7 Questions: Michael Stark of the Truth & Life Bible

Michael Stark is the Executive Producer of the Truth & Life Bible.  The Truth and Life app. is a free download that has taken the award winning Truth & Life Dramatized New Testament audio and synchronized it at verse level to the RSV-CE Bible text. This amazing audio brings the word of God to life in this 22-hour audio production, complete with movie-quality sound effects and an original music score. This award-winning audio New Testament is endorsed with an Imprimatur from the Vatican and including a foreword by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Voiced by internationally-renowned actors including: Neal McDonough, Stacy Keach, Kristen Bell, Sean Astin, Michael York, Blair Underwood, Malcolm McDowell, Brian Cox, Julia Ormond, John Rhys-Davies and many more.

1)  I wanted to start off with a question about your personal involvement with Sacred Scripture. How has Scripture played an important role in your prayer life?  Has it always been that way?

Over the last 5 years I have grown in the sacred scripture immensely. I have always loved the Lord and been faithful to the Catholic Church. Growing up, it just seemed to be something that was there, but I wasn't really dialed into it. I glossed over CCD and the Mass as a kid. I took it more seriously after getting married and having my daughter. Now I go to daily Mass and pray the Rosary 4 times a day.

2) Why do you think the daily reading of Scripture is such an important part in the life of a Catholic?

I post the daily Gospel on my Facebook page everyday. People can't wait for me to post it. Some people in Europe have asked me to post it before I go to bed the night before, because when I wake up in Chicago, their day is half over. It's VERY important to have daily contact with GOD! We need to know what he is saying to us. If we are out of touch, we are lost, in every way! To me it seems as if Protestants are much more focused on the Bible than us Catholics. That is a shame, because Catholics wrote the book.

3) Could you talk about the Truth and Life Bible?  How did it come about?

The Truth & Life Audio Bible came about when my best friend and business partner Carl Amari went over to Rome to visit his friend Jim Caviezel during the filming of The Passion. They discussed the idea of creating an audio Bible. Carl has been in the audio production business since he fell in love with the old radio shows from the 30's and 40's in high school. He actually bought the rights to the old shows and re-mastered them for radio shows and CDs for a new audience today. Nobody would fund a Catholic Audio Bible, so he asked me. I thought we Catholics could use some "New Evangelization", so I said yes. I am adopted out of a Catholic orphanage, so I thought I should give back. I am so glad we made T&L because it is truly changing lives and bringing people to the Bible in a whole new way. Remember, scripture was originally spoken. It took several hundred years before printing was invented.

4) What are some of the features of the Truth & Life Bible and App?

Key Features in the app:

. Complete text of RSV-CE synchronized with audio for the New Testament.

. FREE audio of St. Mark's Gospel (The remaining 20 hours is available for just $19.99)

. An amazing search tool, which gives you a concordance for any word or phrase you select.

. Direct, instant access to any Bible verse, so you can hear and see the text instantly.

. Footnotes for the underlined words and people in the context.

. A built-in playlist to listen to the whole New Testament in just for 40 days or in Chronological order.

. Create your own playlist of verses.

. Remembers where you left off.

. Sleep timer

. Airplay support

. Support for headphone pause and play buttons

. Room to fit an entire 22 hours of audio on your iPhone/iPad

.The Daily Mass Readings

Click for an audio sample: https://www.facebook.com/100004116644832/videos/483600431787174/?l=1143025227640027552

5) For someone who might be content with their standard printed Bible, how would you encourage them to try out something like the Truth & Life Bible?

It was said by My good friend Archbishop Listecki (Milwaukee) "The Truth & Life Audio Bible puts you among Jesus and the apostles. It is as if you were following them around with a boom microphone. The music and sound effects take you right into the scene." Many have told me they feel like they know Jesus because they are used to hearing his voice, instead of reading. Everyone who listens has a completely different picture in their minds. But everyone is definitely in a very good place. With the app. you can do both. The text is highlighted as the audio progresses. Romans 10:17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes by the preaching of Christ. Saint John Paul II said "The question confronting the Church today is not any longer whether the man in the street can grasp a religious message, but how to employ the communications media so as to let him have the full impact of the Gospel message." I think T&L follows his suggestion quite well.

6) How can one get started with the Truth & Life Bible App?  What do you need and what are the costs?

You can download the content for FREE, including the audio and Ignatius Study Bible contents in Mark's Gospel. The additional 20 hours of audio and Ignatius Study Bible content is $19.99 each, or combined for $29.99 on up to 5 devices. The main goal is to share the Bible with everyone. In the future we hope to make a Spanish version. Please share this. The sooner we recover our costs, the sooner we can start making the Spanish version.

7) Could you share with my audience your favorite verse or passage from Scripture?

Luke 4:24 And he said, "Truly, I say to you, no prophet is acceptable in his own country." I have met so much apathy & ignorance when it comes to sharing the Truth & Life Bible with Catholics. I thought it would be loved by everyone. You can listen instead of reading. A FREE app., still many could care less. I believe the trend is changing, hopefully sooner than later.

Hear My Prayer: The Complete Audio Book of Psalms (NRSV)

 The Psalms are routinely listed as one of the most beloved parts of the Bible.  They so often are able to catch a particular feeling or state in life we may find ourselves in, particularly in relation to God or others.  The Psalms have played an integral role in the life of Israel and the Church from the very beginning.  I am sure many of you regularly pray the Psalms, either through the Breviary, shorter breviaries like the Give Us This Day or Magnificat, or perhaps by simply opening up your bible.  Of all the books of the bible, the Psalms certainly would be an ideal candidate for an audio edition.  There are, of course, many audio bibles out there, but this new edition from Paraclete Press focuses only on the Psalms.  It is called Hear My Prayer: The Complete Audio Book of Psalms at it utilizes the NRSV translation of the Psalms. 

Below is a brief description from their website: 
Listen to the voices of poets, theologians, novelists, scholars, priests, pastors, and spiritual writers as they pointedly and poignantly read each of the 150 psalms in the Psalter. With James Martin, sj, Thomas Lynch, Scot McKnight, Sr. Joan Chittister, Jon M. Sweeney, Chris Smith, Sybil MacBeth, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Scott Cairns, Cathleen Falsani, Albert Haase, ofm, Paul Mariani, Paula Huston, Greg Wolfe, Vassilios Papavassiliou, Carl McColman, Danielle Shroyer, Jack Levison, Priscilla Pope-Levison, William Woolfitt, AND many others.

The Psalms were written by human beings, and here, they are read by human beings—a wide range of ordinary and extraordinary Christians representing every expression of Christianity. One psalm follows another, 1 through 150, creating a powerful listening experience that you will return to again and again.

Listen on the subway, on a walk, on your lunch break, or while you are cooking dinner. Take a break from the busy noise of your day and let these words of prayer seep into your soul.

You will notice that the pictures I took were done in my car.  Well, I was excited to receive this copy in order to primarily utilize it while travelling.  What a great way to go to work each day listening to the Psalms, as opposed to getting angry at the slow driver ahead of you.  "As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God (Psalm 42)."  Ahhh....that is better.  Yeah, I have already put this into my car's CD rotation and plan to use it often.  

Hear My Prayer currently is available in a 4 CD set format.  The packaging is simple and slim, yet, get this, it includes liner notes!  Any one remember them?  Now, I grew up in the late 80's and 90's when reading liner notes in your favorite band's CD was still the thing to do.  Digital music has sort of ruined that experience, along with a number of other things which I will not get into now. Fortunately, Hear My Prayer does include liner notes which explain a bit of the reason for this publication as well as a listing of who is reading each psalm.  As with any audio performance some of the readings are better than others, which is to be expected.  Overall, the audio, itself, is quite good and the fact that there are different people reading the Psalms makes the entire experience very beautiful to listen to.  I found myself eagerly anticipating hearing what different voice would be coming up next.  Upon receive Hear My Prayer, my wife and I listened to the first CD, which encompassed most of the first book of the Psalter. My wife remarked that she would have liked to have heard some background music while the Psalms were being read.  I definitely think some people would prefer that, while others, like myself, may not.  (A similar debate occurs between people who like a straight reading of the text or a dramatic one for their audio bibles.)

The only drawback to this set, which might seem a tad ironic after my excursus on liner notes above, is that it isn't available digitally yet.  I would love to have this downloaded on my IPhone at some point.  I am sure this is something that they are working on, since a digital edition would make it available and attractive to more people.  Overall, however, I highly recommend this to anyone who reads the Psalms regularly.  I have a particular fondness for it because it is done in the NRSV translation, which I think is one of the most beautiful renderings of the Psalms in English.

Thank you to fine people at Paraclete Press who provided me a review copy.

Hear My Prayer: The Complete Audio Book of Psalms (NRSV)

Listen to the voices of poets, theologians, novelists, scholars, priests, pastors, and spiritual writers as they pointedly and poignantly read each of the 150 psalms in the Psalter. With James Martin, sj, Thomas Lynch, Luci Shaw, Phyllis Tickle, Kathleen Norris, Jon M. Sweeney, Chris Smith, Sybil MacBeth, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Scott Cairns, Cathleen Falsani, Albert Haase, ofm, Paul Mariani, Paula Huston, Greg Wolfe, Vassilios Papavassiliou, Carl McColman, Danielle Shroyer, Jack Levison, Priscilla Pope-Levison, William Woolfitt, AND many others.

The Psalms were written by human beings, and here, they are read by human beings—a wide range of ordinary and extraordinary Christians representing every expression of Christianity. One psalm follows another, 1 through 150, creating a powerful listening experience that you will return toagain and again.

Listen on the subway, on a walk, on your lunch break, or while you are cooking dinner. Take a break from the busy noise of your day and let these words of prayer seep into your soul.

I believe this is an audio CD.  You can purchase it at Paraclete Press.  

GoBible NRSV-CE Editions

 In recent years there have been an influx of audio Bibles that have entered the market.  While many of them have been produced for Protestant translations, there have been a few produced for Catholics as well.  Most notable of the Catholic editions available is the Truth and Life Audio Bible RSV-CE, which is available in various formats.  However, I would like to draw your attention to another option, that has only been available for the past year or so.  It is the GoBible NRSV-CE which comes in two editions, the Original GoBible Catholic Edition and the GoBible Traveler Catholic Edition.   You can listen to some audio samples here, found at the right of the page.  Here is a little bit about what each includes:

ORIGINAL GOBIBLE CATHOLIC EDITION FEATURES:

• Contains entire Bible for Catholics
• Over 80 hours of audio, preloaded
• Searchable by verse
• Story index of 230 popular Bible stories
• Topic index
• Holiday/events index
• Bookmarks
• Narrated Rosary and common prayers
• Daily readings by year and cycle
• Voice menu for sight impaired

GOBIBLE TRAVELER CATHOLIC EDITION FEATURES:

• Contains entire Bible for Catholics
• Over 80 hours of audio, preloaded
• Bible-in-a-Year Plan
• Narrated Rosary and common prayers
• Easy-To-Use Navigation
• Lightweight and Portable

More from Christianbook.com:

The GoBible Traveler and Original Edition does not interact with a PC; all of its content, over 80 hours of audio, has been downloaded onto the device. This is an audio device only. The GoBible Traveler’s interactive on-screen menu allows you to scroll easily through the Old and New Testaments and select the book and chapter where you want to begin play. Additionally, you have the option of following the GoBible Traveler’s "Bible-in-a-Year" plan for listening to the entire Bible in 365 days. The GoBible Traveler supports 36 Bookmarks so you can mark your favorite chapters or where you left off listening.

Both of these editions are lightweight and come with the entire Catholic Bible as well as Rosary devotions.  The Original Edition, though slightly bigger, has the ability to search the Bible by verse, as well as including a helpful index of popular Bible stories.  This is a nice feature that allows you to go right to a particular story in the Bible, like David and Goliath.   Also, you can read the particular daily readings of the day by the liturgical cycle.  Both editions come with Bible-in-a-Year reading plans.  The Original Edition also has a bigger screen, which may be more useful for those who have poor vision.   However, the biggest advantage to the Traveler Edition is that is is so much smaller and portable.  If you are a runner or plan to use it at the gym, you'll want to go with the Traveler Edition.  

The narrator is Stephen Johnston, who has done a number of other audio Bibles.  He has a deep and distinctive voice, which you would expect from anyone who does an audio Bible.  He also reads the Rosary and common prayers section as well.  One of the main questions you might ask is whether it is worth the price to have this mobile device as opposed to having an audio Bible loaded on your I-Pod or I-Phone.  Of course, that is up to you, but for me the answer is yes.  First off, it frees up space on my I-Phone for other things, considering that the entire Bible is over 80 hours in length.  Secondly, it is nice to have this specific device handy, which is very light and easily fits into my pocket or backpack.    Thirdly, the ability to search the Bible by verse, not just chapter, is a helpful advantage that most audio Bibles do not provide.  Lastly, since I have two young children who seem now-a-days to wake up a couple times a night, it is nice to have this on my night stand ready to go.  After getting the kiddies back to sleep, it is nice to just listen to the Word of God and relax.  

Again, I really appreciate the portability of this product.  I saw it being sold at a recent Catholic Conference my wife and I attended, so I decided to contact the people at GoBible.  They were gracious enough to provide me with a couple review copies.  I think this is a very nice option for those who want to hear the written Word in an easy-to-use format.  It also makes a great gift idea as we get closer to the Christmas season.   

Knox Bible Audio and Other Musings

The website Sonitus Sanctus has MP3 audio of selections from the Knox Bible read by Irish Jesuit priest Fr. Hugh Thwaites.  The selections include full readings from the four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Apocalypse.  For more information about Fr. Hugh, who passed away last year, you can go here.  I love hearing the Knox Bible read with an Irish accent!

As I continue to read through the Knox Bible, I am increasingly grateful that Baronius Press has re-published this fine translation.  It really has opened my eyes to a different way of looking at some passages.  When I first received the new edition in October, I spent enough time with it in order to review it, but without really "digging in to it" so to speak.  Life was way too busy at that point. That has changed over the past month, and I have had some time to just sit with the Knox Bible and read.  What I have found is that I find reading from the Knox Bible to be amazingly refreshing.  We often spend time debating on this blog issues concerning the Big Three: the RSV, NRSV, or NAB(RE).  Yet, it takes reading something like the Knox Bible to realize how similar the Big Three really are.  Sure there are issues that come up like technical vocabulary as well as inclusive language differences, but having spent some serious time reading through the Knox Bible it is clear that the Big Three are far more similar than different.  

Here is an example: 
'Take your standard from him, from his endurance, from the enmity the wicked bore him, and you will not grow faint, you will not find your souls unmanned.' - Heb 12:3 (Knox)

"Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners,* so that you may not grow weary or lose heart." -Heb 12:3 (NRSV)
(* Hebrews 12:3 Other ancient authorities read such hostility from sinners against themselves)

So, I plan on continuing to use the Knox Bible for everyday reading from the foreseeable future.  For study, Verbum (Logos) Bible Software has got me covered there.  But I must say that I would really like to see the Knox Bible show up in some more New Media outlets.  Having it on Bible Gateway (and New Advent) has been great, as well as its inclusion on some devotional Bible apps.  But why not a Knox Bible app?  Or even a complete Knox audio Bible?  

Full NRSV Audio Bible Available Soon

A full, Catholic, edition of the NRSV audio Bible will be available later this summer.  The NRSV Catholic Audio Bible, published by Hendrickson Publishers, will be released on August 31st in both CD and MP3 formats.  This audio edition of the NRSV will have:

Cutting-edge recording delivers the complete text of the NRSV in a convenient audio format. Carefully read word-for-word by masterful narrator Stephen Johnston, the spoken Scriptures are available in both Protestant and Catholic editions. In the Catholic Edition, Apocryphal books are interspersed throughout the Old Testament, and deuterocanonical material is included with Daniel and Esther.

Truth & Life Apps

The wonderful Truth and Life RSV-CE audio Bible is now available as an app for your favorite Apple product. The whole version costs $19.99, while you can also get a free sample which includes the Gospel according to Mark. I downloaded the free sample and it seems to work very smoothly. More info can be read about this here.

(Thanks to reader Tim for the heads-up on this!)

Truth & Life Audio Bible Review

Well, this is not so much going to be a review, but rather some of my thoughts on this fine product. As mentioned in previous posts, the Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible is an exciting development for Catholic Bible readers (and listeners). I believe this is the first dramatized audio Bible that utilizes a Catholic edition of the Bible. The RSV-CE is the translation used, and I must say that even though the translation is 40+ years old, it still sounds both contemporary (for the most part) and elegant.

The audio CD's are packaged in three separate "digipaks" which contain six CD's each. Each of them contains photos from the project, as well as a foreword on the Word of God from Pope Benedict XVI, a letter from the producer Carl Amari, and additional information about the cast and producers. All in all, it has a professional look to it, which is something that doesn't always accompany Catholic Bible products.

Now onto the audio Bible itself. At this point, I can say that I have listened to all of the Gospel according to John, as well as snippets from the other Gospels and some of the letters. As I was listening to the Gospel of John, narrated by Stacy Keach, I tried to compare this audio Bible with other audio Bibles I own, most notably portions of The Word of Promise and the The Bible Experience: New Testament. The first thing that comes to mind is that in comparison to the other two audio Bibles, this one is a little more scaled back in the use of background sounds. However, I think this is a benefit to the whole listening experience. While there is certainly background noise and sound that accompanies the actors performances, it is not as pronounced as in the other two, IMHO. In a way, by not over-producing these "environmental" sounds, with dominating crowd noise or the sounds of nature, the focus remains on the Sacred Word being read. Again, it just adds enough to help the listener use his or her imagination to construct the scene in their mind as they listen.

The second aspect of this audio Bible that I would like to point out is the voice acting. One thing to note is that while the other two audio Bibles I mentioned had celebrities playing the roles of almost all the characters, the Truth & Life audio Bible has around eleven fairly well known actors playing the main, starring roles, while the others are handled by supporting or voice actors. For me, this was actually a good thing, since I wasn't always distracted by trying to figure out who is saying what. Overall, I found the acting, thus far, to be quite good. Jesus is played by actor Neal McDonough, who does a nice job overall. In particular, I found the readings done by Micheal York, Julia Ormond, and John Rhys-Davies to be my favorites.

Ultimately, I found this product to be quite beautiful to listen to. I can see myself using these, not only for personal use, but also in future Scripture classes at the high school, particularly the letters of St. Paul. I found my copy at Barnes and Noble and paid a little under $30.00, so it can certainly be found at a great price. It is also great to support Catholic products like this. No date has been set, but there are plans to do an Old Testament edition in the future.

Truth & Life Audio Bible RSV-CE

The Truth & Life audio RSV-CE is now available on CD at Amazon.com for only $31.49. I have not been able to find it yet on I-Tunes, but will keep checking. (Hat tip to reader Charles.)

Truth & Life RSV-CE Audio Bible

As mentioned last month, the Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible RSV-CE New Testament will be released sometime this month, on both CD and I-Tunes. (I hope to get a precise date soon on when exactly they will be released.) As far as I can tell, it will be the first dramatized edition of a Catholic Bible in English. It has a host of well-known actors involved in the project. It is endorsed with an Imprimatur from the Vatican and includes a foreword by Pope Benedict! The picture on the left surfaced at the Truth & Life Facebook site. The complete audio New Testament is 22 hours long on 18 CDs.

Update: I talked with someone involved with the Truth and Life project who said that the release date should be in about 3 weeks.

New RSV-CE Audio CD

This sort of snuck up on me, but coming next month from Zondervan, is an all new audio version of the RSV-CE. It looks quite fantastic! The Truth and Life audio Bible may be the first fully dramatized audio Catholic Bible on the market. I hope we get to hear and see more about this in the coming weeks.

The Truth and Life website contains some sound/visual clips for you to experience. If interested in pre-ordering this new audio Bible, you can check out the Zondervan site for more information.

Here is a brief description from the product's website:

The Truth & Life Dramatized audio Bible™ New Testament is endorsed with an Imprimatur from the Vatican and includes a foreword by Pope Benedict XVI. Voiced by internationally-renowned actors including: Neal McDonough, Kristen Bell, Sean Astin, Michael York, Blair Underwood, Malcolm McDowell, Stacy Keach, Brian Cox, Julia Ormond, John Rhys-Davies and many more. The Truth & Life audio New Testament is a first of its kind dramatized audio Bible from the RSV-CE translation and distributed by Zondervan.

From Chicago to Hollywood to New York and beyond... over 70 actors, 20 audio engineers in 10 studios over 3 continents contributed to the creation of this unique audio New Testament.

More than 100 media development experts and 10,000 production hours were needed to complete this ambitious project.

The complete audio New Testament is 22 hours shipped on 18 CDs.

Christianaudio.com Sale

From reader Keith:

You and your readers may be interested to know that christianaudio.com is having their semi-annual audio download sale through July 3rd. The NRSV New Testament (and most other titles) are available for $7.49. Although christianaudio.com seems geared toward a predominantly Protestant audience, there are a number of titles of interest to Catholics as well, including Richard John Neuhaus, GK Chesterton, and others.

Thanks Keith!

New Audio NAB

This month, the fine people at Hendrickson Publishers are publishing a new audio version of the New American Bible. If you are interested, you can buy the entire NAB Bible or just the NAB NT. (With the upcoming revision of the NAB OT, one might want to hold off on getting the entire Bible.)

I wonder why Hendrickson Publishers decided to take on this project? From browsing their website, it doesn't seem that they produce any book version of the NAB or any other specifically Catholic Bible edition. Whatever their reasons, it is good to see the NAB get some publicity outside of the standard NAB publishers that, IMHO, don't do a very good job.

The details of the NAB Audio Bible:

Now you can profit from hearing God’s Word wherever you are, whether it’s in the car, at the gym, around the house or simply while relaxing. Let the power of the Scriptures refresh your soul and encourage you in daily life when you listen to the New American Bible translation. This recording, which is carefully read word-for-word by masterful narrator Stephen Johnston, features the entire NAB without background music.

• Enjoy hearing the Bible while on the go, at home, in personal devotions or group Bible study.

• The New American Bible is the standard translation authorized for use in the Catholic Church in the United States. It is the first edition of the Catholic Scriptures in American English to have been translated from the original languages.

• This edition has been digitally mastered for enhanced listening enjoyment.

• Includes the complete introductions from the printed text

• Sturdy CD wallet provides easy portability while protecting the discs.

• Limited lifetime warranty.

NRSV New Testament Audio Bible

I will be honest, I don't often use audio Bibles. Sure, I have a copy of the TNIV: The Bible Experience New Testament in my car, but I have not listened to it much. When I have listened to it, I have come to appreciate its overall production value, minus the occasional song which, to me, breaks up the flow of the text. Overall, however, I just never think to actually listen to the thing.

So, why on earth did I decide to purchase the NRSV New Testament audio Bible? That is indeed a good question! Perhaps is it just my obsession with all things Bibles? (Hmmm....I think somebody has figured out what he is going to give up next Lent! Yeah, that's right....next Lent!) Moving on, I think the main reason I picked up the NRSV Audio Bible is because I am leaning towards making the NRSV my everyday Bible for prayer, study, and ministry work. Also, while the production quality of the TNIV version is very high, I am not going to be using a TNIV anytime soon, since there isn't likely to be an edition that includes the Deuterocanonical books. It just seems to make sense. For those of you who like the NAB or RSV, there are audio Bible available in those editions as well.

So, what can I say about the NRSV Audio Bible? Not too much. It is simply a very solid audio recording of the NRSV New Testament. It is read by Marquis Laughlin, who at least to my ears is very capable of proclaiming the Sacred texts. He does a straight reading of the text, without any special audio effects or the occasional song. One particular element of his reading is that he includes the NRSV paragraph headings in his presentation, which may be annoying depending on your preferences. But overall, I find that this audio Bible is very clear and meets my expectations.

If you are looking to purchase this audio Bible, the only store I have seen it in stock, in-store, is Cokesbury. I ended up purchasing my edition at christianbook.com, which also includes an audio sample. I am unaware at this time of an audio edition of the whole NRSV Bible.

Anyone actually use an audio Bible on a regular basis? Which version do you use? What has been your experience using it?

A Note on Audio Bibles

I don't know how many of you enjoy listening to audio Bibles, but to be perfectly honest, I have rarely used them in the past. I think the main reason is that many of them seemed to be just a bit wooden and uninspiring. Ones that I have hear usually have some guy, who could easily be doing movie trailers, reading from the Sacred Text. So, it took me a while before I was willing to actually purchase an audio Bible.

However, late last year I decided to purchase the Bible Experience: New Testament. All I can say is that it is fantastic! Its combination of voice acting and background sound makes it a true joy to listen to at home or on the road. I actually enjoy listening to a particular passage before leading a Bible study or after doing my own personal prayer or study. I highly recommend this! Below is some more info on it, including a link to the Amazon site which has some sample audio:

THE BIBLE EXPERIENCE is just that--an experience--that bypasses many of the previous Bible recordings with a full show of music, sound effects, and a dazzling array of celebrity voices. The producers from Inspired By Media Group put together a cast of more than 80 African-American actors who deliver a rich, diverse rendering of the contemporary Today's New International Version (TNIV) translation in gospel-meeting style. Listeners are treated to a sort of aural kaleidoscope with layers of voices, sound, and music overlapping and occasionally colliding. The lavish production pulls out all the stops, so this is not a Bible recording for purists. If a modern multimedia production "experience" is what you're after, enjoy the fine voices and often dynamic dramatized readings. The "making of" DVD disc is an entertaining extra. R.F.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2007 Audies Award Finalist © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Click here for the Amazon link.