As many an avid Catholic Bible-reader knows, a couple of years ago on Pints with Aquinas, Jeff Cavins hinted at the possibility of a future premium edition of the Great Adventure Catholic Bible (GACB). Ascension Press recently released the Second Edition of the GACB, making some minor modifications to the text formatting, and publishing some exciting new editions—including a single-column journaling edition and a premium edition! Since there are already multiple reviews of the GACB on this website (most recently here), I’ll highlight some of the main differences in the premium edition.
Size and Quality
The Bible measures in at 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.75 inches. It’s certainly not a thinline Bible, but it doesn’t feel too clunky to carry around, either. It would be comparable to most large-sized Bibles that one might buy. The premium edition has a smyth-sewn binding, a goatskin leather cover with calfskin liner (edge-lined, not paste-down), perimeter stitching and gilding, five raised spine hubs, and gilt edges. The colored book indexes inside the Bible almost function like art-gilding, being visible when the Bible is opened.
The cover is a beautiful and supple goatskin, and is thick enough to not be overly floppy—though it has definitely softened a little over the past couple of weeks of daily use. It keeps its shape in when open in my hand, thanks in large part to the thick cardstock endpapers. If you’ve ever seen the Premier Collection purple NRSV w/ Apocrypha from Zondervan, I would say that this goatskin is comparable to that Bible. The “Great Adventure” imprint on the cover is perhaps a source of controversy, but I think it stands out more in photos than in real life. The cover still feels very clean, in my opinion.
The print quality is very bold and consistent throughout, and the red-lettering is nice and dark. The paper thickness is 40 GSM, which is one of the many strengths of this edition. The text is line-matched, and there is very little ghosting regardless. This Bible, while a premium edition, still feels rugged—it’s not a Bible I would worry about carrying around with me. There are three double-sided silk ribbons, which are of a high quality and nice thickness, but—in my opinion—are a little too short. They are certainly useable, and this is probably just a matter of opinion, but I replaced them with longer ribbons.
Changes to the Second Edition
There are 32 new footnotes in the Second Edition of the GACB, as well as cross-references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The pages are formatted a little differently, and in such a way that the pages can include cross-references, CCC references, and notes, but still feel pretty clean.
Obviously, this isn’t a full study-Bible, but it has more resources than a basic daily-reader might. And, those resources are dispersed nicely throughout. The fonts and formatting of the Timelines charts have been redone, and are much sleeker this time around. There is some new material in the front the Bible, including a guide for reading the Bible in a year.
Also, the maps in the back are redone, and they look far more professional than the original GACB maps—which weren’t bad, but were a little cartoony.
One place that I think should have been changed that is still unchanged is the rendering of Mary’s response in Luke 1:34. It still reads: “How can this be, since I have no husband?” instead of “How will this be, since I do not know man?” Other RSV-2CE editions (including the new thinline from Catholic Bible Press) made this change, and I’m curious as to why it wasn’t made when this new edition of the GACB was published. It’s a small thing, really, and that’s what pens are for.
Final Thoughts
This is a truly-premium Catholic Bible, in a respected translation that generally balances precision and readability very well, with enough study tools and outside resources to be helpful for any reader. Especially at its price-point ($125), I would highly recommend this edition of the Great Adventure Catholic Bible for those who want a premium Catholic Bible, but who are leery of paying double the price for a Schuyler or Cambridge Bible “with Apocrypha”. Even if you aren’t completely sold on the Great Adventure material, this is easily the highest quality specifically-Catholic Bible on the market, and it will live up to your expectations.
Putting this as a complement sandwich, I like the fact they used Goatskin on this, and the study helps for it. I also like how the Didache Bible set something of a precedent for including CCC references, and that it’s in a Bible that seems practical to carry around instead of a true tome like the DB.
Now for what I don’t like, I can’t get over the huge compass on the front of it. Even a small, tasteful compass centered and under “Holy Bible” would have been better. Seems a bit gaudy, especially on Goatskin. More minor nitpicks are that I can’t see colored text in the footnotes bringing much to the table. I’ve never thought the kind of light blue looked good, especially not on Bible paper.
All that aside, God is good, and the Bible is being read!
A review of a premium edition Catholic Bible.
Is the Second Coming soon?
With the full integration of textual notes, pastoral notes, biblical cross-references, and CCC references, all in a fairly clean, systematic layout, I really hope the Augustine Institute is taking notes for their CSV Bible plan. To echo what Adam said, if Ignatius can do it with both the Didache Bible and the ICSB, and Ascension can now do it with the GACB, surely the Augustine Institute will follow.
As for why they didn’t update the Luke 1:34 reading, my going theory is the fact that since Fr. Mike read the old reading in the corresponding BIY podcast episode, they don’t want to confuse people since a non-insignificant number will be using this Bible to read along with the podcast.
I’m glad this exists. We need more premium Catholic Bibles. But it’s disappointing that Luke 1:34 wasn’t updated.
Curious about the journaling edition. I really, really want a single-column RSV2CE that’s not a note-taking Bible, just text. But if this one looks impressive enough, and on par with the Ave layout, I could settle for it.
Why doesn’t Ignatius do goatskin, especially for the Complete Study Bible