The Gospel of Matthew by Alabaster Bible Review and Giveaway

The Bible Beautiful. Visual imagery & thoughtful design integrated within the Gospel of Matthew. Recently funded on Kickstarter.

Goodness and truth are two values often used to describe the character of God. In addition, Christian theologians have long described beauty as a third inseparable reality which together with goodness and truth, paint a full picture of who God is.

Alabaster aims to give the reader a fresh visual experience and heightened level of contemplation while reading this ancient text, that ultimately points to the beauty of God.

Features Include:

• 15lb cover paper (matted) for covers of each Gospel 
• 80lb text paper (unmatted) for insides of each Gospel 
• 7.5" x 9.5", Perfect binding

My Thoughts: 

I’ve looked at and reviewed many Bibles throughout my years. The Gospel of Matthew by Alabaster Bible has been the most unique Bible I have came across. That is a good unique! Maybe it’s my love of photography that caught my attention with this Bible.

This is the full Gospel of Matthew. This isn’t a study Bible. The translation is the New Living Translation. The chapters are clearly marked as are the verses. Certain sections has a header like “Parable of the Lost Sheep”.The layout isn’t the same throughout. One place may have a one column format while another place has two columns.

The paper is not your typical paper. The paper is actually a heavy weight paper. I can easily highlight, underline, and write on the margins and guess what! I won’t have any bleed through at all! I never thought I’d say that about a Bible with the paper. How many times have you accidently ripped a Bible page while turning pages? I hate when that happens and it makes me feel horrible because it’s the Bible. Maybe that is just something I do while flipping through the Bible-it really bugs me. The margins there is a lot of room to add your own notes or sermon notes.

This is a paperback book. The size is around 7 ½” x 9 ½”, it’s a decent size. The binding is done well and is done in the “Perfect Binding” method. Which basically is a heavy duty thermal glue that is flexible. 

It’s very modern looking inside and out. The layout of the Bible looks modern, but I promise it is still God’s word and it hasn’t been compromised. The photos are of modern items that you can relate to the scripture passage. All the photos are full colored. 

A few examples: 

When Jesus feeds the multitude there is a picture of many chairs like an auditorium. 

Jesus’ Triumphant Entry the photo is of a crown sitting on a blue cloth with confetti dropping.

The Greatest in the Kingdom is of a modern day playground.

In my opinion all of the photos are tasteful and appropriate and I don’t think the format takes away from the Bible. 

A few things I would love to see, I would love to see this project come together as a full Bible from Genesis to Revelation. I think the format would be very appealing to many people who like the more modern look, but the Bible words are still kept in tack. 

Currently Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Psalms, Proverbs, and Romans are available. You can purchase them here or on Amazon. I would love to see Psalms and Proverbs myself!

You can win a set of The Gospel Set by clicking on the image below.

On the Alabaster website, you’ll find a variety of art prints, notebooks, and individual books or sets of Bibles. There is free shipping for US and UK and a Beautiful Bible guarantee -you don’t like it – you are free to return it.  

This is taken from the website about the company:

The Alabaster Story

Alabaster Co. began late one night when friends Bryan Chung and Brian Chung were deep in discussion on creativity and God. Reflecting on the direction culture was taking toward visual images, innovation and design, an idea was born: create a brand passionate about fully exploring the intersection of creativity, beauty, and faith.

Realizing that beauty is a foundational value when talking about creativity and God, they decided to name the company Alabaster, after one of the only times Jesus uses the word beautiful in the Gospels. In Mark 14:1-9, a woman breaks an alabaster jar of incredibly expensive perfume onto Jesus’ head. Many people in the room scoff at her and say what she has done is a complete waste. But Jesus defends the woman saying, “leave her alone, why do you bother her? What she has done is a beautiful thing.” It is this complete act of sacrificial giving which Jesus calls – in the original greek – kalos, which literally means beautiful as a sign of inward goodness. We wanted to have this same level of intentionality and thoughtfulness as the woman did as we created Alabaster.

Vision

Alabaster explores the intersection of creativity, beauty and faith through original artistic content and profiles of makers/doers. Focusing on the role of the creative, Alabaster tells the stories of an emerging innovation-forward, visual culture for the sake of a more beautiful human flourishing.

I received a free copy of this product from FrontGate Blogger Network in exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I compensated in any other way. All opinions I have expressed are my own or those of my family. I am disclosing this information accordance with the FTC Regulations.