This morning, Word on Fire released the first photo of the cover design for volume 4 of the Word on Fire Bible:
This volume will be entitled “The Promised Land” and will include Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings.
The contents will be similar to the past three volumes that have already released. The Word on Fire Bible website lists the following features for Volume 4:
- Introductions written by Peter Kreeft, Sally Read, Katie Prejean McGrady, Richard DeClue, and others
- More than 75 commentaries by Bishop Barron
- More than 175 commentaries by mystics, artists, and scholars throughout history, including Pope Benedict XVI, Ephrem the Syrian, Gregory of Nyssa, John of Damascus, Dorothy Day, Bernard of Clairvaux, Athanasius, and Justin Martyr
- 40 works of art with commentary
- 8 word studies of the original Hebrew
Word on Fire is seeking to raise donations to supplement sales revenue and help fund the remaining volumes of the project. The complete Word on Fire Bible is expected to include seven volumes.
Volume 4, “The Promised Land,” is planned for release in early summer of 2024.
Money’s tight now, but I’ll be sure to get my order in before the new year. Happy to see a Catholic publisher that said they were going to make something quality consistently deliver on their commitment to do so. Between these volumes and their regular hardcover books, Word on Fire has quickly become one of my favorite Catholic book publishers. You never have to worry about glued bindings or controversies over where a book is printed, the prices always seem reasonable, and there are constant sales to lower them further.
That said, I feel Catholics won’t get the full premium Bible treatment until some enterprising Catholic makes their own small business a la Warner Bibles or Humble Lamb and does it themselves with the public domain Douay.
Looking forward to this! So glad to see support for the WoF bible series and the NRSV.
I just received my Pentateuch and I am really enjoying it. The commentary on Genesis is amazing. Highly recommended. BUT I gotta tell you that this volume 4 is going to be a hard sell. I just don’t see the market for these books of the Bible in a deluxe edition. I’m probably wrong and I hope so. It’s a nice project and I want to see it succeed. But I can wait for this volume at a discount. I got a mint Pentateuch for $50 in leather so maybe it’s possible.
While I agree that just getting people to buy a deluxe volume of Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, and 1 and 2 Kings would normally be a tough ask, that collector’s mindset deep in people’s brains will probably be the one selling copies; and if not now, then in the future when the whole series is done and that “completionist” mindset rears its head. Because, otherwise, I feel the Wisdom books and the Prophets will be desirable as single-volume editions, and so even those not interested now in the historical books in such a format will probably be tempted later on to get them to “complete the set.”
I’d say there are four groups of people with the WOF Bible: (1) People who only bought the Gospels because they only wanted a deluxe Gospels book, (2) people who bought the Gospels and Acts to have a complete WOF NT but didn’t care to get anything of the OT, (3) people who’ve bought the NT and the Pentateuch because they wanted the books of Moses too but are stopping there, and (4) people who plan to get all seven volumes, because I can’t picture someone otherwise only getting 5 of the 7 just to skip the historical books. And of those four groups of people, group 3 seems like it’d be the smallest by far, so whatever the sales for this volume are, I’d reason it’ll be about the same sales for volumes 5, 6, and 7 in the future: the people planning to stick it out to the end.
Bishop Barron is counting on this logic to come to fruition! LOL.
I am trapped now to complete it.
Cheers
I do not know why… you would think that getting someone to purchase a book regarding those books in Volume IV would be such a tough task… I feel that that literature.. is some of the best Scripture in the bible… or are you referring to those.. who do not care to read the bible…?.. Then I can understand… being raised a Catholic.. I was NEVER encouraged to read God’s word… I had to look for it myself… since even the Catholic Church did not supply any bibles…for people to read at the pew…
I believe Catholicism does NOT stretch the point enough of the importance for one to read the bible for themselves.. so they can experience first hand what God wants from them….
I had to read the bible for myself.. in order to TRULY understand God..
Got mine pre-ordered this weekend!
I’m in Numbers in their Pentateuch, and excited to continue through the series.
I think some people may just want the New Testament and the Psalms. Or perhaps even the Gospels and the Psalms.
But I’m looking forward to collecting/reading the whole set. It’s a marvelous and illuminating series that creates a powerful reading experience. I feel so blessed to be coming of age (spiritually speaking) in this generation, with both the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible and the Word on Fire Bible projects closing in on completion.
(Speaking of it, another couple of volumes of the Ignatius Catholic Study Bible are available for preorder right now too, by the way: [1] Ezekiel and [2] The Minor Prophets. Very excited about thoe too. )
I love ALL of God’s word… I cannot wait.. until they delve into the minor prophets… such as Amos , Hosea, Joel..etc.. to see what they will expedite..