The G Bible: The steely grey NLT Bible for young guys that need all the armour plating you can give them.

The publishers have this NLT on the shelf as a Bible for 11 to 14s, though the content won’t really satisfy anyone much over 12. Pitched as The Guys Bible, it has some strange ways of showing it. More than a few of the ‘I survived’ life stories are by girls (Jade, Melissa, Breanne…) and the question “I don’t understand why God puts me in certain situations” is answered with the quote from Esther 4:14, “Perhaps you were made queen for just such a time.” Little reassurance for a teenage boy!

The life application notes are hard and fast. OK for under 12s who need a lot of armour plating, not so good for teens and up who need a bit more honesty and reality if they’re going to trust the Bible in later life. On spiritual matters, every question is confidently answered and moral instruction given. But advice on relationships and dating amounts to ‘don’t!’ And while the complex subject of homosexuality is mentioned, it’s rather more than less condemned.

This is not a bad Bible, it’s just not for the 11s to14s. Buy it for your 10s to 12s, and the cover and content will match the protection boys of that age still need.