Introducing the Bible

Rating:
Summary: I like the good ways that this book points out specifics!
Review: THis book is very good at poiting out the most important parts of being a christian that are in the bible. I like this book, even though I am reading it for my bible class here at college. Great book!

Rating:
Summary: Must-Read to Understand Today's Christian Scholarship
Review: This little book is mandatory reading because Barclay is widely cited and hailed as "one of the world's great biblical scholars". His book concisely reflects the sad shape of Christianity and its scholarship today. Barclay states that "For a variety of reasons, it is not possible to hold... that the Bible is literally and, as it were physically, the word of God". He neatly skewers the majority of Christians who hold to weak notions of the inspiration of the Bible. No mid-Acts dispensationalist is surprised that "early sermons do not connect the death of Jesus with the forgiveness of sins", but Barclay obtusely notes his own surprise and marches onward. Barclay's little book is easy-to-read, clearly states his philosophy, and spares the reader his more ponderous other books.

Rating:
Summary: Must-Read to Understand Today's Christian Scholarship
Review: This little book is mandatory reading because Barclay is widely cited and hailed as "one of the world's great biblical scholars". His book concisely reflects the sad shape of Christianity and its scholarship today. Barclay states that "For a variety of reasons, it is not possible to hold... that the Bible is literally and, as it were physically, the word of God". He neatly skewers the majority of Christians who hold to weak notions of the inspiration of the Bible. No mid-Acts dispensationalist is surprised that "early sermons do not connect the death of Jesus with the forgiveness of sins", but Barclay obtusely notes his own surprise and marches onward. Barclay's little book is easy-to-read, clearly states his philosophy, and spares the reader his more ponderous other books.

Rating:
Summary: Good academic skills, but weak faith
Review: William Barclay (true with all his books) is a good academic, but he tries to spiritualize and explain away parts of the Bible that he finds hard to literally believe. This has the ramification of preventing the non-academic reader (who is less likely to challenge his opinion) from believing these passages to be literally true, who without Barclay's interference, may have dared to believe them. So, read if you must, but with much caution.