Friday, May 11, 2007

The Bible Experience - complete Bible

We can now pre-order the complete TNIV audio in The Bible Experience dramatized format. The Old Testament package is scheduled for release in October. I assume that the package of the complete TNIV audio Bible will be released at the same time or soon after that.



There may be some savings on the New Testament and abridged The Bible Experience packages on eBay.



I have only listened to free downloadable files so far and have been impressed by them. I would enjoy hearing comments from others who have listened to larger portions of The Bible Experience.

11 comments:

anonymous said...

I've listened to the entire New Testament. It is a competent recording -- whether it is to people's tastes or not, I do not know.

Three features may annoy people. First, the recording contain significant added "background dialogue" -- thus, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount, the audience yells out "thank you Rabbi" and other words of encouragement in almost every verse.

Second, there are continuous sound effects, such a scrivener's sound during the Epistles.

Third, in the Epistles, which do not lend themselves to dramatic form easily, the recording is jazzed up by black gospel songs. Thus, the 20 following songs (a full CD's worth, if they were compiled separately) are played -- often mid-verse. It sometimes (subjectively seems to be more black gospel than narration -- some of the black gospel segments are nearly five minutes long (duration indicated). Thus I cannot recommend this version to anyone who is not an enthusiastic fan of black gospel music.

Ann Nesby
Oh, How I Love Jesus (2:09)

Bishop Paul S. Morton
Let the High Praise (2:05)
Walk on by Faith (1:49)

Daniel
After All's Said and Done (part 1) (1:37)
After All's Said and Dong (part 2) (1:38)

FGBCF Women's Mass Choir
I'd Rather Have Jesus (1:54)

Judah Generation
Free (1:47)
Let the Anointing (1:44)
We Come to Worship (2:24)
We Need a Healing (3:23)
Until (part 1) (2:29)
Until (part 2) (1:42)

Priscilla Jones
Family of God (2:14)
Calvary (part 1) (1:08)
What I've Got (1:21)
When I Fall Down (1:09)
Better Days (2:33)
Calvary (part 2) (4:44)

Shirley Caesar
The Debt I Owe (1:31)

Take 6
Set You Free (1:32)

Kevin A. Sam said...

When I heard the NLT BibleAlive it didn't really speak to me, even though I really like reading from the NLTse. To me it sounded like some guy reading; the same goes for the Living Bible audio bible. But when I heard the TNIV Bible Experience, I felt something impact the deepest part of my inner being. I could really feel someone’s real emotions like their fear, sadness and joy. I can feel a real person behind the spoken words in the Bible Experience. Really good stuff! I look forward to the entire OT & NT.

missional girl said...

*biting tongue*...

kevin, i felt the same thing...i've heard dramatized version of the bible before but this one was different....and the music has little if nothing to do with that..i'm probably going to purchase the MP3 version...

anonymous said...

Missional Girl, Kevin -- I am curious -- did you listen to any of the Epistles in the Bible Experience? The clips that are available on the web have been chosen so they don't include the gospel songs -- and they are not representative of the recording as a whole.

missional girl said...

anon, i have only heard the NT clips on the zondervan site...i wished they offered an example of what you mentioned as potential annoyances...perhaps some others who post regularly on this blog and have also heard the entire NT and can offer their opinions as well about the potential shortcomings of the project...peace

Kevin A. Sam said...

MissionalGirl, yes, even if you removed the music, you can still hear the emotion behind their voices. They were done by professional musicians and actors who know very well how to project their emotions. The MP3 version is likely a better choice because it'll be more versatile if you carry an MP3 everywhere you go, which seems to be the norm for the younger generation these days.

Kevin A. Sam said...

Anon, what I've heard is only on the website. I'm going to wait until the entire OT/NT version is released before I purchase it though. But even if it is not uniformly done, i.e., Epistles, it's still really well done, and I would say that it's the best audio bible I've ever heard.

anonymous said...

It's a little like reviewing a movie based on the trailer, no? Of course, they chose the best parts for the previews.

missional girl said...

i do not care...i love the Word of God...if i could stomach scourby and johnson's rendering of Scripture, i will do fine with TBE...thanks kevin...the emotional connection with the Word was driven home to me as i listened to the easter mp3..i was astounded...the philippians clip was awesome too...i was too engrossed in the Word to really notice anything else...thanks for your observations kevin...peace

anonymous said...

Scourby and Johnston (note spelling) are both fine narrators, in fact. The narrative part of The Bible Experience is also fine (if one cares for dramatization.)

The problem with the music is that it interrupts the recitation (it is NOT background music but an extended foreground music) -- not just for a few seconds, but for up to 4 minutes plus!! One is wanting to hear Scripture, and instead one hears loud Gospel song.

You can buy a MP3 set of the NT for $25. I look forward to your impressions after you listen to the whole thing.

Random Whim said...

I'm copying and pasting my comments from a different Bible Experience post:

In the "The Birth of Jesus" audio sample available here, the passages used are Luke 2:1-20 and Matthew 2:1-12. While all of the text is from the TNIV, much of the background speaking is obviously ad-libbed. Around 4:17 in the clip (Matthew 2:11) it sounds like someone says something like "In the manger". I thought there was little debate as to the general time of the Magi's visit. Even if Jesus was still a baby here, aren't Mary and Joseph at least in a house now and no longer in the stable?

Letting an obvious inaccuracy slip through in the background sound effects isn't necessarily a deal breaker for me. But I'm worried there may be more examples like this in the rest of the collection.

As for the gospel songs, I'm assuming that they're on separate tracks/mp3's, making them unfortunate but not unavoidable.