Help us complete the story of salvation history.
Support this groundbreaking project to produce a Bible that will unlock the truth, beauty, and goodness of God’s Word for generations to come.
The Word on Fire Bible sets 2,000 years of wisdom from Church fathers, theologians, and scholars alongside the corresponding Biblical text. Each volume also includes beautifully rendered artwork from the ancient masters along with analysis and word studies to reveal the original meaning of beloved Bible passages.
If you make a qualifying donation, you will receive a thank-you gift. This is not a retail purchase or pre-order purchase. All thank-you gifts will be fulfilled in early Summer 2023. At this time, we are unable to substitute gift items that are not in the set tiers.
First Look at Volume III
In the
beginning ...
The Word on Fire Bible Volume III: The Pentateuch
A token of appreciation
Support the Bible Project and receive the gifts below, including the opportunity to reserve a copy of Volume III: The Pentateuch with a donation of $100 or more. All donor gifts will ship in early Summer 2023.
At this time, we are unable to substitute gift items that are not included in the set tiers.
Tier One
$50
Original art print by Ivanka Demchuk, titled Crossing the Red Sea, 2017
Tier Two
$100
1 hardcover Volume III
Art print: Ivanka Demchuk, Crossing the Red Sea, 2017
Tier Three
$150
1 leather Volume III
Art print: Ivanka Demchuk, Crossing the Red Sea, 2017
Tier Four
$300
1 paperback Volume I
1 paperback Volume II
1 paperback Volume III
Art print: Ivanka Demchuk, Crossing the Red Sea, 2017
Tier Five
$600
1 leather Volume I
1 leather Volume II
1 leather Volume III
Art print: Ivanka Demchuk, Crossing the Red Sea, 2017
Tier Six
$1,000
2 leather Volume III
1 hardcover Volume III
Art print: Ivanka Demchuk, Crossing the Red Sea, 2017
The 5 most popular Word on Fire Classics:
Flannery O’Connor Collection
Life of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen
Confessions by St. Augustine
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
Tier Seven
$5,000
2 leather Volume III
1 hardcover Volume III
2 Art Prints: Ivanka Demchuk, Crossing the Red Sea, 2017
The 5 most popular Word on Fire Classics:
Flannery O’Connor Collection
Life of Christ by Fulton J. Sheen
Confessions by St. Augustine
The Seven Storey Mountain by Thomas Merton
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
Online Event with Bishop Barron
Build a cathedral in print.
With production costs rising, we are in even greater need of your generosity so we can complete this seven-volume set and offer an unprecedented experience of the Holy Bible.
Make your gift today, and you will secure your copy of the Word on Fire Bible Volume III: The Pentateuch.
Current
$2,100,000
Goal
$2,500,000
First Look At Volume III
Volume III of The Word on Fire Bible features the first five books of the Old Testament, collectively known as the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
Accompanying the text of Scripture, you’ll find over 90 commentaries from Bishop Robert Barron and over 230 commentaries from mystics, artists, and scholars throughout history. Volume III includes—for the first time in the series—commentaries from Dorothy Day, Ephrem the Syrian, Hildegard of Bingen, Bernard of Clairvaux, and more.
This volume also includes over 50 works of art with commentary, 9 word studies of the original Hebrew, and introductions written by noted scholars and authors Christopher Kaczor, Matthew Levering, Mary Healy, Michael Dauphinais, and Fr. Blake Britton.
Other ways to support the Word on Fire Bible Project
Mail Check
Word on Fire Catholic Ministries
P.O. Box 97330 Washington, D.C. 20090-7330
Please ensure that your mailing address is correct and include an email address to receive your receipt, donation updates, and gift tracking.
In the check memo please note “Bible Project”.
If you do not wish to receive a donation gift, which would include a copy of Volume III, please note “No Gift” in the memo line.
Give Us A Call
If you would like to make a donation over the phone, please call us at:
(866) 928-1237 ext. 3
If you have any other questions regarding the Word on Fire Bible Project, please contact our development team.
Donor Advised Funds
Recommend Word on Fire to your financial institution.
Word on Fire Catholic Ministries
P.O. Box 97330 Washington, D.C. 20090-7330
Federal Tax Identification Number: 26-1448551
IRA Gifts
Consult with your financial advisor and consider making a charitable rollover gift to Word on Fire.
Your IRA administrator should mail the check to:
Word on Fire Catholic Ministries
P.O. Box 97330 Washington, D.C. 20090-7330
A Word from Bishop Barron
The Word on Fire Bible is a groundbreaking new series introducing readers to the strange, colorful world of the Bible. It was designed to appeal not just to Christians, but to nonbelievers, searchers, and those with far more questions than answers. When you open up The Word on Fire Bible, you will experience a feast for the imagination and the heart as well as for the mind and the soul.
When you attend a liturgy at a beautiful cathedral, you hear the Word of God proclaimed from the pulpit. However, the Word is clarified by the surrounding experience—the architecture, the art, the stained glass windows, the icons. You’ll have a similar encounter with God’s Word as you make your way through The Word on Fire Bible. Evangelical in its purpose, illuminating in its words, and distinct in its beauty, this is not a regular bible; it is a cathedral in print. It doesn’t simply present a collection of stories for Christians; it invites you, whatever your background, to enter into the story of Christ.
+Bishop Robert Barron
In the beginning . . .
Four major features set The Word on Fire Bible apart from all the others.
Its purpose is evangelical
This is not a study Bible. Its goal is not merely to transmit historical knowledge or textual insight. It is also not a devotional Bible, offering self-improvement tips. The mission of this Bible is evangelical. It is meant to introduce not mere facts but a person: Jesus Christ. It aims to do that by unveiling Christ throughout each chapter and verse of the Gospels, leading readers to a life-changing encounter with him.
It is intended for new readers
The Word on Fire Bible doesn’t presume any experience reading the Bible. It’s designed for people reading the Bible seriously for the first time, who may be unsure of what to make of its many events and characters.
It highlights the great tradition
Most Bible resources include commentary from one or a small handful of authors, typically contemporary scholars. This Bible plumbs the depths of the entire tradition of Catholic Christianity, including contributions from many of its greatest saints and scholars from the past two thousand years. The Word on Fire Bible reads the Scriptures “from the heart of the Church,”; offering the most colorful and diverse range of commentators currently in print.
Its showcases the way of beauty
This Bible showcases what Pope Francis calls the via pulchritudinis (the way of beauty). For many people in our postmodern culture—especially the young—an appeal to the true (“Here is what you should believe”) or to the good (“Here is how you ought to behave”) is often a non-starter, likely to awaken suspicion and defensiveness. But an appeal to the beautiful (“Just look at this”) is more winsome, less menacing. And so this Bible features many striking works of art as well as literary explanations of those pieces—all designed to introduce the seeker to Christ through the aesthetic splendor that he has inspired.
More Features
You’ll also find commentary by more recent saints and spiritual masters. These include people like St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Francis de Sales, G.K. Chesterton, Fulton Sheen, Flannery O’Connor, and each of the last three popes: St. John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis.
Throughout the chapters, you’ll find commentary from the Church Fathers, the earliest Christian theologians. Because many of the Church Fathers lived during or shortly after the time of the Apostles, these commentaries represent some of the oldest Christian writings in existence aside from the New Testament itself.
This Bible also features a wealth of commentary by Bishop Robert Barron, one of the great preachers and biblical teachers of our time. You’ll find both short reflections on particular passages and longer articles spanning multiple pages.
Interwoven into the pages of this Bible are beautiful large quotations of key verses in the custom made Angelico font used for the Bible. These quotes help to bring some of the most important Bible verses to visual prominence.
Ready to immerse yourself in the great Biblical tradition?
Frequently Asked Questions
General
Yes, this is a donation. Please note that if you are a donor and contribute $100 or more, the tax-deductible portion of your contribution is the amount of your contribution minus the estimated fair market value of the gift.
This is not a retail purchase. Funds from the Bible Project go towards the cost of producing the Word on Fire Bible.
Yes! With our new international warehouses, we are now able to fulfill the international Bible Project gifts. You will receive your gifts in early summer of 2023. Please ensure your email address and mailing address are correct for your shipment.
Word on Fire will cover all shipping-related expenses for the Volume III Bible thank gifts of our Bible Project donation campaign fundraiser, so donors of our this fundraiser, regardless of what their country of residence is, do not need to cover any shipping fees for their donation’s Volume III Bible thank you gifts.
The donation gifts and tiers are not editable. However, feel free to donate more than once to get multiple copies. After you donate, simply visit wordonfire.org/bible-project again and complete a new donation for additional copies.
At this time, we cannot accommodate that request. You are welcome to ship your donor gifts to someone else after you receive them.
Yes, you can mail a check payable to “Word on Fire Catholic Ministries” with “Bible Project Volume III” in the memo line to PO Box 97330 Washington, D.C. 20090-7330. Please also include a note with your email address and mailing address.
Yes, have your financial institution mail a check payable to “Word on Fire Catholic Ministries” with “Bible Project Volume III” as the designation to PO Box 97330 Washington, D.C. 20090-7330. Please also include a note with your email address and mailing address.
Donation gifts will be shipped in early summer of 2023. Please ensure that you use the correct email address when completing your donation as this is where you will receive shipping and tracking updates on your Bible Project gifts.
If you qualified for a gift and need to change your shipping address, you can email us at [email protected] or call us at (866)928-1237 ext. 3.
No, DonorBox is our donor management system. You will receive your donation receipt through DonorBox.
Yes, in the “write us a comment” box you see during the donation check-out process, write “anonymous.”
The deadline is March 1st, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. CT.
We don’t have an official retail price set for Volume 3 at this time, but due to an increase in production costs, Volume 3 is expected to cost more than Volume 2. Rest assured, we want to keep Volume 3 as affordable as possible so that the Word of God can continue to be shared with others.
Bible
Unfortunately no, we only have the Word on Fire Bible (Volume III): The Pentateuch available in English.
No, this is not a full bible. Volume III of the Word on Fire Bible includes the first five books of the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
The Word on Fire Bible uses the New Revised Standard Version: Catholic Edition (NRSV-CE), which first appeared in 1989 and has received wide acclaim from academics and Church leaders.
The translation received the imprimatur of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1991, granting official approval for Catholic use in private study and devotional reading.
The NRSV-CE stands out among other translations because of its accuracy and readability. It is “as literal as possible” in adhering to the ancient texts and only “as free as necessary” to make the meaning clear in graceful, understandable English.
It’s a wonderful translation—both for those who have never read the Bible and for those who have studied it for years.
Volume III will be printed and released in Summer 2023. The creative process of compiling Volume IV of the Word on Fire Bible is already underway!
The Word on Fire Bible Volume III: The Pentateuch features text in a 9pt font, which is larger than in most other Bibles and offers significant line spacing to allow for an easier reading experience.
Recent Authors
Church Fathers
Bishop Barron
Pull Quotes