journaling bible Archives - Notes From the Parsonage

ESV Journaling Study Bible Review

notesfromtheparsonage — Thu, 28 Sep 2023 20:56:28 +0000

The ESV Journaling Study Bible combines the popular journaling Bible with a study Bible. Is this the right Bible for you? Let’s look closer and find out!

Crossway was kind enough to send me this Bible to review. I was happy to be able to get my hands on it, because it is exactly what I’ve been looking for! While there could be a few improvements, this is an excellent Bible!

Journaling Study Bible Features

I was sent the Natural Brown Leather cover with the wrap around flap. The pictures looked much darker than the leather I was sent. The picture on the website has a dark brown, but in real life, this is more of a natural tan/camel type brown. It also comes in a couple TruTone covers, a floral cloth hardback, and a black hardcover. You can see, it comes in this nice box for gifting.

It only has one ribbon bookmark, which we all know I find woefully insufficient. It also has a nice little pen loop inside the flap of the cover, which is a fun feature on all the Crossway wraparound covers.

The Journaling Study Bible is very square shaped. The Journaling Bibles do tend to be more square shaped, but this one seemed a little more square.

This Bible combines the large, lined side margins of a Journaling Bible with some of the study notes of a Study Bible. These Study Notes looked to me to be to be most similar to the ESV Student Study Bible notes. It didn’t contain the colored maps and things like the regular ESV Study Bible. (It does have full color glossy maps in the back, just not in the notes section.)

The text is in two columns with notes at the bottom. You can see the lined margins go the whole length of the page, even into the not section. The back has a glossary, concordance, reading plan, and glossy colored maps.

Comparing With Other ESV Bibles

The top Bible is the ESV Single Column Journaling Bible. You can see, it isn’t as wide as this Bible.

On top here, we have the ESV Personal Size Study Bible (which is what I currently use for my personal Bible study) compared to the ESV Journaling Study Bible on the bottom. You can see the difference in the notes here with the Personal Size Study Bible having a map here at the end of Daniel and the Journaling Study Bible does not.

This is the ESV Single Column Legacy Bible compared with the ESV Journaling Study Bible. The Legacy Bible clearly has much larger font, but you can see the notes aren’t present.

Here, we have the ESV Heirloom Bible, Heritage Edition, on the top (in a larger size than the personal size) and the ESV Journaling Bible on the bottom. The width was similar on these, but the Journaling Bible is significantly shorter. You can also see the notes are different between these two Bibles.

I was surprised to find the size between the ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible and the ESV Journaling Study Bible to be so similar. The Interleaved version is slightly larger. But this ESV Journaling Study Bible is one of the largest Bibles in our house!

The ESV Student Study Bible was the closest comparison I could find to the study notes, fonts, and format of the Journaling Study Bible. They are not identical, but they are pretty close to the same.

Is This the Bible for Me?

I have always struggled to find a Bible that checks all the boxes for me. I’ve been writing notes in the measly margins of my Personal Size ESV Study Bible, sometimes even taping in post-it notes to hold all my notes! This Bible solves that problem for me. Plenty of room for notes. But not completely plain.

If you are looking for a Bible to really STUDY– this would be a perfect Bible for you! There is room to write all your notes, plus there are study notes and helps as you go. (So you don’t have to look up the basic things elsewhere.)

I do prefer the notes in the ESV Study Bible. Not that these are bad, they’re just more aesthetic and less all the maps and all the things. However, I still think this is an excellent study Bible!

If you’re looking for more of an art journaling Bible, I think the interleaved or standard Journaling Bible is the way to go.

Large Print Single Column Journaling Bible Review

notesfromtheparsonage — Mon, 03 Jul 2023 04:28:04 +0000

Is the Large Print Single Column Journaling Bible the right Bible for you? Let’s look inside and find out!

Crossway was kind enough to send me this copy of the Large Print Single Column Journaling Bible to review. I love their journaling Bibles, but was pretty curious to see how the Large Print version would compare in both size and readability. I have the regular print Single Column Journaling Bible and the Interleaved Journaling Bible to compare.

Font and Paper

The Large Print Journaling Bible does not have a super large print. It is a 9.5 size font. I found it a readable size without being absurd. The paper is thin Bible paper, so there is quite a bit of ghosting, which I think impacts the readability even more than the font size.

The lines on the wide margins are slightly further apart than the regular journaling Bible. It really looks like they took the regular print Single Column Journaling Bible and enlarged the page just a bit and you have the Large Print Single version. The margins themselves are really only the slightest bit larger than the regular print Single Column Journaling Bible.

Available Covers for the Large Print Single Column Journaling Bible

The cover is lovely and feels nice in hand. However, I do think if you’re going to use it for art journaling, the hard cloth covers make more sense. This is a nice cover for a note type Bible use. This is the Deep Brown Buffalo leather cover, which appears black in most lights. It also comes in a couple cloth board designs with the cute little patched corners, a bonded leather, a wrapped leather, and a few TruTone covers.

Extras

This Bible doesn’t have many extras. It has a single ribbon marker and a Bible reading plan. That is pretty much it in terms of the extras. No maps. No study notes. Just Scripture and some space for notes or art.

Size Comparisons

The Large Print Single Column Journaling Bible is more of a typical Bible size and shape. The regular Single Column Journaling Bible is almost square. It is close to the same thickness, but a tiny bit taller and wider than the regular print version. The regular print Single Column Journaling Bible has 1,340 pages. The Large Print version has 1,547 pages. And just as an esthetic aside, the Large Print version ends at the end of a page, rather than the middle.

Compared to the Interleaved Journaling Bible, it is smaller. The Interleaved Journaling Bible has every other page blank. So, even sizing up the font a little, it doesn’t make it the biggest journaling Bible.

Is the Large Print Single-Column Journaling Bible Right for You?

I’m not entirely sure. The font is more readable, but the margins aren’t much bigger. So, if you’re looking to save your eyes a little, then yes! This is a great choice. But if you were hoping to maximize the space a little more, this isn’t going to make much of a difference. If you’re wanting to really maximize space for art or notes, check out the Interleaved Journaling Bible!

Journaling Bibles are great for Inductive Bible Study, Bible art, sermon notes, and keeping your own Bible study notes. You’re not going to get bogged down with notes and maps. But then again, you’re not going to be helped by notes and maps. I think it definitely has its place. I personally keep several Journaling Bibles. One is my church Bible and I write sermon notes in the margins each week. Another is my counseling Bible and I keep counseling notes and verses marked for counseling purposes. And a third is my art journaling Bible where I paint and draw as I meditate on the Scriptures. I have other Bibles for study.

This is a great Bible! If you’re looking for a Journaling style Bible– definitely check this one out.

** This post contains affiliate links. You know the drill. Affiliate links don’t cost you more to use, but they do pay your favorite content creators. Using affiliate links is a great way to support this (or other) blog!**

** I was sent this product for free in exchange for my review. My review is my own and I am under no obligation to give this a favorable review.**

ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible Review

notesfromtheparsonage — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 22:03:27 +0000

Is the ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible right for you? Let’s find out!

The ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible was a joy to review! Crossway sent me this beautiful journaling Bible to review. I have had this Bible before. I have personally purchased a different color version of this Bible myself several years ago as my first journaling Bible.

It comes in a box, so it is really nice for gifting. This cover is the Natural Brown Leather (Amazon) with flap and straps. It also comes in a leather-look cover with a cross (Amazon). They don’t make the plain natural cloth cover that I purchased years ago.

When it arrives, the strap is not on the cover. No worries! The strap is in a plastic bag under the Bible. It is super simple to put on.

This cover also features a pen holder on the inside of the flap! You can easily place you pen or highlighter for grab and go study!

My favorite feature of this Bible is that every other page is completely blank! This is my preferred style of journaling Bible for artistic Bible journaling. You’ll never have to worry about covering or not being able to read the Scriptures! You get a full page (the front and back are blank) to create without having to cover the Scripture. It is also great for journaling your Bible study or taking sermon notes.

Now, this Bible is quite thick. Since every other page is blank– that is double the Bible pages! The paper is a standard Bible paper. For that reason, I only paint on one side of mine and leave the other side completely blank. You’d get a lot more use if you use both sides, but I didn’t want to obsess about ghosting and bleed through since I usually Bible journal with watercolor or India ink –which does work perfectly fine on this paper– you just have to be a little water conscious with your watercolor and not go too wet. I also place a blank sheet of printer paper behind the page I’m painting so if there is bleed through, it doesn’t get on the Scripture pages. (Here is a link to my Amazon Idea List for Bible Journaling.)

This is an example of painting in this Bible. This is from my previous ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible that I have had for a few years. (And I do not claim to be an artist, but I find art Bible Journaling fun and find it helps me meditate on Scripture in quite a different way.)

You can see that if you aren’t water conscious when using watercolor, you can ripple the paper a bit. However, with every other page blank– this literally only effects this page. No Scripture is distorted since the back is a blank page.

This Bible does not have any extras. It has one ribbon marker (super sad face). It is a pretty basic Bible. No notes, maps, study guides, etc. Just Scripture and blank space to create or write.

Would I recommend the ESV Interleaved Journaling Bible?

Yes! For art Bible journaling– I HIGHLY recommend this Bible! If you’re wanting to take huge amounts of study notes– I HIGHLY recommend this Bible! People who take extensive sermon notes– I HIGHLY recommend this Bible for them! But as a daily study Bible, this would likely be a bad choice. It also would make a pretty terrible preaching Bible with the size, layout, and the cover and straps would be cumbersome.

ESV Illuminated Scripture Journal Review

notesfromtheparsonage — Tue, 31 Dec 2019 14:25:38 +0000

The Scripture Journal is a great new Bible study tool that I think you’ll love! Each book of the Bible is broken down into its own little notebook with plenty of room for notes and doodles. Your inductive Bible study experience will never be the same!

At the end of last year, I was able to review Crossway’s Illuminated Scripture Journal New Testament set. It is such a beautiful set and I have enjoyed it this year. Crossway released the Illuminated Scripture Journal Old Testament set earlier this year, and I knew it’d be just as lovely as the New Testament set. What I was not expecting was the sheer size of the thing.

I mean, clearly, I was aware that the Old Testament is larger than the New Testament. But seeing it like this made it very vividly clear just how much bigger the Old Testament really is.

Looking at them side-by-side is a bit mind blowing.

Clearly, some of the books are massively thick and others are pretty thin. The thinner books have some extra blank pages in the back of them.

The minor prophets are combined, so there isn’t a book for each one. Additionally, books with a first and second (Kings, Chronicles) are combined.

A Look Inside the Scripture Journal

Just like the New Testament set, you have the words of Scripture on the left hand page and a faint dot grid on the right hand page.

Illustrations appear throughout. Some take up an entire page and are on the left side. If they are small, they are on the right hand dot grid page.

Scripture Journals and Bible Journaling

If you’re curious how different media work with the paper, here are some examples from my Romans book. Our church had a small group on Romans, so I used my Illuminated Scripture Journal for that small group. The left page (above) has been watercolored on the back side of the page. There is some wrinkling, but no bleed through. The right illustration is watercolor colored pencil and micron pen, neither of which showed through or warped the paper much.

This page has Stabilo marker and Micron pens and it didn’t bleed through or warp the paper at all. The paper is much thicker than a standard Bible paper. It feels more like a Moleskin Cahier paper.

Do I Recommend the Illuminated Scripture Journals?

Yes! The entire set is just beautiful and well-worth the buy, in my opinion. I really enjoyed using these for Bible study. It was super convenient to be able to throw my Bible study book and the book of the Bible we were studying in my purse to read whenever I had the chance. I also really enjoyed taking notes and illustrating throughout the book. These are very much like my favorite journaling Bible, the Crossway Interleaved Journaling Bible. The paper is much thicker, and it isn’t quite interleaved, but the effect is very similar.

This set is perfect for inductive Bible study. You’ll have just the one book of Scripture and can highlight and take notes without feeling like you’re ruining your Bible.

These are also excellent when your pastor is preaching through a sermon series on a specific book of the Bible. Or when your small group is doing an Isaiah study– or whatever book they’ve chosen. It is just so convenient to have just the one small notebook sized book.

You can also purchase just a single Scripture Journal and not the whole set. So if you’re just wanting to deep dive into the Psalms– you can purchase just the Psalms Scripture Journal.

It is very large and takes up quite a bit of shelf space. I happen to think it is beautiful and looks lovely set out, so I don’t mind the size so much. I like both sets so much and am very glad to have both.

You can also put the Scripture Journals into a traveler’s notebook while you’re using them. They’re the perfect size and that gives it a little more of a “cover” to protect it.