Catholic Scripture Study Bible: RSV-CE Large Print Edition Imitation Leather – Large Print, December 1, 2010

The CSSI Bible is basically a Saint Benedict Press (SBP) RSV-CE Large Print with apologetics and more religious art inserts, making this a better choice if you're selecting between the two. Useful Faith Facts. One could only wish there were more, especially since they carry their own Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur. Each Faith Fact page points one to a website where more information can be read about subject.At the beginning of the book, you can read a list of the common objections to the Catholic faith. Under each objection, you can see a list of bible verses with short description cited by the Church in defense of its position (belief in purgatory, for instance.) They are useful when you need a quick look at the biblical citations of the Catholic Faith. At the last part of the book, you can read another list, this time of various "life" topics and where you can find help in the bible on them (jealousy, for instance.) Each color religious art takes up a whole page and they are beautiful.But there are a few stuff that do detract from the book's otherwise fine presentation:1. The glossy inserts appeared to be scattered at random. You would expect that the Faith Fact about evolution would fall within Genesis. It can be found in Psalms.2. The Faith Facts do not have an index of pages or table of contents. You will have to flip though many pages and examine every Faith Fact to find the one you're after.3. As a consequence of number 2 above, the apologetics list at the beginning of the book also do not say which Faith Fact they can be found in. It would have been better if they were referenced to each other by page number for continuity and coherence.4. Small font in the Faith Facts. You may need to use reading glasses.5. Some folks might resent that the CSSI Bible is made to appear as a study bible. This is an unfortunate consequence of the the naming of the bible after one of its publishers: The Catholic Scripture Study International. The word "study" can be misleading but I believe this is just an honest oversight.6. The book itself has no box of its own, which is important if the book will be transported outside the US.Despite these issues, the CSSI Bible is still a handsome, soft-bound RSV-CE volume in large print with very useful, though loosely organised apologetics and art inserts. If these are all you need, go for it! This is a better alternative to SBP's RSV-CE large print, unless you prefer genuine leather available in the SBP's. I suspected that the RSV-CE has no cross-references and book introductions and that they placed its notes at the back because of copyright limitations. I believe that the the copyright holder of the RSV enforced these conventions. So I'll give the publisher some slack and give the book a 5-star rating. I can only hope the next version would see an improvement on these extras and that the publishers would finally get that copyright permission to make the RSV-CE better.Speaking of apologetics, you might wish to know that there is an outstanding Catholic bible out there with much more organized apologetics, called Fireside New Catholic Answer Bible NAB-Revised Edition, and yet another RSV in a study bible format, called Oxford New Annotated Bible with Apocrypha, Expanded Edition. You might like to look into them for comparison.

I really like the quality of the binding material, the print and the paper. Really nice touches are the gold titles on the cover and paper edges of the book. The shiny paper inserts are helpful and informative as well.

This is one of the most beautiful Bibles I have owned yet. The cover is durable but flexible. This is a large print edition for those who may need it. About 8 pages of Catholic apologetics Bible verses appear near the front of the Bible covering such items as: Anointing of the Sick, Baptism, The Bible Plus Tradition, Celibacy, The Church, Confession, Confirmation, Contraception, Divinity of Christ, Divorce and Remarriage, Drinking Wine, The Real Presence in the Eucharist, Faith Plus Works, Fasting, Hell, Holy Orders, The Holy Spirit, Mary (the mother of Jesus), Matrimony, Original Sin, Primacy of Peter, Prayer, Purgatory, Relics, Saints, Salvation, Statues, Church Scandals, and The Second Coming of Christ.Throughout this Bible one can find "faith facts" and I can agree with other reviewers these seem to be peppered throughout the Bible without a feeling they have been placed where they are for any strategic reason but I found that to be the only weak spot. This Bible contains several beautiful works of art which are well worth a look. Some reviewers have made comments that they are not happy with the notes sections appearing at ends of the Old and New Testaments. That is how it is done in this Bible but I think that is a feature of the RSV translation. I have had other RSV Bibles which have done the same thing.At the end of this Bible there is a Topical Index (about 24 pages) on various topics along with their scriptural references. The topical index of course doesn't cover every single topic a person may want to find in the Bible but realistically what Bible can do that?This Bible contains a calendar of scriptural readings for the A,B and C liturgical cycles all the way through the year 2040. Three ribbon markers (one gold one blue one red) come with this Bible.Some reviewers have said this isn't a Bible that can be used for extensive scriptural study. If used by itself one can use either the apologetics verses or the topical index for personal study. If one wants to dive deeper into the books of the Bible there is a website set up specifically by the compilers of this Bible where detailed Bible studies can be purchased either for groups or individuals. I don't know if we are supposed to place website addresses in these reviews but here goes for those who want to look into itIf one is already attending a Bible study then this Bible can be used there too.

This bible was almost perfect for what i was looking for, the translation is great, its easy to read, and feels like a proper bible for a decent price. The only issue i had with it lies in the apologetics.For my purposes for bible reading, i cant have a lot to distract me. Unfortunately, the apologetics were placed at random throughout the bible and were practically begging to be read. On top of that, there are several chapters of books completely interrupted by several apologetics. So dont go around reading Baruch or psalm 33 with this bible. Because of this, i had to take scissors to them and cut those sections out, incidentally damaging the bible itself, just so they wouldnt distract me. If the publisher made the exact same bible with the apologetics and pictures and whatnot in the back, then id likely buy it in a heartbeat, because this bible is nearly perfect for what i do. And i will also say, the apologetics are interesting and important to read, its just that they got in the way of my primary purpose.

Very nice!!