CSB Holy Land Illustrated Bible. (Christian Standard Bible) God. 2020. 2000 pages. [Source: Bought]
First sentence: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
The CSB Holy Land Illustrated Bible features articles (dare I say hundreds?) previously published by the "Sunday School Lesson Illustrator" and "Biblical Illustrator." These are articles--heavily illustrated articles--that provide background and context to biblical times, biblical cultures. Every book of the Bible--even super short books--feature at least one or more articles. Some books have more articles than verses!
The Bible features the Christian Standard Bible translation. It is double column. The columns are wider than some. It is black letter. The Words of Christ do not appear in red. There are book introductions. The articles are the 'main attraction.' Though I will say that I do not mean that the articles replace the text of the holy inspired word of God. I am not assigning that intention to those who created this incredible layout. I simply mean that if a person was seeking to choose A CSB bible to purchase, the articles might be the selling point.
There are pros and cons to the CSB Holy Land Illustrated Bible. The fantastic COLORFUL illustrations and visual-heavy layout create several opportunities. The PAPER is fantastic. There is NOT any ghosting. Or very, very, very minimal ghosting. But the volume of articles AND the thickness of the paper do make for an extremely bulky, literally heavy Bible. As a reference Bible, I think the Bible definitely something to consider. If you are one who reads the Bible primarily at a desk or at a table, I do think the heaviness will not be a distraction. If you are someone who primarily reads the Bible in a comfy chair, then this isn't the best lap Bible. I think if one were to read short sections--perhaps two to four chapters per day, it could be manageable. If you are a Bible glutton--like me--then this may not be the best fit for say the Bible in 90 days challenge.
I can appreciate the quality of the paper. It is truly rare to find a Bible with little to no ghosting. Visually, this one is fantastic. Without reading a single word, you are swept away. It does stand out or stand apart from most other Bibles.
The quality of the articles isn't something I am super prepared to judge. Some were more interesting/fascinating than others for sure. Not all were equally engaging. A few were interviews. There were definitely a handful of articles that I truly did find engaging and informative. A few that I wanted to share what I had learned with someone else [before I forgot what I just learned.] Having read through it once, it will be a nice enough reference bible, but it isn't practical enough for every day use because it is so physically heavy.
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