for one to put the entire overarching story of man’s salvation into an easier to understand visual. That visual becomes even more apparent when looking at the Bible from the side. The indexing tabs are printed along the edge of the pages creating a thumb index so the reader can easily jump to the section they want to be in.
Outer Features
A few things set this Bible apart appearance wise. First is the blue cow-hide leather cover. The cover has the Great Adventure logo stamped into it. The binding is very well done too. The combination of these two factors ensures a Bible that will stand up to the rigors of daily use. Another nice feature is the inclusion of two ribbons for marking your place in the text. The Bible text itself that Ascension has used is the Revised Standard Version – Second Catholic Edition.
Wait…there’s more!
Bible Timeline period articles. Twelve of them to coincide with the twelve color-coded periods in the timeline.
Seven articles on the major covenants God made with man throughout history.
Seventy Key Events are interspersed throughout the scriptures that highlight the more important events in salvation history.
The Bible Timeline Reading Plan that takes readers through the main narrative books in 90 days.
Two introductory articles. The first on how to interpret the Bible and the second on Lectio-Divina.
The words of Jesus are printed in red, a rarity on Bibles today.
Nineteen detailed charts that provide an overview of important characters, key events, maps, major covenants, and historical context.
Sixteen newly designed full-color maps that are simply put, stunning!
Summary
In closing, I really do love this Bible. It’s one of the most complete Bibles I have had the pleasure to use. The many features packed into it from articles to the Bible Timeline itself make this particular Bible a convenient single source for bible study.
5 thoughts on “Could This be THE Bible You’ve Been Waiting For?”
Another novelty Bible.
No, thanks.
I got to see one of these in person the other day. The translation is the RSV-2CE from Ignatius, and while I agree that it has some nice features, overall I think you’d be much better off simply buying an RSV-2CE from Ignatius and (if desired) adding the Great Adventure Timeline thumb tabs.
(It is worth mentioning that this Great Adventure Bible does not have the Timeline as tabs or cutouts, only printed on the edge of the sheet.)
The standard Ignatius edition has nicer, cream paper, a sewn binding (this one is glued), and while the cover is bonded leather on the Ignatius, it is still pretty nice, and I think a definite step up from the polyurethane cover used on this one*.
(EDIT: I was confused by it being referred to as “cowhide” in the review, since the one I saw was definitely synthetic. After a little digging, it seems that they are using a synthetic material which is confusingly named “Alpha Cowhide”. This is sometimes getting the Bible mistakenly listed as being leather-bound.)
Even though the Ignatius is better made, it is still only about half the price of the Great Adventure version, as well as being available in large-print or as “pocket” NT+Psalms.
While the RSV-2CE is not my personal preference for translation (I prefer the Confraternity NT), it is probably my number one recommendation for a solid, all around edition currently in print, especially for the price.
Unfortunately, I think the Great Adventure Bible stumbles on a couple of the things every Bible needs to do well: good paper and a sewn binding.
EDIT: To combine the two comments below, St. Benedict Press has a Douay-Rheims with the words of Our Lord in red. Unfortunately, it has a glued binding, but is pretty nice other than that. The print size and legibility are better than the the Baronius DR editions, but the Baronius ones undoubtedly have a better binding. The St Benedict is one of the few cases I’d recommend the faux leather over the genuine, as the genuine is pretty stiff.
You forgot the most important information. What translation is used? Hopefully Douay-Rheims.
I appreciate that the words of Jesus are in red, but are they accurately translated or are they modernized diluting their essence and making reading scripture a simplified task?
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