Review: The HCSB Minister's Bible Bound in Genuine Leather

This review was published Friday, July 3rd, 2009 on my blog ReviewTime http://reviewtime365.blogspot.com/

The HCSB Minister's Bible is designed especially for preaching and ministering. This Bible has many features of a Minister's manual such as sections on weddings, funerals , altar calls, and other topics. Another nice aspect of this Bible is that it lays flat while your reading.

Information About the Binding and Cover:
This edition is made from high quality Genuine leather, with a sewn binding. The cover has a nice leathery feel, rich color and finely detailed grain. Bibles covered in Genuine leather are very durability and will last for many years. Genuine leather is made from the remaining layers after the top layer has been removed, at that point it has a suede surface which is then refinished to add grain and texture. Genuine leather can be refinished in many textures from fine grain to crocodile skin.The binding of this Bible is Smythe sewn binding, which is very durable. Smythe sewn binding is considered the highest quality binding, the pages are sewn and glued to the spine of the Bible. The benefits are a long lasting Bible that can be read and reread for years without falling apart. Books with Smythe sewn binding will stand up to more abuse than regular glued binding, and can be read on a flat surface. For these reasons many textbooks, picture books and Bibles that are designed to stand the tests of time use Smythe sewn binding. Smythe sewn book printing and binding gets its name from its inventor, an Irish-American named David McConnell Smythe (1833-1807). A pioneer of modern day bookbinding, Smythe took a bold leap forward over the centuries old methods of binding by producing the first technology and methods for sewing book pages to the spine to create a book of superior quality and appearance. Smythe-sewn Bibles are durable, but they may be heavier and less flexible than glued Bibles. That said if you want the best, then you want Smythe sewn binding. Size 9.75 X 6.75 X 1.25 (inches)

What's inside?
The text of this edition is 9.5 pt which is clear and easy to read, making this Bible a good choice for public speaking. Other aspects of this Bible that Ministers will appreciate are the single column format, the paragraph/subject headings, and black letter text. Features of this edition include HCSB's Plan of Salvation, HCSB's Bullet Notes, Table of Weights and Measures, Where to Turn (Pastoral Care), 21 Essentials of Authentic Ministry, Weddings, Funerals, Giving the Invitation (Alter Calls), Commitment Counseling, Dedication Services, The Christian Year and the Church, Calendar, The Apostles and Their History, Principles of an Orderly Business Meeting, and Concordance. This Bible was printed in South Korea on quality paper. The paper itself is thin, and has a semi-transparent quality. The Wide Margin measures one inch in most places of the Old and New Testament, in the poetic books the margin is slightly larger. When writing notes in the margin its best to use a pencil instead of a ink pen, the ink will bleed through and may cause the page edges to slightly curl while reading. Personally I do not recommend using highlighters in this Bible, crayola color pencils work best on this type of paper. This edition has two ribbon markers one black, the other red, the pages are edged with gold which looks very elegant with the traditional Black cover.

In the Front

1. Books of the Bible in Canonical Order
2. Plan of Salvation
3. Introduction to the HCSB

In the Back

1. Bullet Notes HCSB
2. Table of Weights and Measures
3. Where to Turn (Pastoral Care)
4. 21 Essentials of Authentic Ministry
5. Weddings and Funerals
6. Giving the Invitation
7. Commitment Counseling
8. Dedication Services
9. The Christian Year and the Church Calendar
10. The Apostles and Their History
11. Principles of an Orderly Business Meeting
12. Concordance

Information About this Translation
The Holman Christian Standard Bible is an Englishtranslation of the Bible, published by Holman Bible Publishers. The first full edition was completed in March 2004. This translation is a Optimal Equivalence Translation below is more information on this translation from Wikipedia.

"Holman Bible Publishers assembled an international, interdenominational team of 100 scholars and proofreaders, all of whom were committed to biblical inerrancy.^[4] The translation committee sought to strike a balance between the two prevailing philosophies of Bible translation: formal equivalence (literal, "word-for-word", etc),, and dynamic or functional equivalence ("thought-for-thought"), The translators call this balance Optimal Equivalence.According to the translators, the primary goal of optimal equivalence translations is "to convey a sense of the original text with as much clarity as possible". To that end, the ancient source texts were exhaustively scrutinized at every level (word, phrase, clause, sentence, discourse) to determine its original meaning and intention. After wards, using the best language tools available, the semantic and linguistic equivalents were translated into as readable a text as possible. "

This edition does not contain the Deuterocanonical books (Also known as the Apocrypha)
To the best of my knowledge there isn't a Catholic edition of the HCSB.

My Personal Opinion
This Bible has many aspects that I really like, one of those aspects is the text size. I find the text size to be clear and easy to read, which is always nice. The single column format of this edition makes writing notes in the margin easier. The cover of this Bible is genuine leather, and feels nice to the touch. I really like the flexibility of this Bible, and that it lays flat while reading. The only aspect of this Bible which could be improved upon would be the thickness of the paper. Even though this is quality paper its a little too thin for taking notes, unless you use a pencil. The Minister's sections are very interesting, and ministers' would find this edition very useful.
I recommend this edition to those in Ministry looking for a nice Holman Christian Standard Bible.

This edition can be found at the link below.
The Holman CSB Minister's Bible, Wide-Margin Edition