Brief Review: Truth & Life New Testament audio Bible

I was fascinated by the fact that the Truth & Life New Testament has an imprimatur from the Vatican and wanted a way to listen to the Bible on the way to work in snippets, a chapter at a time.

This was the perfect answer, as I discovered, and money well spent. I listened to Mark and then went on to some of Paul's letters. I just finished Thessalonians and am beginning Timothy. It gives me the perfect bit for meditation later.

I found the music beds under the readings to be good at amplifying meaning without being overwrought. Also, I appreciate the fact that the producers foresaw that people would be using this a chapter at a time. Each is segued with a bit of background noise like a cough, a door opening, a fire crackling, water being poured, etc., so that the listener doesn't feel as if they have been plopped down in the middle of an ongoing speech. Very well done indeed.

The readers are uniformly excellent, thus far. Except, I am sorry to say, for Jesus. This is strictly my opinion, of course, but he has the problem that I found in Jesus of Nazareth (movie) where every single sentence is pronounced with equal emphasis, almost demanding awe. Never does he just have a sentence where he is curiously asking a question, etc. This isn't huge, but when listening to long speeches, it did wear on me after a while.

Highly recommended for anyone who wants an audio version of the New Testament. I'm hoping they will also put out an Old Testament production.

The Pilgrim's Progress as You've Never Imagined It Before ... Exciting and Interesting!

Frankly The Pilgrim's Progress is not a book I ever imagined that I'd be reading, much less excited to tell anyone about. My imagination showed John Bunyan's 300-year-old classic to be about as interesting as this original title page.

However, that was before I'd heard Spirit Blade's version which reimagines The Pilgrim's Progress as a dynamic audio drama complete with dragons, elves, and a mystical book of truth.

This is now.

Spirit Blade Productions has pulled off a masterpiece here. The original allegorical story has been refashioned featuring a full-cast, orchestral score, and complete sound effects to urge our imaginations on a quest with Christopher Pilgrim for truth. Waking after a nightmare of death and destruction, Christopher determines to find his way to the legendary Mystic City, looking for a cure that will avert disaster. Along the way he encounters others who have all sorts of advice for his journey, some helpful and some disastrous. Christopher must discern which actions will lead to success.

This audiodrama captured my attention so thoroughly that I found myself wondering exactly how much was modern imagination and how much was originally in the book. This is exactly what the audio drama producers intended so they made it easy to check by including the corresponding part of the original book, also recorded with sound effects and a musical score. I was completely surprised to find how the original text captured my imagination and had me considering the paths of faith as we journey through life, even as I enjoyed the story.

Spirit Blade's reason for existence is "to present the uncompromised truths of Biblical scripture in unique formats that will provoke thought and appeal to fans of creative music and imaginative fiction." I can attest that with this presentation of part one of Pilgrim's Progress they have done just that. I found myself immediately recommending the audio drama to a friend whose 6th grade brother has outpaced the reading resources available. Designed for 12 years and up, this production will capture the attention of readers of all ages who may never have heard of The Pilgrim's Progress but will be interested in Christopher Pilgrim's adventure. Just don't tell them it's a "Christian" book and see how fast they lap it up.

At $4.99 to download the first one-hour episode as well as the half-hour audiobook reading, this seems like a great deal to me. Right now you can also buy one and "gift" one free which makes it an even better deal.

It is always a pleasure to "discover" a classic book that one wishes to share and I must thank Spirit Blade Productions for giving me the review opportunity. I am going to be looking forward to future episodes in the series that shows us what sort of progress Christopher Pilgrim makes.

Highly recommended.

Listen to the trailer here