How We Read Matters: A Review of Sorts of the ESV and CSB Reader’s Bibles

Now reviewing the Bible is always tricky, as going from translation to translation we see differences that can have not only deep theological implications but also that deeply influence the praxis, or how the faith is then lived out in the world we find ourselves in. So let me be clear right away, this is not a review of these two different translations. But it’s important for me to say -

I have a deep reverence and appreciation for the Bible; that said I don’t worship the Bible or the Text but rather the God it points to.After getting my BA in Religion and my Master of Divinity, I am convinced that the Bible is one of the most challenging texts to read and engage well.I believe it should be.And I believe if one isn’t challenged by what one finds it in, there might be some bigger questions we need to be engaging.

For those who would like to know, my preferred translation is the NRSV.That said, I have found reading a translation I would not normally turn to causes me to slow down and reflect. Reflect on my own bias and interpretation, to wrestle over the translators choices in a passage but also to acknowledge and wrestle through why I might be resistant or accepting of their choices. I would recommend Matt Laidlaw’s How We Read the Bible as a great springboard into understanding how we engage the Text throughout our lives.

So what am I reviewing then? Well, this is a review of sorts of the format of these reader’s editions. It has been my experience that when you talk to any bibliophile, you quickly discover their love for not only the written word but the actual experience of reading – the thrill of cracking open a spine to the smell of a book to the feel of the pages as they go through your fingers when turning a page and the like. And whether you consider yourself a bibliophile or not, the experience of reading has influenced you in some way as well.

So when we read the Bible, it is no different.

Whether one is from the Christian tradition or not, the paper typically used in holy books - called scritta paper - would typically be one of the first things one would describe. Somehow this thin paper is strong enough to take the abuse of a reader that is often moving throughout the pages more frequently than most other books, while also able to holding any notes or markings placed on it. The chapter and verse found in a Bible are markers help to serve both as a reference but also a way of pacing the reader. And finally, the double columns and font selected act as mental markers for readers to notice that there is some thing different about what they are reading.Looking back over how I have engaged and used a Bible, I noticed a trend that you might also be able to relate to. That being, I'd lose sight of the Text itself. When my love for the Bible really began to gain traction, I dove deep into it. Carrying with me a little NASB thinline version almost wherever I went. I would highlight and underline, squeeze in notes wherever I could. I read and read and read. I believe over the course of a year, I read through this tiny Bible 3 times. It was on that final lap through the Bible during especially during services and Bible studies, I began to notice some thing – I was reading less and less of the actual Text and drawn more to all the notes and was constantly attempting to connect the dots of why some of them were important to remember.This is not to say that there was any fault in those notes but rather I became aware of where my attention was going.  Because of this I decided to retire that Bible, to start anew, and began changing how I took notes. I chose to only put markings in the margin – nothing in text itself. A line down the side to ‘highlight’, to a star or dot or arrow to draw myself to a word or phrase. That’s it. It was simple and is the method I use to this day for all of my reading.It was around 5 years ago that I encountered a Kickstarter campaign for a new Bible called Bibliotheca. This came around the time the final year of finishing up my masters, and my love of books and words had begun to grow in ways I had not expected. The premise of this edition was to remove all the tradition markings of modern Bibles – headings, chapter and verse markings, red letters, cross references, etc.. Though not ‘new’, the design concept of Bibliotheca got me though it’s price kept me from ordering. It always in the back of my mind as that next step I needed as I sought to ‘rewire’, if you will, how I engaged the Bible especially in times of devotion as I had hit a long season of reading the Bible as being more of a task rather than a gift.Nearly 2 years passed and I was given a copy of the CSB Reader’s Bible at a conference I was attending for work. Unlike the Bibliotheca, this was one volume instead of 5. I was hooked. I stopped having a pen by me and made no markings as I read in the mornings and I noticed some thing – that a ‘rewiring’ had begun in some way. My mind and my body engaged what I was reading differently. Things felt new… richer even. I was interested in reading the Bible again as whatever self-imposed shame I was carrying for not reading ‘enough’ was lessened.

Flash forward to just a few months ago, I was at another conference and as is my practice, I’ll look to see what books publishers are offering and I saw Crossway’s ESV Reader’s Bible 6-Volume Set. Like the Bibliotheca, this set was broken down into multiple volumes and moves away from the scritta paper. Having used the ESV years prior, though some might argue with me on this, it’s readability compared to the CSB was welcomed.  A few weeks later, I was able to get a set. Building off of what I experienced with the CSB, and having just segments of the Bible in hand, the feeling of the cover, the pages through my fingers, and the design connected with me and reminded me of a number of places in the Bible where we are told that engaging the Text is meant to be not only an exercise of the mind but a very tactile experience. One of those times is in the  book of Ezekiel where we read:

"Son of man," he said to me, "feed your stomach and fill your belly with this scroll I am giving you." So I ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.

I’m becoming more and more convinced that reading, especially reading the Bible, we should experience that sweetness. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be challenged or wrestle through it or ourselves – but rather there should be no shame in or how we engage. Each of us are different in what ‘clicks’ when we read and my hope in writing this is simply to encourage you to find and lean into what ‘clicks’ for you. It could be on your iPhone or from the old family Bible, or anything in between. But how we engage the text matters and sets us on a much larger trajectory for how we then live. And that matters a lot.For me, I can’t recommend both of these Reader’s editions enough.

Note: I received both of Bibles from the publishers in exchange for my honest thoughts and review.