**REVIEW** The Quest Study Bible

 How I found Quest Study Bible:

One website I try to tell everyone I know about is Got Questions. Whenever I have a question related to Christianity or my faith, the Bible is my first stop. Sometimes, though, I don't know where to start within the Bible - or I have a question about the Bible. Got Question is that place. It will usually point me to a specific scripture. Often, it is like having a trusted Bible commentary on a subject.

According to my web history, here are some recent trips I've made to the site:

• When a friend asked about my objection to women pastors, I referred her GQ for the biblical passages.
• I ran across the term "Didache" somewhere and was clueless. GQ had the info.
• Because me brain takes vacations, I needed to refresh my understanding of Messianic Judaism.

If you checked any of those links, you might notice that the common suggestion on GQ for "Further Study" will include the Quest Study Bible. I have noticed over and over but never thought to look further at the resource - until recently. Well, I am really glad that I did. 

People have teased me about my collection of Bibles. That's wild because I never got teased so much when I was collecting music or shoes or purses...

Each of my Bibles is there for a good reason. I have some that are large print (just wait until your eyes get older!); one of them is written for more relaxed reading (the TRB) while staying reliably on the left side of this translation chart.

My King James Study Bible was the first one I used to do deep study with. Not only are the notes and helps really useful, but the font was so readable. I struggle Bible fonts. If they are large enough, they might not be dark about, and on and on. That KJ Study Bible is gloriously easy on my eyes. I've had it for 22 years. It was formerly put out as the Liberty University Study Bible and, however I feel about that, I love that Bible. I guard it like it's gold because I can't find another copy anywhere.

Anyway - I said all of that about my collection of Bibles because this Quest Bible has impressed me...

BUT - I have to insert this warning:

The Quest only comes in the NIV translation. I do NOT recommend it to be anyone's only Bible. I also won't recommend it for "baby" Christians. It is too far into the "thought to thought" territory of translations. If someone new is going to use it, I strongly urge doing so ONLY alongside a word for word translation.

(I'm basically doing a copy/paste of my review with the retailer)

Quest - The Pros

➕The quality is one of the best for a Bible in this affordable range. The leather is really pliable. The pages are set well in the spine. I don't think I will have to worry about pages coming loose with a lot of use over time

➕As someone with aging eyes, I appreciate the very readable font of the main text. It is not "large print" for anyone with bad eyesight, but I have no trouble as long as I have my contacts in or am wearing mild reading glasses. For those with younger or healthier eyes this is really good size font. The sidebar text could be a little bit more difficult for weak eyes because of the background shading.

➕ It's so nice that there are different types of reading plans included. That is actually what I am using this for. I have my NKJV and other versions, but this is going to be my go-to anytime I am doing a specific reading plan.

➕I like having the 2 bookmark ribbons. This really helps since I am doing a mixed OT/NT reading plan.

➕Most of all, I love the things addressed in the sidebar and footnotes. I find myself reading a couple of verses, then checking these areas. For someone doing a reading plan, this information forces you to slow down and digest the information thoughtfully instead of just "getting through" a day's reading.

➕The paper is good - very thin in the way one expects of a Bible - and it's good for taking notes.

➕ The quality is one of the best for a Bible in this affordable range. The leather is really pliable. The pages are set well in the spine. I don't think I will have to worry about pages coming loose with a lot of use over time

➕As someone with aging eyes, I appreciate the very readable font of the main text. It is not "large print" for anyone with bad eyesight, but I have no trouble as long as I have my contacts in or am wearing mild reading glasses. For those with younger or healthier eyes this is really good size font. The sidebar text could be a little bit more difficult for weak eyes because of the background shading.

➕ It's so nice that there are different types of reading plans included. That is actually what I am using this for. I have my NKJV and other versions, but this is going to be my go-to anytime I am doing a specific reading plan.

➕I like having the 2 bookmark ribbons. This really helps since I am doing a mixed OT/NT reading plan.

➕Most of all, I love the things addressed in the sidebar and footnotes. I find myself reading a couple of verses, then checking these areas. For someone doing a reading plan, this information forces you to slow down and digest the information thoughtfully instead of just "getting through" a day's reading.

➕The paper is good - very thin in the way one expects of a Bible - and it's good for taking notes.

Quest - The No's

➖I REALLY wish that this came in one of the word-for-word translations but it's only in the NIV... I will continue to search for one.

➖I tend to use erasable ink and highlighters. I notice that these do erase on the pages, but leave some residue and, for some reason, the erased parts leave the paper feeling stiff. Also, because the paper is thin, it will be left a little crinkly after erasing.

➖I will need to find good Bible tabs. Even though I can easily find my way through the various books by memory, the thin pages are going to make it hard to quickly flip to sections. This is a very minor thing for an experienced Bible reader, but will be important for the newer, less familiar reader.

Here's a look at the Quest:

The presentation is nice. The leather is nice and very pliable. The cross is actually stitched into the leather.

There are different reading plans that you can track.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, there is a timeline shown.

I got the "large" print instead of the "comfort" print. It was a good choice.

This is just to show you that the leather is not stiff. 

The pages are the typical very thin type,

I wanted to give you a good idea how the Quest compares in font size and type compared to some other Bibles:

You can see that some fonts are not as dark as the Quest (it's at the top & underneath)

The Quest (bottom of stack) is thinner because it's wider.

Overall, keeping in mind that it is the NIV translation, this is a great study tool.

 

I hope this helped give you a good overview of the pros and cons of the Quest Bible!

Peace

--Free

NOTE: I have not & will not be compensated in any way for this review. I purchased the Quest with my own money.