Updated October 2026: We originally published this article in 2012, when the Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible had its own mobile app. If you’re looking for that app today, you won’t find it. The standalone Truth & Life App has been discontinued, and Truth & Life is now directing users to the Catholic Study Bible App.
Fortunately, the dramatized New Testament that made Truth & Life worth recommending is still available.
The New Testament as an Audio Drama
The Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible is a complete recording of the New Testament using the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (RSV-CE).
Unlike a traditional audiobook with one narrator reading every part, Truth & Life uses a cast of more than 70 actors to portray the people of the New Testament. Music and sound effects are used throughout the production to provide context and atmosphere.
The complete New Testament runs about 22 hours.
Who Is in the Cast?
Truth & Life has an unusually large cast for an audio Bible, with more than 70 actors participating in the production. Some of the principal voices include:
- Neal McDonough as Jesus
- Julia Ormond as Mary, the Mother of Jesus
- Kristen Bell as Mary Magdalene
- Sean Astin as Matthew
- Blair Underwood as Mark
- Michael York as Luke
- Stacy Keach as John
- Malcolm McDowell as Caiaphas
- Brian Cox as the Voice of God
- John Rhys-Davies as the narrator
Those are only some of the actors involved.
Ignatius Press says the production involved 20 audio engineers working in 10 studios on three continents, along with more than 100 media development experts and approximately 10,000 hours of production work.
Having different actors perform the roles makes a noticeable difference when listening. Conversations are easier to follow, particularly in passages involving several people, and the music and sound effects help establish where a scene is taking place.
There’s also a fun bit of trivia involving Sean Astin. When discussing his role as Matthew, Astin talked about recording Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus, which meant working his way through all of those names and “begats” at the beginning of the Gospel. It’s probably not the first scene you’d choose when imagining yourself starring in a dramatized Bible, but somebody had to do it.
Is Truth & Life a Catholic Bible?
Yes.
Truth & Life uses the Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition (RSV-CE) and received an Imprimatur. The production also includes a foreword by Pope Benedict XVI.
One thing that can be confusing from the name is its scope. Truth & Life is not a recording of the entire Catholic Bible. It contains the complete New Testament, all 27 books, but not the Old Testament.
What Happened to the Truth & Life App?
This is probably the most important update to our original 2012 article.
The standalone Truth & Life App is no longer available.
The official Truth & Life website says that Truth & Life has joined with the Catholic Study Bible App and directs existing Truth & Life users there. According to Truth & Life, existing content from the old app is available through the Catholic Study Bible App.
The Catholic Study Bible App has expanded well beyond what the old Truth & Life app offered. It includes the complete Bible along with study resources, commentary, cross-references, notes, bookmarks, highlighting, offline access, and other Bible study tools.
Visit the Catholic Study Bible App
The Catholic Study Bible App is available for Apple, Android, and Amazon devices.
The CD Edition Is Still Available
If you would rather own the original recording instead of accessing it through an app, Ignatius Press still sells the Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible New Testament as an 18-CD set.
The set contains the complete approximately 22-hour dramatized RSV-CE New Testament.
Truth & Life Dramatized Audio Bible at Ignatius Press
Why Listen to a Dramatized Bible?
I’ve always liked the idea behind Truth & Life because listening to Scripture can be a different experience from reading it.
That’s not a new idea, of course. Catholics hear Scripture proclaimed at every Mass, and Scripture was being read aloud in Christian communities long before anyone could pull a Bible out of a pocket.
Truth & Life takes that experience in a slightly different direction by assigning individual voices to the people in the text and adding the sounds of the setting around them.
That can be especially effective in the Gospels and Acts. When several people are speaking, you don’t have to mentally keep track of who is saying what. A conversation sounds like a conversation. A crowd sounds like a crowd.
There are also passages that I’ve read many times where hearing the words spoken makes me notice something I had previously passed over.
Obviously, an actor’s performance is an interpretation of how a person might have spoken. The performance isn’t Scripture. The words are. That’s worth keeping in mind with any dramatized Bible.
But as another way to spend time with Scripture, it works very well.
You can listen in the car, while walking or exercising, or while following along with the text. It’s also an easy way to spend more time with Scripture if sitting down to read isn’t always practical.
Still Worth Hearing
When we first wrote about Truth & Life in 2012, its app was one of the easiest ways to listen to the production. That particular app is gone now, but the Truth & Life dramatized New Testament is still available.
And it still holds up.
The RSV-CE text, large cast, music, and sound effects make it an engaging way to listen to the New Testament, particularly if you’ve only experienced audio Bibles read by a single narrator.
If you used the old Truth & Life app, the Catholic Study Bible App is now where its developers are directing users. If you’d rather own a physical copy, Ignatius Press still sells the complete 18-CD edition.
We recommended Truth & Life on GRCatholic back in 2012, and we still think it’s worth listening to today.
The complete audio New Testament is 22 hours in length.
Visit Truth & Life App to learn more!
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