How to Get into the Bible

Rating:
Summary: in my top-10 Christian books
Review: the most understandable Bible companion I have ... well worththe price

Rating:
Summary: Very useful
Review: This book is an excellent companion book for Bible study. It's a great startup book for someone who's new to the Bible and can also serve as a handy quick reference for someone already familiar with the material.

Each book of the Bible is addressed in terms of plot, main characters, the book's relationship to other Bible stories, and more. It's like a well fleshed out study outline in many ways. What I particularly liked is that even the very short books of the Bible are given equal treatment. You'll get ample material about 1 Peter, Micah, Obadiah, and other small books along with the big boys like Isaiah and John.

Time lines help you keep a mental picture of what's going on around the events of each book. Where multiple opinions and theories abound, the authors introduce the reader to a variety of interpretations and the merits of each.

While many of the author asides and comments may prove uncomfortably liberal for evangelicals or fundamentalists, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in digesting the Bible. It's entertaining and captivating enough to read straight through like a novel, educational enough to use as a supporting study text, and consistantly useful enough to keep it on your reference bookshelves.

Rating:
Summary: Very useful
Review: This book is an excellent companion book for Bible study. It's a great startup book for someone who's new to the Bible and can also serve as a handy quick reference for someone already familiar with the material.

Each book of the Bible is addressed in terms of plot, main characters, the book's relationship to other Bible stories, and more. It's like a well fleshed out study outline in many ways. What I particularly liked is that even the very short books of the Bible are given equal treatment. You'll get ample material about 1 Peter, Micah, Obadiah, and other small books along with the big boys like Isaiah and John.

Time lines help you keep a mental picture of what's going on around the events of each book. Where multiple opinions and theories abound, the authors introduce the reader to a variety of interpretations and the merits of each.

While many of the author asides and comments may prove uncomfortably liberal for evangelicals or fundamentalists, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in digesting the Bible. It's entertaining and captivating enough to read straight through like a novel, educational enough to use as a supporting study text, and consistantly useful enough to keep it on your reference bookshelves.

Rating:
Summary: The sequel is great, too.
Review: This is a really good intro to the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. Clear, simple, and biblically solid.

But I like the sequel even better because it not only gives you the short course on each book in the Bible, it helps you put it to practice.

The first book--How to Get into the Bible--is history. The second book--How to Get the Bible into My Life--is history applied to our lives today.

Both are helpful, well-written, and insightful.