Customer Reviews

Inspired By . . . The Bible Experience: The Complete Bible: A Dramatic Audio Bible Performed by 400 of Today's Biggest Stars

5 star:		(128)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The purchase of the Bible on CD is the best purchase I have made this year. I have tried to listen to other versions of the bible, however there is something special to be said about the voices in this project. The artist are able to project in a fashion that sounds modern. When I am listening, I feel every word. I am totally delighted that I spent the money on this set of CD'S and I am fortunate enought to be able to give out a couple of the sets to Loved ones for Christmas.

Inspired by . . . the Bible Experience: The Complete Bible

Being an avid supporter of the Today's New International Version of the Bible, which is, in my opinion, one of the most potent translations to date, the Bible Experience was a dream come true, a breath of fresh air, a tall, carefully produced, excellently read, and fashionably dramatized masterpiece. I didn't experience this project until it was released in it's entirety, and thank God, I'm glad I was graced with the patience to hold out until they released the TNIV in it's entirety via Inspired By. What we have here is a set of 60 cd's(Old Testament) coupled with the 19 cd's(New Testament) from the earlier release of this project along with a bonus dvd about the Making of the Bible Experience. I can honestly say, in all sincerity, that this audiobible experience by far surpasses my prior experiences with NIV, KJV, the Message and other Bible versions on cd. The scriptures are read word for word by some of the world's leading actors, actresses, and pastors...well-versed, well-acted...and the background efx make the experience quite believable. It's best described as listening to a motion picture, 'seeing' the biblical accounts via one's own imagination.

I was particularly impressed by the Old Testament in that, in hearing the passages read, the OT came alive as never before. I used to consider the OT to be too lengthy and slow for my taste, but hearing it dramatized made a world of difference. From Adam & Eve to David, Solomon, & the Prophets you have an experience greater than that of some of the greatest biblical epic depictions. The ironic twists, the wars, the betrayals...the drama is all there and will leave you craving for more. My fav's were the the Torah/Pentateuch, 1-2 Samuel, 1-2 Kings, 1-2 Chronicles, Psalms, the Major and Minor Prophets...all of which I, at one time, considered impossible to read in their entirety until now, and all of which point to the fulfilment of Messianic prophecy, being the coming of Jesus Christ.

I enjoyed the New Testament as well, though I was waaaaay too familar with it and it's happenings. As with the OT, the books are well acted, well read, and the sound efx bring the scriptures to life. However, one who's listened to enough of the Bible Experience to compare/contrast the OT & NT seteups will note the difference in format. While the OT was all drama, the NT passages, starting with the Pauline epistles, feature excerpts of recordings contributed by of Gospel's leading artists (ie, Bishop Paul S. Morton, Take 6, Ann Nesby, Judah Generation, etc). Not that I don't live the songs or the artists that so graciously contributed to the success of the Bible Experience, it's just that I wasn't expecting to hear abridged songs between certain verses in the NT set, and in my opinion, it would've been more appropriate to leave the Pauline epistles -Revelation uninterrupted, featuring the songs on a bonus sdtk disk as opposed to the "commercial break format" that popped up between selected verses. That having been said, it is the treatment of the Pauline epistles-Revelation that cost the Bible Experience(particularly the NT) a star. If they ever consider re-releasing the project, they should consider exclusding the gospel joints from the text and feature them on another bonus disk. My 2 red cents though. Other than that, greated audiobible to date. Highly recommended. Peace.

I was introduced to this when I attended MegaFest in Atlanta, GA the summer of 2005. This is absolutely amazing to say the least. I just purchased this and I also purchased a NIV version of the bible that goes with this and in the back of it you will find all the people that were involved and the roles they played in it.

So far I only listened to Disc 1 and it is mind blowing. In the bible that goes with this it will guide you from Genesis to Revelations at the top of each section where you can hear the audio of that portion of Gods' word.

Trust me it will be worth your time and money. What they are asking for is very little because what you are getting is God's word. There are so many people that are part of this project and every single one of them did a remarkable job. God had to have been with them because there is no way that humans could have done what they did to portray each and every person in the bible!

I will pass this on to my Son and his children when he grows up and they too shall pass this on to their children.

What a wonderful experience to share!!! Please purchase not only one for yourself, but one for a loved one.

Be Blessed!

Other reviewers have stated that this product brings the Bible to life. I agree. When I used the NIV as my printed translation of choice (1991-2008), I listened to Zondervan's excellent "Dramatised NIV" (ISBN 9780310918639) - a quality Audio Bible in its own right. But enormous effort and dedication has gone into producing the Bible Experience. The voices, background music & special effects all kick ass. Acts 5:23 sounds like a line from a rap-song; u can picture the narrator wearing shades and a baseball cap, ya know what am sayin'? What a refreshing, original way to narrate the Bible! There's also a bonus DVD, which is interesting. The 80-CD set is presented in Zondervan's usual, tastefully designed zip-up case.

The voices, special effects, etc. are so good that I would name this the "Crème de la Crème" of audio Bibles were it not for 5 irritating flaws...

1. The chapter number should be announced at the beginning of each track.

2. Both Testaments should have used the same voice for God the Father.

3. Using several voices of both genders for Paul is confusing, inappropriate and unnecessary. The voicing of 1 & 2 Thessalonians is particularly poor. Why not use Paul Morris for all 13 of Paul's letters? This alone cost my review a star (and nearly 2!)

4. There's at least 3 voices employed for Hebrews. That epistle was written anonymously so the same voice (either male or female) for all 13 chapters would have worked far better.

5. The songs should appear on separate "bonus" CDs. I bought 16 blank CDs and re-recorded the NT omitting both the songs AND the Theme (which appears twice on each CD in the original). It's well worth the few hours of effort; I can now enjoy the entire NT from Matthew 1 to Revelation 22 without interruption.

Notwithstanding the above irritants, if you use TNIV as your printed translation of choice then this is probably the best audio version of it on the market.

I've purchased other electronic bibles and none have kept my interest like this one. It's a dramatization of the Word in audio and allows you to feel what was taking place in those times. The companion bible (sold separately) is also a great way to follow along and stay engaged. In the background you hear sounds from animals, songs and voices from the people. God used the talent of many to bring about a bible experience like none other and it's worth the investment!

The Bible Experience is an immersing rendition of the bible. The quality of the reading is FIRST rate. I love it.

On the flip side, i purchased this product so that i can use the read along text feature. Oh how disappointed i was when it didn't work. I contacted Zondervan and they informed me that the "Advertisement on the package" was inaccurate. THE READ ALONG TEXT FEATURED ON THIS PRODUCT DOES NOT WORK WITH THE MICROSOFT ZUNE.

Great audio bible if you have a Zune save a few bucks and just by the MP3 only version.

I am a Presbyterian pastor and got this audio Bible for Christmas. I have given it to three other people now and I am getting hours of pleasure, insight, revelation and joy from it. I have invited 2 people to sit in my car with me and listen this weekalone! It's beautifully done. I have different insights than I would if I was reading.
2 examples: After listening to the end of the book of Judges and then the Book of Ruth in one sitting, I noticed the terrible treatment of women that was commonplace in the time of the Judges...and then the kind treatment that Boaz gave to Ruth and Naomi stodd out as it never had before. Another example: there is some music that is used recurrently that I think of as the " Jesus" music. It's used very perceptively and effectively over Joseph's words of forgiveness to his brothers after the death of Jacob in Gen. 50:20: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don't be afraid. I will provide for you and your children." That gave me a new insight about Joseph I never had before...I can't say enough good things about it. Blessings to all who worked on this, and it will be a great blessing to you, and a way to share the Word with others....

As you listen you will exoerience the Bible in a way you've probably not experienced it before. In fact, listening to some dramatic parts such as Revelation can be like seeing a great movie or hearing a thrilling symphony or oratorio.

The reading is in the TNIV (thought for thought) version which sometimes is "politically correct." For example, in place of "man", the TNIV uses "everyone," "human, or "person." For "brothers" it has "brothers and sisters." There are a few minor errors such as calling the book of Revelation -- "Revelations." And occasionally a reader is poorly cast.

But as a whole, I highly recommend this album. I would encourage a listener to follow the reading with a word for word translation such as the NKJV, NASV, or ESV. (Not a good idea while driving!) After I've heard every CD in the series I may have more comments, but right now I highly recommend it..

Everyone should read or listen to the Bible every day. This is an ideal way to do it.

I have been listening to the books of Isaiah and Jeremiah. I have to say that hearing the words has opened the text up in new ways for me. First, whenever I read quietly to myself, I don't usually read with very much emotion. Hearing the words, however, brings them to life. So much meaning is carried in intonation. It means so much more when you hear anger in God's words when his angry, or hope when there is promise of restoration. Second, I have been able to recognize repetitions of language (phrases, refrains) that I would miss when reading. Sometimes the repetitions are separated by chapters (e.g. Jer 6:13-15 and 8:10-12), but by listening to a half hour of the audio, I can pick these up.

I wish they would have taken the time to learn how to pronounce proper names correctly. Several place names and personal names are mispronounced - but they are mispronounced consistently. This does not help the English reader who may not know how to pronounce them in the first place - this will only teach them the wrong way to say it.

Each track on the CD is a single chapter. Most chapters take 4-5 minutes to listen to, so in 30-45 minutes, you can listen to a decent chunk of text. Every voice in the text is read by a different actor, so you can distinguish God's words from Jeremiah's words from the narrator's words, and so on. Most of the time there is some kind of background music or the sounds of crowds, war, grieving, horses, thunder, etc.

I am happy I bought this collection. It is a wonderful new way to "read" God's word.

The excellent content is well-documented in other reviews; I just wanted to comment on the format so that others can make a decision of which version to order. This set comes on 79 audio disks (in a nice zipper case); 60 CDs for the Old Testament and 19 CDs for the New Testament recorded from the Today's New International Version (TNIV) of the Bible. Each CD "song" is one chapter in the Bible, labeled by book and chapter, making it fairly easy to find specific passages on an MP3 player or digital CD player. Each entry is about 2-8 minutes long so each disk holds about 10-15 chapters. Only the beginning of each Book is announced on the CD, not chapter or verse, and no subject headings are given (since headings were added to the biblical text by publishers, this is a good thing.) It does mean that it is difficult to know where you are at in the Bible by just listening unless you know the text well. The exception is the book of Psalms, where each Psalm is announced. The book names are given as the simple titles as they are written in the TNIV, without the literary descriptions given in the Greek and most other English translations (Matthew, not the Gospel of Matthew; 1st Corinthians, not the First Epistle/Letter to the Corinthians). The readers did a great job with all the tough Old Testament names but then mispronounce the book of The Revelation as "revelations" - a common mistake but one that propogates the theological misunderstanding that the book records many oracles or visions instead of the one revelation of Jesus Christ given to John.

Each CD begins and ends with the same "Bible Experience Theme" which is quite annoying to have 150+ times on my iPod. It also breaks into the middle of the narrative in a book since not every book begins on a new CD. Simple enough to uncheck the theme when loading each CD. There are also worship songs that split chapters in the Epistles of Paul - nice to have the music, but not the best locations for it. Although it took a while to load 79 disks onto my computer and download to an iPod, this still seems to be a much better format than the MP3 version which I understand is segmented into big chunks of the Bible that all come with the same label.

I will say that the canticles (songs in the narrative) and psalms came to life when the speaker's poetic rhythm suddenly breaks into song. It really brings the text alive in new ways. Very, very nice to have such a great audio version of the Bible from which to listen to God's Word.