NEW YORK, USA — In September, the American Bible Society (ABS) held a dinner to celebrate the completion of its newest major print project, The Learning Bible.
The Learning Bible is the first full-colour study Bible that ABS has developed and published. Running to 2,391 pages, as well as the full text of the Contemporary English Version, it includes hundreds of explanatory notes, colour maps, charts, and 227 colour fine art images. Designed partly to engage the interest of people new to reading the Bible, it offers a gateway into God’s Word and a clear explanation of many aspects of Scripture.
The project began in 1992, when ABS called together a consultation group of 30 people, ranging from seasoned biblical scholars to students active in church youth groups, and asked them what they would look for in a study Bible. Their answers helped shape The Learning Bible.
As the project developed, it became a huge undertaking, requiring a great deal of painstaking attention by many ABS staff members to a vast amount of detail.
At the dinner at Bible House on September 11, some 60 staff members and consultants who worked on the project gathered to celebrate. They included scholars, authors, editors, designers, typesetters, artists and picture researchers.
Charles Houser, who oversaw the production, was singled out for praise for managing the initiative to success.
Somporn Sirikolkarn, the UBS Senior Co-ordinator of Program Services, said that such a user-friendly Bible, offering an accessible text together with well-organised background notes, was completely in the spirit of the new UBS Purpose Statement agreed at the World Assembly.
“I believe that The Learning Bible will rapidly succeed in engaging the minds of those people for whom reading Scripture is a new experience,” he said. (WR 357/07 - 1/2.01) [PHOTOS]