Barbour KJV Journaling Bible – Review

The KJV Journaling Bible from Barbour Publishing is made specifically for journaling. It has a clean text with section headings and a wide outer margin to record your thoughts. The star of this show is its paper. This is the thickest paper I’ve seen in a Bible.

Pros

• Thick paper for writing
• Ruled outer margin

Cons

• Small text for its size

Features

• KJV
• Presentation page
• Imitation leather
• Sewn binding
• 60 gsm paper
• 2 inch ruled outer margin
• Verse format
• 8-point font
• Red letter
• Section headings
• Helps
• One ribbon
• 5 x 7 x 1.75
• ISBN: 9781628369564
• MSRP $39.95

Cover and Binding

The cover on my review copy is imitation leather. It is two-toned brown and burgundy with a design across the middle. It is stitched around the perimeter. The liner is a light brown paper that looks nice against the darker brown of the cover. The binding is sewn. It has no problem lying flat. It will have to be broken in for Genesis and Revelation to lay flat, though.

Paper and Print

The paper is what sets this Bible apart from all the rest. It is 60 GSM – the thickest paper in any Bible I’ve reviewed. It feels like writing paper. It is a joy to read from ad touch. Turning pages was much easier with this paper. I enjoyed writing in it. The font is 8-point. The words of Christ are in red through Revelation. The red is about a medium color. The print is consistent throughout. I would like it to be a little bolder, but that’s just my preference. There are no pronunciation marks to clutter the text. The Old Testament has italics, but the New Testament does not.

Layout

There are three columns per page. The column on the outside is ruled for writing. It is 2.5 inches wide and has 2 inch ruled lines that are .25 inches apart. The next two columns in the text. They are 1 5/8 wide. There is a .5 inch inner margin which brings the text out and keeps it from being lost in the gutter. There is .5 inches clear at the top if you want that for something like a timeline or page summaries. The bottom only has 3/8 inch, so that will be harder to use.

The top of the page contains the first verse that appears on the left page and the last verse that appears on the right page.

Section headings are in bold type in all caps. They stand out really well. I found them helpful for separating the text and for finding things quickly. There are lots of them, which helps a lot since there are no other notes or references within the text.

Books start on a new page. This leaves several pages empty that can be used for notes. This is good space for sermon outlines, etc.

Helps

There are 15 pages of helps in the back that also have ruled margins. The helps include:

• Book-by-Book Summaries
• Where to Find Key Stories and Events in the Bible
• Key Bible Characters
• Important Women of the Bible
• Bible Passages for Times of Personal Need
• Overview of the Bible

Most of the helps are not something I would refer to often, but some of them are helpful to have. I especially like the key Bible stories and events. I would like to see blank paper in the back, but some of these lists might be something I would write anyway.

The book summaries have info about the name of the book, when it was written, who the author is, in a nutshell (one sentence description), and where it appears in the Bible. Some have claim to fame, which highlights a famous story or unique feature.

Using It

Reading

I read with it while sitting in my chair, carrying in my hands, sitting in the car, and sitting at my desk. Even to be as large as it is there were no issues with holding it for reading. The wind didn’t blow the pages around. It actually seems light for its size. I enjoyed reading from it. The thick paper is easy to handle.

Preaching

The only difficulties I found in preaching with this Bible is the text is kind of small for reading from the pulpit and the chapter and verse numbers in the header are a little too close to the middle of the page. This made it difficult to find the verse I was trying to turn to. It wasn’t bad, though. I just had to open the pages a little further than normal while I was looking for the verses. This was helped by the thick paper being easy to turn. I could hold several pages with one finger and let them drop one page at a time with ease. I would have liked the text to be a little bolder, but it wasn’t as bad as I expected. I would preach from it again. Another issue is I don’t have it broken in enough yet to lay open in Genesis. I’m sure it will break in and not be an issue.

This is a good Bible to use to create your own preaching Bible. There is enough room in the margins for bullets, definitions, chain references, etc., as long as you don’t mind them being in the outer margin. There are several almost empty pages at the end of some books that can be used for sermon outlines, lists, charts, etc. Sermon notes on 8.5 x 11 sheets fold over and fit into it with room to spare.

Journaling

The primary purpose of this Bible is journaling (hence to name). I enjoyed writing in this Bible more than any so far. The paper is made for it. It’s even thicker than other wide-margin Bibles. It’s more like actual writing paper.

Tips on Journaling

I can think of many ways to use this Bible. The paper begs to be marked and written in. The lined margins can be used for a lot of things like journaling, adding your own notes, references, etc.

For journaling, you simply write your thoughts about a verse or passage. You can write about how it applies to you, how you will apply it, what speaks to you, etc. I like to write references and make topical chains.

My favorite marking technique is color-coding with color pencils. Even if you wanted to leave the text clean of marking you could write lots of notes and thoughts in the wide margin. You could use the top half of the page for the first column and the bottom half for the second column. Another option is to just write and see what happens. Not every verse will need something written about it. You might instead write about the passage rather than the verse. There is enough space between the text and lines to write references or symbols.

Here is a list of marking and writing tools for your Bible:

Pigma Micron Markers

PrismaColor

Crayola

ACCU Gel

Here’s a good book on writing in your Bible:

Writing in the Margins: Connecting with God on the Pages of Your Bible

And of course here’s mine:

Easy Bible Marking Guide

Conclusion

The KJV Journaling Bible from Barbour Publishing is a fine example of what a journaling Bible should be. It can even be a fine study Bible – just add study. Spend some time filling in the ruled margins and you can have a fine study Bible that’s all yours. This is a Bible worth putting that kind of effort into. I would like to see this in a premium leather. Since it’s not, it’s worth getting rebound once you wear it out.

Barbour Publishing provided this Bible free for review. I was not required to give a positive review – only an honest review.