A reader's relationship with the Bible can be highly personal. It's a relationship that demands nurturing and attention, which is something Don Jones, Crossway's senior vice president of Bible publishing, understands. "The Bible is not meant to be read quickly and set aside," Jones says. "It's a book that pierces our hearts and causes us to reflect on our own lives in light of who God is and what he has done."
It's this conviction that inspired Crossway to publish the ESV Journaling Bible more than a decade ago. Journaling Bibles, a growing trend, are designed to invite reflection on and contemplation of scripture through the inclusion of extra space for readers to write down their thoughts and take notes. In response to the burgeoning interest, Crossway has launched a new product line: ESV Scripture Journals.
ESV Scripture Journals expand on the concept of the ESV Journaling Bible by maximizing the amount of space for interaction with scripture. The text itself is presented in a beautiful and inviting format, with a readable typeface and generous margins around the text. Alongside each page of scripture is an empty page with subtle lines for note taking—"essentially a blank canvas for recording thoughts and prayers," Jones says. The ESV Scripture Journals were designed to facilitate deeper interaction with scripture. To allow room for the additional note-taking space, each book of the Bible has been separated into its own volume. The books of both the Old and the New Testaments are available in individual volumes and also are sold as sets.
Crossway's ESV Journaling Bible was, in some ways, a few years ahead of its time. However, Bible journaling is actually a very old concept, Jones says. "Five hundred years ago, Martin Luther asked a local printer to produce copies of a Bible with extra space for making notes. Luther provided these special Bibles to his students to encourage deeper interaction with God's Word." Jones says that Bible readers today are more eager than ever to interact with the text deeply and personally.
Jones envisions the journals being used for individual study at home or for group study in church. In fact, churches are already ordering copies in bulk for Bible study or for recording notes during sermons. In addition to the original ESV Scripture Journals, Crossway has also released the ESV Illuminated Scripture Journals, which feature gold-ink illuminations interspersed throughout the text. The new edition can be used in the same ways as the traditional ESV Scripture Journal, but it is particularly well-suited to creative interaction with the Scriptures through personal illumination or artwork.
The journals are certainly meant to be used and loved, but Jones says they can be heirlooms as well. Crossway is also releasing a hardcover version of the ESV Scripture Journals, Jones says, "to provide a durable, long-lasting format that could be handed down to a loved one to treasure for a lifetime."
