Tyndale sent me a review copy of the Holy Bible: Mosaic. The Kitchen will be an official stop on the blog tour tomorrow. Kevin O’Brien will be doing a Q&A session about the Mosaic Bible at that time, so I thought I’d go ahead and do a review today.

The Mosaic Bible combines a copy of the New Living Translation Bible with a “mosaic” of Christian writings and art covering every century of Christian history and representing believers from every continent. The extra materials are built around the Christian year, with suggested Scripture, Christian writings and Christian artwork for each week.

The Bible itself is printed in a format with reference text in a center column and extra space in the margins for note-taking. There are notes for further study of words in the original language, cross references, alternate readings… basic study aids in a non-intrusive format.

There is a lot of confusion about the NLT itself; I originally thought it was merely a new version of the Living Bible rather than an actual translation of the Bible. I’ve learned better.

That’s a brief description. Now here are my thoughts:

1. I kind of wanted to dislike this Bible, partly because they say that most reviews on the Internet are overly positive. I was disappointed in that I liked the Mosaic Bible. I plan to start using it when the readings begin in December.
2. I was intrigued by the Christian artwork. I’m pretty hopeless when it comes to fine art, be it paintings, opera, ballet or whatever. The variety of art presented really caught my imagination, however, possibly because of my love of cultural studies. It wasn’t your traditional Bible art.
3. I come from a fellowship that has resisted any sort of “Christian calendar.” I look forward to working through these readings that follow ancient traditions as to what to study at a given time of the year.
4. I join those who wish that Mosaic were available as a standalone book. I understand the reasoning of including the Bible, but, as I wrote earlier this week, I wonder if purchasing another Bible is good stewardship for the average Christian.
5. I think the choice of the NLT was an appropriate one for this Bible. They needed a highly readable Bible to go along with the other readings they included. For this project, the NLT fit the bill.
6. I asked myself honestly if I would purchase this for myself. I wouldn’t. I might buy it in an electronic format, but I wouldn’t spend the money on yet another Bible.
7. I also thought about whether I would purchase this for someone else. Under the right circumstances, I might.
8. I would heartily recommend buying the Advent section that Tyndale is selling separately. Buy it. Work through it. Decide for yourself if it’s worth it to you to buy the complete Bible. Tyndale even lets you examine the Advent section online, although I can tell you from experience that it’s not the same.

Here’s another way to try the Mosaic Bible. Tyndale not only gave me a Mosaic Bible, they are also letting me give one away to one of my readers. Just leave a comment tomorrow saying that you’d like to be entered in the drawing, and you’ll have a chance to win a copy of the Mosaic. Then you can write a review…

As I mentioned before, I’ve been participating in the Tyndale Blog Network, reviewing products that I receive from Tyndale. This time I’m a part of one of their virtual book tours, the Mosaic Bible blog tour. Tomorrow, October 16, The Kitchen will be hosting the tour, with Kevin O’Brien doing a Q&A session about the book.

In addition, Tyndale will be giving away a copy of The Mosaic Bible to one of the readers of this blog. On Friday, leave a comment indicating that you would like to be in the drawing for the giveaway.

Today’s stop on the blog tour: My Book Addiction and More