First, its evangelical purpose. 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 Scriptures, leading readers to a life-changing encounter with him.

Second, its accessibility to new readers of the Bible. It doesn't presume any experience with the Bible, catering to those unfamiliar with its many events and characters, while still providing rich insights to even the most biblically literate.

Third, its illuminating commentary. The Word on Fire Bible brings in a chorus of voices from the great theological and spiritual tradition in order to sing the meaning of the Scriptures. The reader will hear from Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, John Henry Newman, Thérèse of Lisieux, John Paul II, and many other teachers in the way of the Spirit. And since it is a Word on Fire Bible, it also includes the voice of Bishop Robert Barron, one of the great Catholic preachers of our time. It presents the Scriptures “from the heart of the Church,” offering the most colorful range of commentators currently in print.

Fourth, its distinctive 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 nonstarter, 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.

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 I includes the four Gospels.
Volume II contains the rest of the New Testament.
Future volumes will cover the Old Testament.

This first volume, which includes the four Gospels, debuted on June 15, 2020. The second volume, which includes the rest of the New Testament, debuted on January 17th, 2022. From there, we're planning several Old Testament volumes, which will follow in the coming years.

The Word on Fire Bible is only available in English.

Yes! The Word on Fire Bible is available now.

To order from the Canadian Store, click HERE

To order from the European store, click HERE.

To order from the Australian store, click HERE.

To order from the UK store, click HERE.

We have a distribution center in Europe and Australia. Please decide which store would be a better shipping solution for you.

You can order now from our US store site HERE and ship abroad, but there may be a better option using the links above to likely save on shipping time and costs.

The Word on Fire Bible is available in leather, hardcover, and paperback editions.

We're convinced The Word on Fire Bible is the highest-quality Catholic Bible ever produced for mass distribution.

The paper is not the traditionally thin Bible paper most readers are used to. It is thick and matte-coated, keeping the ink right at the surface of the page so that images appear vivid and sharp. This makes the art in the Bible appear gorgeous, vibrant, and amazingly clear. But it offers this clarity while retaining the natural look and feel of uncoated paper.

For the leather edition, the cover material is a natural tumbled full-bovine top grain leather. After tanning and tumbling (a process that softens the product) the leather was given a protective coating to protect against water and scratches. Unlike split-grain leather, a lower grade used by virtually all other Bibles, our top grain leather will not crack and fall apart over time.

The spine of the Bible includes raised hubs, which add a traditional touch. Features on the spine, cover artwork, and lettering have also been debossed into the leather surface and foil stamped in metallic gold.

In terms of binding, all versions of The Word on Fire Bible are Smyth-sewn, which is the highest quality method of bookbinding available. Rather than relying on glue to hold individual pages in place, Smyth-sewn books feature smaller booklets which are each printed individually, then stitched into the book block with thread. Smyth-sewing is the true mark of a book that is built to last, and is the standard for library and archival quality bookmaking where durability is paramount. Smyth-sewn books also lay flat on a surface when open, which was a desirable feature for our Bible.

Other features include a gold ribbon bookmark (leather and hardcover editions only); ornate metallic gold ink, which adorns select design elements throughout (pull quotes, headlines, chapter numbers); and HUV gloss coating over special artistic elements for added visual emphasis.

Each edition of The Word on Fire Bible features text in a 9pt font, which is larger than in most other Bibles, with significant line spacing to allow for an easier reading experience.

The first and second volumes of The Word on Fire Bible includes over 90,000 words of commentary, which means there is roughly a 1:1 ratio of commentary to biblical text. Roughly two-thirds of the commentary is from Bishop Barron with the other third from saints, mystics, artists, and scholars.

Unlike some study Bibles, which insert just a few standalone pages of commentary at select points throughout the text, the commentary in The Word on Fire Bible is woven in and around every passage of the Scriptures. Each page of this Bible was custom designed to emphasize beauty and illuminate the Scriptures.

The Word on Fire Bible includes commentary from a dazzling range of saints, mystics, artists, and scholars, including:

Church Fathers
St. Ambrose
Ambrosiaster
Andrew of Caesarea
Apringius of Beja
St. Athanasius
St. Augustine
St. Basil the Great
St. Bede
St. Benedict
St. Caesarius of Arles
St. John Cassian
St. John Chrysostom
St. Cyprian
St. Cyril of Alexandria
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
Eusebius of Caesarea
St. Gregory of Nazianzus
St. Gregory of Nyssa
St. Gregory the Great
St. Hilary of Poitiers
St. Ignatius of Antioch
St. Irenaeus
St. Jerome
Marius Victorinus
St. Justin Martyr
St. Maximus the Confessor
Origen
Tertullian
St. Theophylact

Contemporary Authors
St. Alphonsus de Liguori
St. Bonaventure
Catechism of the Catholic Church
St. Catherine of Siena
Dante
Dietrich von Hildebrand
Flannery O'Connor
St. Francis de Sales
St. Francis of Assisi
Fulton Sheen
G.K. Chesterton
Hans Urs von Balthasar
Henri de Lubac
St. Ignatius of Loyola
Jean-Pierre de Caussade
St. John Henry Newman
St. John of Avila
St. John of the Cross
Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI)
J.R.R. Tolkien
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection
Pope Francis
Pope St. John Paul II
Pope St. Paul VI
René Girard
Second Vatican Council
St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross
St. Teresa of Avila
St. Teresa of Kolkata
St. Thérèse of Lisieux
St. Thomas Aquinas
Thomas Merton
Wilfred Rowland Childe