Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament Paperback – Illustrated, May 17, 2010

Comments on the physical aspect of the book:I have the paperback version of this bible and it's true what other reviewers said about the quality of the binding: top-notch! I expect that the color maps at the end portion will not tear off easily since they are also sewn. Even the glue applied to the spine is neatly applied.The font of the main text can be referred to as "large-print" and thus highly readable. The commentaries are smaller but I can still read them without using my reading glasses. High quality, thicker than the usual bible paper and shows no bleed-through. Beautiful external design and excellent supplementary materials within. Insightful commentaries and commentaries as it relates to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.as an example of the first, consider this excerpt of the commentary on John 4:18 (Samaritan Woman at the well)...4:18 five husbands: The woman has endured multiple marital struggles. The woman's personal life parallels historical experience of the Samaritan people. According to 2 Kings 17:24-31, the five foreign tribes who intermarried with the northern Israelites (Samaritans) introduced five male deities into the region. These idols where individually addressed as Baal, a Hebrew word meaning "lord" or "husband."...So far none of my other study bibles (ESV Study Bible and NLT Study Bible) mentioned this bit of information in relation to the five deceased husbands of the Samaritan woman. From here you can then relate the present state of the woman's affair with a man who is not her husband to the words that Jesus spoke, "...you worship what you do not know." The parallelism is striking: 5 dead husbands = 5 former pagan deities and her living at present with a man who's not her husband = her worshiping at present a god who she do not know.And for the second, here is something unique to this study bible alone: a moral application as espoused by the Living Tradition of the Church. For example, in John 7:45-11, in the story of the woman who was caught in adultery, the Bible mentions that Jesus bent down twice to write something in the sand, saying in between these actions, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."Part of the commentary on that passage reads: Morally (St. Bede, Hom. in Evan.): Christ, who twice bends down to write on the ground, teaches us to bend low in humility to examine ourselves both before and after addressing the faults of our neighbor. If his example becomes our practice, we will avoid as he did the extremes of being unjust and unmerciful toward others.God willing, the publishers will be able to release the Old Testament version before too long.5 stars for workmanship, quality of materials and excellence of study tools.additional note as of December 6, 2010:I also bought the hardbound version in late November. The book is so good I had to give one to my mother!Update as of September 20, 2011:I am now on my second round of reading the bible. Slowly this time. I discovered that having a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Vatican II) adds a lot to the usability of this bible! I have also ordered my third copy: the leatherbound one which I can take with me in my car wherever I go.

Next to the Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition, the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament (2010) is the most comprehensive and orthodox Catholic commentaries in print today. For the Bible text, it uses the Revised Standard Version 2nd Catholic Edition (RSV-2CE), essentially the RSV with the archaic terms modernized (thou to you, etc.). It provides the usual historical-critical exigesis, but more of the historical rather than the critical, so the reader could have better grasp of the meaning of the passages rather than of the origins or sources of and the issues against the text. In addition, it has notations on how the text noted relates to other passages in the Bible (book icon), the Church's living tradition and doctrinal teachings (dove icon), and the Magisterium as found in Vatican documents (keys icon). The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible also provides a few maps and boxed essays that facilitate the understanding of the passages.You may need to have on hand the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC). The Bible provides many cross-references to the CCC but does not anymore quote heavily from it. Understandably, this helped keep the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible more compact than the Navarre Bible.Another very helpful feature of this Bible is the Concise Concordance--a summary of keywords and where they can be found in the Ignatius (RSV) Bible and the phrase where the word is used. Although it covers only the New Testament, the Concise Concordance is very thorough, far more comprehensive than found in other Bibles. Curiously, the separate publication of the more complete Concordant (with the Old Testament and additional New Testament notes) is more expensive than the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible! You can just imagine the amount of saving you enjoy by the inclusion of this section in this Bible (the hardcover edition). The Concordance is particularly helpful when one forgets a word he has highlighted somewhere and when doing some apologetics work.Compared with the Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition, the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible is not as thorough. For one thing, it doesn't quote much from anywhere else other than the Catechism. IT does provide some short summaries from the writing of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church when necessary.However, the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible is less than half the price and about two-thirds the length of the Navarre Bible. It is not necessarily less bulky; it is a huge and hefty volume. One thing for sure, reading the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible would leave the Catholic reader enlightened in his faith as the Navarre Bible also would.In any case, if you could afford both books, get them. While they may have many overlaps, each one would fill out what may be missing in the other.

Beautiful. I expected nothing less from Ignatius Press. Wonderful insights into the text of the New Testament. Very helpful for studying The Word.The font is a size or two bigger than that in the Ignatius Bible. Which is welcomed due to the larger size of the book.There is a wonderful "key" system that utilizes different keys / icons to denote which type of insight is contained in the notes.The paper is very nice. Significantly thicker than other Bibles that I have. Really adding a quality feel.There is no edge gilding which I am okay with since it is a study Bible and I wouldn't want to be worried about it while traveling or general use.Highly recommend the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible New Testament. Hopefully I can get a copy of the complete study Bible when it restocks on the Ignatius website.