Rating: 
Summary: A fairly good read, but why so biased?
Review: I am a recently saved Christian and I picked up this book to try and get a crash course on the Bible. While I did learn a little, and enjoyed parts of it a great deal, I get the very strong impression that the author would not be pleased that I believe the Bible is inspired.If you read only this book, you will come away thinking that every word in the Bible is contradictory and can be disproved by science or history. I thought I was going to learn about the Bible, not the author's blatanly biased views or the views of the anonymous "scholars" he continually cites.
Rating: 
Summary: This book almost clears it all up for you!
Review: Written with a slightly humorous slant, this book was easy to read, laid out well and easy to follow. I can now talk intelligently about the Bible. Great reference book. Gives the history and the story without telling you what you should believe.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but definitely NOT authoritative!
Review: Davis gets two stars for undertaking the task of trying to summarize the entire Bible and for addressing some of the more pervasive (and easily refuted) myths--the "apple" in Eden, Jonah's "whale," etc.... That's all he gets, though. Whenever he mentions something extra-Biblical, take it with a HUGE grain of salt. He appears to be drawing on outdated scholarship that's come under dire criticism in the last twenty years (the JEDP and Q hypotheses, for instance.) He constantly makes controversial or factually incorrect statements, occasionally prefacing them with the magic "some/most/all scholars think...." This appeal to a nebulous authority doesn't change the fact that he's wrong about a great many things (e.g., when camels were domesticated, Isaiah 7:14, David killing Goliath, etc....) If this prompts you to turn back to the Bible and look further into Biblical scholarship and research, then kudos to you and him. (A good place to look for thorough, well-researched responses to many of the questions he brings up is, the Christian Think Tank website run by Glenn Miller.) Just be open-minded enough to honestly analyze the rebuttals to his claims; on this review board, the one-star reviews seem to come from people who know enough to recognize all the mistakes he makes. DON'T, however, start spouting Davis' observations as gospel, unless you like embarrassing yourself. The first seriously informed Biblical scholar you run across will rip you apart.
Rating: 
Summary: Great as commentary, less great as introduction to novices
Review: A great addition to the biblical novice's library, this book helps put a human perspective on an occasionally stuffy and confusing piece of literature. Davis' humor lightens the mood (his chapter title for the book of Acts is "Jesus is Coming -- Look Busy"). For those open-minded enough to consider Davis' opinion without considering it heresy (see any 1-starred review below), "Everything" provides insight into the historical context in which the bible was written. You'll find the same approximate mix of reviews on any of Davis' "Don't Know Much..." books -- anyone who considers himself an authority thinks Davis is full of it, and anyone who is simply interested in the subject usually finds his books thought-provoking. The difference in this biblical version is that it is definitely to the reader's advantage to have a passing understanding of the stories of the bible. Without that, there is no doubt far less of the "aha!" reaction to reading some of Davis' insights. I do wish he had spent as much time on the New Testament as on the Old Testament, but he may have been a little wary of trying to analyze Jesus too much...
Rating: 
Summary: A book for people who are gods unto themselves
Review: Don't buy this book if you love the Bible or want to find out what it has to offer spiritually. This irreverent, materialistic approach is everything BUT what "what you need to know." Davis is an historian and a geographer (and no doubt an excellent authority in his field). However, for him to analyze the confusing parts of the Bible from a human point of view is like a third-grader claiming that college is where you go to get away from your mother. Buy a book by someone who is receptive to the Bible's inspiration if you want to find out what it can do for you. Buy THIS book if you want an excuse to believe that millions of people are kidding themselves about feeling uplifted and inspired.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting summaries of what the Bible really says
Review: Davis succeeds in making sense of many Biblical stories in straightforward prose. I loved that fact that he points out the obvious that had all but been brainwashed out of me (yes, incest in Lot's house - twice!) A good read on the Good Book.
Rating:
Summary: Read this account of The Bible!
Review: This author approaches The Bible from a historical perspective. He is able to give analogies to current situations. He brings humor into what can be very dry or confusing reading. He has attempted to give the translation based on current translations of The Bible according to the most recent information available to archeologists and linguists. The stories point out the importance of the people, lands, and the cultures which are not only valuable to Christians, but to Jews and Muslims as well. I really recommend this book to anyone who is interested in The Bible, but not a Fundamentalist of any particular faith. and stories
Rating: 
Summary: Nice overview, poor as an introduction
Review: Don't Know Much About the Bible is a nice overview of the Bible for those who have some knowledge of the material in advance. It provides some very, very brief summaries of the books as well as plenty of humor. I did get the distinct impression the author was making an attempt to bring the reader's opinion toward a non-believing point of view. The book has too many typos and grammatical errors to have been let go by a publisher, shame on them for not catching all of them in this day of computer spell-checkers and grammar checkers.
Rating:
Summary: BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN A LONG TIME!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Davis' book. It answered so many questions that I had about the Bible and gave me a lot to think about. I just couldn't put it down and look forward to reading some of his other books. A definite must read book for people of all faiths. His witty style and upbeat tempo will keep you interested all the way up to the end. I give it two thumbs up!!!
Rating:
Summary: Not Quite *EVERYTHING* You Need to Know About the Good Book
Review: ...Not even "almost" (everything), but a lot of good information that is interesting, helpful, & skeptical if somewhat unimportant and biased. I got this book from my mother this Christmas and I was thrilled because I did not even ask for it but was very interested in it due to my meanderings right here on Amazon. I am already on page 67, the second time, after a thorough skimming, and I have to say my only reservation in not giving this book 5 stars is its decidedly biased perspective/worldview, and especially its not (even coming close to) living up to its laughable subtitle: "Everything You Need to Know About the Good Book but Never Learned." Yeah right! He should have known better than to think he could reduce it all into this. The book's practically almost as big as the Bible (not really), and if you're actually interested in it, you'd do much better to read (same amount of) the Good Book itself. Everything you really need to know (about the Bible) is contained in a good, modern edition of a recent translation of the Bible itself. All else is really superfluous, extra, and at least somewhat "superficial" (in a way). I don't even believe the Good Book is the "COMPLETE & LITERAL Word of G-d," much like Davis himself, yet I still think this compendum is largely unnecessary. The Bible contains all you *really* need to know, and if I were stuck on a desert island and could only make one pick, it would definitely be the Bible alone, and not Davis' helpful, fresh, interesting, although highly biased & unessential guide. It is largely unnecessary... unless you are interested in those kinds of things, as I am. To be honest, I was only somewhat disappointed (hence 4/5), as I did not really expect "everything" -- which, in a work of this nature, could *only* be contained in the Book itself. Buy it for interest, not for "everything you need to know": buy the Bible for that!
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