Product Description

The Journaling Bible? is a unique format with wide margins and ruled lines designed for writing prayers, observations, sermon notes, and personal reflections. It also includes a one-year Bible reading

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22021 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-13
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 1088 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781581348385
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Customer Reviews

A Reasonable Review from a College Student
Before I purchase any product, especially online, I obsess over reviews and blog entries and any other information I can find on it. I must have read a hundred different pieces on this Bible before buying it. I was so disappointed with many of Amazon's Bible reviews because many of the comments are from overzealous supporters (or opponents) to a certain translation. Here's the short list of things to have in mind before buying (or not buying) this Bible....

1) It's sweet. It looks exactly like a large square-ish moleskine journal (which, by the way, are also sweet). It also seems to share the moleskine's durability, but only time will tell.

2) It does have small type (7.5). It is not, by any means, too small...provided you are in the market for a compact or thin-line type Bible. You won't want to get this if you are farsighted.

3) There is plenty of margin space and the lines ARE close together...but they consist of tiny light dots so it won't be a problem to use 2 lines for larger writing. The paper is thinner than moleskine, but if it bleeds...go spend 4 dollars on a better pen.

4) The ESV is a great translation. It is only very slightly less literal than the NASB but flows better, and is therefor excellent for both devotional reading and study.

5) It's the inspired inerrant word of God.

If you're expecting a "Moleskine Bible" you'll probably love it.
In reading through the poor reviews that this Bible is getting, I'm convinced that the people who wrote them didn't know what they were getting when they ordered it. This is a unique Bible. The reason I'm rating it a 4 instead of a 5 is that I understand it's not for everybody.

I'm 23, and I own all sorts of Bibles and Bible versions. I've been waiting for a Bible I could really feel is my own, something that wouldn't feel out of place if I throw it in my backpack, but still has something to it that would make me want to use it.

Basically, this Bible is an attempt to merge the Bible and a moleskine notebook, right down to the shrink wrapped packaging and paper insert, cream colored pages and the elastic strap. I'm a moleskine notebook user, and I love the things. If you do too, chances are you won't dislike this Bible. If you don't know what moleskines are or aren't a fan, this Bible might not appeal to you. I'm sure this is the reason for a lot of the dissatisfaction that people have. This bible devotes a lot of real estate to the journaling area; if you aren't planning on writing a lot in it, don't get this bible.

The text is very small (though not super-tiny like those pocket bibles). But that was something I was expecting, and I don't mind. If the text were any bigger, this bible would be thicker and heavier than I'd like. It's easily thrown in a backpack (securely with that oh-so-handy elastic strap) and it's not a burden to use or to carry around. The pages are slightly thicker and more porous than your traditional bible pages. I don't mind this at all- it's easier to write in the nearly two-inch margins (I use a mechanical pencil), and it probably makes the whole thing a bit less dense and lighter.

So I must confess, I'm in love with this bible. I can understand people's gripes about the text size and the size of the lines in the margins, but really, I don't mind either of these things, because I would rather that the overall product be smaller. You can get a lot of writing done in those nice big margins if you write small. I see no problems with the binding.

If you're looking for a standard, run-of-the-mill, regularly proportioned Bible, then this would be a bit of a shock if you ordered it and didn't expect the things that make it different. Take a look at the shape of it, and check out the pictures available online that show the pages. Personally I think this Bible has a lot of character, I love how simple it is, and I've been waiting for a journaling bible like it for some time now.

Great Idea, but could be done better
I was really excited when I first found out about this edition of the ESV. I love wide-margin Bibles and own several, so I was enthusiastic about this one. But in addition to its being a journaling bible, I was also attracted by its Moleskine-like appearance, with its black hardbound binding and elastic band to keep the book closed like the small Moleskine notebooks.

I was somewhat disappointed, though. Note the word "somewhat." This Bible is not a total disappointment, but it definitely needs to be improved in certain areas, in my opinion.

As I believe other reviewers have pointed out or alluded to, the print is almost unbearably small. Now if you have 20-20 vision, this shouldn't bother you; but if you (like me) wear glasses, this might be an inconvenience you won't want to put up with. In all honesty, I can't see the reason for such small print. I own several pocket Bibles which are about half the width and length of this edition, which nevertheless contain print that is considerably larger.

In addition, there is precious little space in between the lines in the ruled margins. This means that you will have to write very small in order to squeeze words on each line. However, a simple way around this would be to take up 2 lines when writing notes.

Another drawback about this is that the pages are printed in double column format -- a hindrance for note-taking Bibles because if your note is about a verse that appears in the column closer to the binding, you can't write it next to that verse but rather alongside the other column (i.e., the outer column).

All in all, I'd say if you can live with these issues, then this Bible would not be a bad purchase for you. But I'd say that the publishers need to address these issues in future editions of this Bible if they plan to continue its production.