Busy Dad's Bible

I received a complimentary e-book copy of "The Busy Dad's Bible" from Zondervan for the purposes of review. This does not affect my review in any way.

The copy I received had the 1984 edition of the New International Version Bible text. It appears the published version contains the newer 2011 text. Since I prefer the earlier edition, I was glad to get the early galley version to review.

This is one of those full text Bibles with extra study items stuck in. There are 52 "thought starter" sections added into the Bible. In the print version, these are probably glossy, thicker paper which would make them easy to find. In the electronic version I received, it was very difficult to locate them.

The concept is an interesting one. No matter how much time the reader has, there is a level of study ready. Each "thought starter" page has 1, 5 and 10 minute studies. Some of those sections are "Treasure," "Managers" and "Living for God." The questions are thought provoking and challenging. The studies are also listed in the back for easier access. Also included are a couple reading schedules: "5 Minutes reading about Jesus" and "5 Minutes in an overview of the Bible." There is also a concordance in the back.

The skeptical side of me wonders if this is just a repackaging for marketing purposes. After all, it is just an NIV Bible with a few extra studies and schedules stuck in to the text. There are so many different study Bibles that one begins to wonder at the motivation.

Yet, I also delight in anything that encourages people to read the Bible. Adding schedules right into the Bible is a great idea. I imagine a busy man picking up this Bible and being overwhelmed at how much text there is to read. Then, up front, he finds help getting started. If it draws him into deeper reading and study it is worth it!

The topics deal with some issues specific to men. There are studies on fatherhood, sex, anger and many other important topics. I was pleased to see they dealt even with difficult topics like pornography. However, I believe there should have been more depth to the treatment of the subject.

All in all, if I gave away a case of these and even one man read the Bible as a result I would consider it well worth the effort.

Busy Dad's Bible