NIV Ragamuffin Bible: Meditations for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up, and Brokenhearted Bible Review

About the Ragamuffin Bible:

Do you believe that God not only loves you, but that He also likes you? It's just one of the soul-searching questions posed by the best-selling author Brennan Manning who confesses he has been the "John the beloved, Peter the coward and Thomas the doubter all before the waitress brought the check". The NIV Ragamuffin Bible offers a collection of Mannings raw, painfully honest, yet graced filled devotions, meditations, and reflections of his journey limping back to-like the prodigal son-his overjoyed father. When you journey through the Bible, you will likewise find yourself returning to your Heavenly Father, basking in the knowledge that God not only loves you, but delights in you.

Brennan Manning spent his life and ministry helping others experience the unconditional love of Jesus Christ. A recovering alcoholic and former Franciscan priest, his own spiritual journey took him down a variety of paths, all of them leading him to the profound reality of God's irresistible grace. His ministry responsibilities varied greatly-from teacher to minister to the poor, to solitary reflective. As a writer Brennan Manning is best known as the author of the contemporary classics, "The Ragamuffin Gospel", "Abba's Child", "Ruthless Trust", "The Importance of Being Foolish", "Patched Together", and "Furious Longing of God".

My Thoughts:

How do you review the Bible? You can't, it's God's Living Inspired Word. I won't dispute God's Word as the Ragamuffin Bible is The NIV translation of His divine Word. I feel I can comment on the reflections and notes by Brennan Manning. Here are a few features of the Ragamuffin Bible.

•  Complete Text of the world's most popular modern English Bible NIV
• 104 Devotions guide you into Gods and His Word
• 250 Reflections help you understand what it means to be a child of God
• 150 quotes offer short but, thoughtful insights into God's Kingdom 

Honestly, I was not inspired or impressed with the devotions, reflections, or quotes within the text. The only thing that inspired me was what I found was within the scripture. They just seemed thrown in anywhere and didn't seem to reflect the majority of the scripture text. Some seemed to flow with the scripture but, very few.

Within the text of the Bible there are many devotions and suggested readings for the Bible which I like it when you get pointed to other scriptures. Then within the pages are "reflections" which include a random thought or a scripture reading. Which I found odd or maybe Brennan Manning is just not my style. 

I just was not impressed with the devotion side of this Bible, That being said, I'm not impressed with the style of this Bible or stuff put into it. It just didn't do it for me. My suggestion is if you like Brennan Manning you would be better off buying one of his books rather than this Bible. Of course if you like his writing then this may just be the Bible for you.

I am sure for some this Bible would suite your taste, it just wasn't for me. There are lots of reviews out there that love the "Ragamuffin Bible". You will just have to decide for yourself.

Overall the Bible reads clearly, nice size of print, lovely cover, and a good font within the pages.


This book has been provided to me my by B&B Media Group, Inc. free of charge and in no way was I asked to give a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.