The Classic Orthodox Bible Review

"The Classic Orthodox Bible" is a Bible containing the entire Eastern Orthodox Canon of Scripture - in King James Version English. It contains two different texts which were complied by C.J.S. Hayward. The Old Testament is Sir Lancelot Brenton's translation of the Greek Septuagint - one of the earliest Septuagint translations - and the New Testament is a modified version of the King James Bible.

Many of the modifications are evident. They mean the same thing as the original Scriptures, but are expressed quite differently.

"In the beginning was the Mystic Word, and the Mystic Word was with God, and the Mystic Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was Life; and the Life was the light of men. And the Light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness could not grasp it." - John 1:1-5

There's not that much else to say about the book as far as the content. It uses older renditions of names for the books - Jesus instead of Joshua, Jeremias instead of Jeremiah, Jezekiel instead of Ezekiel, etc.  It's doesn't have any commentary or footnotes - it's a plan Bible in older English. However, I do have a lot to say about the book itself.

Before buying The Classic Orthodox Bible, I noticed that many of the reviews were negative about the same things and that there were no photographs of the physical book anywhere on the internet. That seems to happen with used cars - a dealer or seller posts a bad quality car online for a cheap price and uses stock photos. They use stock photos of that car because they specifically don't want a potential buyer to see any damage to the car or issues it may have. Sadly, this is how The Classic Orthodox Bible appears to be. Below, I have some actual photographs of the book with commentary next to each photo. In addition, I've added a quarter for size comparison.

The book is huge and heavy - it's several inches thick. It's not good for use outside of the home. Given that it's paperback, and the cover is thin, it's not very durable. Not a Bible that's convenient to take with you to read on a trip. It's also difficult to hold open you're smack-dab in the middle of the book. 

The chapter labels are odd. Instead of having the book name and verse references in the top corners like most Bibles, it has the book name along with the chapter number. It says, "Matthew 10, Matthew 11, Matthew 12," etc at the beginning of each chapter. It makes it difficult to find a particular verse or chapter quickly because you don't know exactly where the book title and chapter labels are going to be on the next page. 

The text size is virtually microscopic. Granted, my close-up vision is 20/20, so I have no problem reading it, but many other people couldn't read this text, even with glasses. Another odd thing to point out is that the font size of the New Testament is larger than that of the Old Testament - what on earth is up with that?




Come on, this is the 21st Century. Is good formatting that much to ask for when you have Microsoft Word and so many other programs at your disposal? It looks like it was printed on standard printer paper - it's not your average Bible. Even though that appears to be the case, proper formatting and less confusing organization would've made this Bible much better. The fact it was printed like a regular book instead of your average Bible isn't really that big of deal, but, the compiler still should've used standard Bible formatting. This Bible was formatted lazily - there's no excuse for the issues in The Classic Orthodox Bible.

I'd give this a 5/10. It was a great idea - the KJV has a lot of cool quirks and such. However, the formatting completely destroyed it. It was a good idea, but it was executed poorly. If it had been formatted like a regular Bible and printed like a regular Bible, it would be fantastic. However, that's not the case.

If you're okay with the massive build, the confusing formatting, and the ridiculously thin cover, then I would recommend buying it here if you want to read the Septuagint and full Eastern Orthodox Canon in KJV English. It can be read online, so you don't have to purchase a physical copy unless you really want a hard-copy Bible.

With love,
-Isaac
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