I have great news! There are now two options for a Catholic Journaling Bible. Well, there will be soon, one hasn’t been released yet but is available for pre-order and with a coupon! Since I own both of the Catholic Journaling Bibles I wanted to share a comparison, heavy on the pictures for those who are more visual like me. If you have any questions about a Catholic Journaling Bible feel free to email me.
Catholic Journaling Bible Comparison
Catholic Journaling Bible Translation
The first comparison I want to make is the translation. The Blessed is She Catholic Journaling Bible uses the NAB, the New American Bible Translation. The Inspire Catholic Journaling Bible uses the NLT, the New Living Translation. I’m not a Scripture major or historian so I won’t go into the details of the translations. What I will do is give a couple of examples and my opinion.
NAB Philippians 4:8
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
NLT Philippians 4:8
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.”
NAB John 6:51
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
NLT John 6:51
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”
NAB 2 Timothy 1:7
“For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control.”
NLT 2 Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”
And now my personal opinion. I just started reading the New Living Translation this year and I really enjoy it. This translation is reader-friendly an I use it for my daily Bible reading. That being said, I don’t use it for in-depth study. I prefer the RSV, Revised Standard Version for study. I’m not a big fan of the NAB, New American Bible Translation, even though I love the cross-references in the Blessed is She Bible using that translation.
Catholic Journaling Bible Size
The main Catholic Journaling Bible size difference is in height. The width is close if not exact. Bible size is such a personal preference. The Blessed is She seems more desk or table friendly because it is bigger while the Inspire Catholic Journaling Bible seems a little more portable just because it is smaller and does have the outer elastic strap.
Catholic Journaling Bible Margins
Margin, to be expected based on an overall width of the Bibles, is similar if not exact. They both appear similar in darkness as well, although the Blessed is She is a straight line while the Inspire Bible is little dashes. Both Bibles have the journaling margins on each page with the exception of the pages where the Inspire Catholic Journaling Bible has a hand-lettered graphic and decorative margin to color.
Catholic Journaling Bible Preference
Both of these Bibles are lovely! Here are a couple things I would keep in mind when choosing between one or the other.
1. If I were strictly going to journal in the traditional sense of note taking, I would choose the Blessed is She.
2. If I were looking for a journaling Bible to use as a semi-serious to serious Bible, I would choose the Blessed is She because of the notes and cross-references.
3. If I wanted to start Bible Journaling but was afraid of messing up, I would choose the Inspire Bible because it has so many beautiful illustrations to start coloring. This could help you add color to your Bible and help you gain confidence to branch out on your own.
4. If I wanted a reader-friendly Bible–and this is totally my personal preference–I would choose the Inspire Bible.
5. If I wanted a more portable Bible to take to a Bible Journaling class or group, I would probably choose the Inspire Bible because it is a little bit smaller, but not by much so this wouldn’t be a “make it or break it.”
6. If I were purchasing a Catholic Journaling Bible for one of my daughters as a gift, I would choose the Inspire Bible, again, because they could easily jump right in and start coloring the already designed margins.
7. If I were purchasing a journaling Bible for a friend who I knew would care to draw, doodle or get creatively crafty, I would choose the Blessed is She Catholic Journaling Bible.
Yea! There is now a large print Catholic Inspire Bible!
There is a new NRSV journal version that came out today! It looks very similar to the Blessed is She version that you show here.I’m excited to be able to journal in a version I am comfortable with.
Oh I’m going to look for it now!
I got this one too! Pretty nice.
Yay!! Have you started digging into it?
I have the Blessed is She Journaling Bible and that is one of my biggest issues with it is that the font is way too small to read. So I feel like I just take notes and add stickers to it randomly but I can’t really read/study it for long periods of time.
My mom and I were in a christian bookstore in nowheresville Georgia back in April just passing through and it was AMAZING and we got the Inspire Bible. The newest edition is Purple which is my fav color. I LOVE IT! EVEN THOUGH it’s the NIT not NAB or RSV…I honestly think it is close enough to the catholic version. Plus when I’m doing bible journaling I’m being more creative and the wording doesn’t matter all that much I’m not really doing a bible study in it.
Please be careful when purchasing translations of the Bible that are not approved by the Catholic Church. The NLT is a protestant paraphrase regardless of how many books are in the journaling Bible they are offering. There will be subtle and not so subtle differences in word choice that express a protestant perspective.
Agreed♥
It’s got the Nihil Obstat and an Imprimatur! This particular Bible is, actually, approved for self-study for Roman Catholics.
The Inspire has the imprimatur.
And yet the Catholic Church allowed Protestants to take part in the new translation of the mass.
They can’t have it both ways.
I agree with you, I love my Inspire Bible. Looking forward to seeing what you do with yours! I discovered Bible Journaling, through a Protestant friend & instantly fell in love with it. There was a lack of options for Catholics at the time. I followed a blog called Catholic Icing & she recommended the Catholic Note-Takers Bible. I did not like it. At all. The print was tiny, pages were super thin & everything bled through. That being said, I was super excited when I heard about the Blessed Is She journaling Bible. I bought it as a gift for one of my daughter’s friends. The parent’s requested a Catholic version of the Bible. So, I ordered two to check it out. Although pretty, it had the same issue. It was more like a study Bible & not really created specifically for journaling. I had bought the Inspire Bible (Turquoise cover) for myself from Mardels in the interim & fell in love with it. I was SO excited when they came out with the new Catholic Inspire Bible. I absolutely love it. It’s so beautiful. I do not use my journaling Bibles for Bible study. I’m doing Legacy Journaling for my kids, so I don’t want my journaling Bible marked up with notes & highlights. I have always used The Catholic Study Bible (NAB) for that.
Thank you for this. I have pre-ordered the Inspire Bible and have second guessed myself as to whether it was the right one. After reading your comparison I feel I made the right choice for my purpose.
Thanks for this! I didn’t know Inspire was making a catholic edition. I did want to point out, there is another catholic journaling bible by Drawn To Faith on Amazon. It says it has 3 inch margins and heavy paper for watercolor. But I know it’s paperback, comes in 2 separate old and new testaments, and is very large, like 9×11. I don’t own it and haven’t seen it, but I bought a planner by drawn to faith once and liked the paper but not the size.
Thank you for reminding me. I have the Drawn to Faith one too and although the paper is nice for creative journaling–there are no lines, I think the translation is a very unfamiliar one.
Thank you for doing this. Does the Inspire Bible have all 73 books? Also is it lighter or just as heavy as the Blessed Is She Bible? Can you compare page thickness and quality?
It does have all 73 books. I’ll do a video later this week comparing page thickness. Thanks for the idea. I cannot believe I didn’t think to do that with pens and highlighters!!
Thank you looking forward to it.
Are both these bibles and the RVS have 73 or 66 books in them? Also, what RVS do you use?
The Blessed is She is the NAB and the Inspire is the NLT. Yes, they both have all 73 books. My newest RSV is a commemorative Bible from Benedictine College. Before this one I used the large print RSV http://amzn.to/1YWvPrQ
Thank you!!!
Of course!