Today I’m looking at the NLT New Believer’s Bible produced by Tyndale. This Bible is designed to help the new Christian read, study, and understand the Bible.
ISBN 9781496434043 Printed in the United States of America
Tyndale provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
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This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Construction and Materials
I’m looking at the hardcover edition of the New Believer’s Bible. It measures 8 1/2″ x 5 3/4″ x almost 1 1/2″ and weighs 1 pound, 13 1/2 ounces. The Bible itself is navy with pale gold lettering while the dust jacket is a bit more colorful.
The paper is about 40 gsm. It reminds me of a cross between typical Bible paper and newsprint. A little rougher textured and a slightly grayer shade of off-white than you would find in most Bibles but not as rough-textured or as thick as a newspaper. While not the most elegant Bible paper, the texture will make the pages easier to turn for some. It has a glued binding.
The ink is a light black color and is very consistent in darkness throughout the Bible. There is a lower level of contrast between page and ink than some Bibles have. I find this Bible harder to read in low light but less tiring on my eyes to read for long periods of time in good light because of it.
This Bible is also available in paperback and ebook format.
Layout and Typography
It is laid out in a two-column paragraph format. Poetry is laid out in stanzas, quotes are offset, and lists look like lists.
The header has a guide chapter and page number at the outside corner.
The font is around 8 point with 6 lines of text and 5 spaces between lines fitting in the height of a penny.
Footnotes run the full width of the page. They contain only translation notes.
Study Helps
This is an expanded version of the New Believer’s Bible from 13 years ago. It contains all of the original notes and features plus an expansion to the existing topics and some new ones from the Start! Bible. It has been newly typeset and all content has been refreshed for today’s language and needs.
Introduction
The New Believers starts with an explanation of the intent of the study notes and a list of its major features. Hugh Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship (https://harvest.org/) wrote the study tracks and notes for this Bible.
Big Question Articles
This Bible contains several Big Question Articles. The main one is titled How You Can Know God and is 7 pages long. While this definitely has a doctrinal slant I really appreciate that this important topic is given a lot of space and thought.
The remaining 11 big question answers are half a page to a page long (using slightly smaller text) and are spread throughout the Bible with an index of them available in the front. These handle topics like What is right and wrong? and Can we trust the Bible?
Reading Tracks
This Bible includes several smaller articles (or devotionals) in 3 different reading tracks. These tracks are
- Cornerstones – foundational truths of the faith
- First Steps – what to do after you have accepted Christ
- Off & Running – how your faith affects the daily aspects of your life
Each reading track has a section in the front dividing the subject into smaller subjects (such as attend church, pray, resist temptation, and many more as part of First Steps) with a short explanation of the topic and lists of all the related articles found throughout the Bible.
Book Introductions
Most study Bibles contain book introductions of some type. The ones included in this bible include author, date written, genre, and a brief overview of the book. I like book introductions in a study Bible. These seem to do a good job of highlighting key themes, especially for new believers who aren’t as familiar with the Scriptures.
How to Study the Bible
Study our Bibles is an important skill for any believer and I like that this Bible has a well written but short (2 1/2 pages) article in the back to help new believers develop this skill.
Reading Plans
The reading plan included with this Bible has you reading the entire New Testament in a year with 2 readings for each day. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, or Revelation for the first reading and one of the epistles for the second.
I personally prefer reading plans that have you read from just one location in the Bible most of the time. But I’ve read my Bible through several times and can see the advantage of a plan that has you reading about a couple of different things in a day for new converts.
I like the idea of only expecting new believers to read through the New Testament and not the entire Bible at first. Something as large and important as the Bible can be intimidating to some. I personally am more likely to do more than expected if something is easy and interesting than to keep going with something that is too overwhelming.
They have also included a list of 52 Bible stories all Christians should be familiar with. You could easily read one of these each week for a year as an alternate reading plan (or as an addition to the other plan).
Memory Verses
Memorizing Bible verses can be extremely beneficial to anyone trying to live by God’s Word. This Bible includes some useful tips to help make it less difficult. (I love that they tell you to make sure you know the context of what you are memorizing by reading surrounding scriptures). It also has a list of over 130 verses divided up into several topics. The list doesn’t include the text of the verse but it does include the important point of the suggested verses and the page they can be found on.
Glossary of Christian Terms
Those of us who have been in the faith for a long time (or who have been raised at least attending church) frequently use terms new believers might be unfamiliar with. Even if they are familiar with the words the Christian meanings for them might be unknown to them. This Glossary includes definitions for these terms and phrases to help the new believers who might feel reluctant to ask what something means.
Final Thoughts on the NLT New Believer’s Bible
The NLT New Believer’s Bible has a lot of features that are highly useful or even essential for someone new to the faith. With definitions of terms, helps for memorizing scripture, good advice on what Christian living is, and good starting places for using the Bible to answer big questions there is a lot to like about this Bible. It won’t last someone who uses it daily for decades (or maybe even more than a couple of years) and anyone who doesn’t agree with it’s doctrinal position might want to provide a tract or two (or time to sit down and discuss things) to anyone they give it to as a gift but it will help a lot of new believers with questions they have about the Bible and Christian living.
This Bible is available at (includes some affiliate links)
and many local Bible bookstores
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Photography by Lucinda Brown
Tyndale provided this Bible in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review, only an honest one. All opinions are my own.
Is the New Believers’ Bible by Greg Laurie only New Testament or does it include the old testament?
thank you