Q & A: Reader's Edition vs. ESV1
Q. I'm sure you know about the Allan ESV "Reader's Edition" talked about at this link, but how will it compare to the ESV1? Unfortunately I cannot wait until your review comes out since by that point they will most likely have already sold out. I'm looking for a everyday reading, studying and preaching Bible that I can use for the rest of my life. While I know that no Bible is perfect, I am the type that likes to fine one and hold on.
A. This one's a dilemma! On the one hand, you can't wait for my review, but on the other you want me to tell you how it compares to the ESV1. The thing is, I don't have a copy of the Reader's Edition. So the best I can do is speculate. From what I've heard, I'm confident the Reader's Edition will be very nice. I imagine the binding will be comparable to an R. L. Allan ESV1 in quality, and the paper will be better.
Trade offs? The Reader's Edition will be larger ... and in spite of the name it's still a two-column text setting. But if your chief complaint about the current quality editions is that the type is too small, I imagine the Reader's Edition will be just the thing.
I'll have much more to say once I've actually seen one, though, so if you're undecided and you can wait, I recommend that you do.
J. Mark Bertrand is a novelist and pastor whose writing on Bible design has helped spark a publishing revolution. Mark is the author of Rethinking Worldview: Learning to Think, Live, and Speak in This World (Crossway, 2007), as well as the novels Back on Murder, Pattern of Wounds, and Nothing to Hide—described as a “series worth getting attached to” (Christianity Today) by “a major crime fiction talent” (Weekly Standard) in the vein of Michael Connelly, Ian Rankin, and Henning Mankell.
Mark has a BA in English Literature from Union University, an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston, and an M.Div. from Heidelberg Theological Seminary. Through his influential Bible Design Blog, Mark has championed a new generation of readable Bibles. He is a founding member of the steering committee of the Society of Bible Craftsmanship, and chairs the Society’s Award Committee. His work was featured in the November 2021 issue of FaithLife’s Bible Study Magazine.
Mark also serves on the board of Worldview Academy, where he has been a member of the faculty of theology since 2003. Since 2017, he has been an ordained teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America. He and his wife Laurie life in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.