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Rating: 
Summary: Not recommended
Review: I originally purchased this book as a reference for my children for homeschool study. However, as I began to read some sections of it, I found it to be foundationally incorrect.In the introduction the first question is "What is the Bible?" Good question, but I was shocked by the answer, "The Bible is one of the great classics of world literature. It's stories may well have happened long ago in a handful of small countries at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea, but today they are still read enthusiastically by millions of people all over the world." WHAT.... great classics of literature... no where does it say that the Bible is the holy, inspired word of God....
My next red flag, as I skimmed, was found in a section of the "Pentateuch". Here's a quote.." Some parts of the Pentateuch might easily go back to ancient times, but as time passed, life changed - and old laws needed to be updated and new ones produced, and these would have been added by later editors." WHAT.... the Bible edited....
My next red flag was in a section on Jesus the prophet... let me quote the paragraph for it's full effect.... " Jesus did and said things that seemed to be making grand claims for himself. Although he rarely claimed to be the Messiah outright, he did on occasion imply as much. For example, the gospel of Luke records that Jesus read from the Old Testament book of Isaiah and claimed that 'This passage of scripture has come true today, as you heard it being read.' In the gospel of Mark, Jesus offers to forgive sins and is found casting out demons - both of these hinting at a special relationship with God."
WHAT A special relationship with God..... no where does it say he is the son of God. These three examples were enough for me to feel that this book was not one that we would keep in our library. I can not overlook such contradictory foundational statements regarding our faith. If Jesus is not the sinless, son of God and the Bible is not the holy and inspired word of God, I have no basis for my faith. Please be cautious in purchasing this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The best Bible encyclopedia that I've read!
Review: This book has everything you could want from a bible encyclopedia. It focuses mainly on religion and history. It has a book by book discription of each book in the Bible. It talks about ancient cultures and civilizations. There are color markers on the upper right hand corner to help you to find what you need to find on other pages in the book. It has large lifelike pictures and illustrations. The questions and answers in the book are interesting. It is just a good all around book. I defenately would recommend this book for anybody who want to understand the background of the Bible as much as possible.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent reading for anyone searching for answers in the Bi
Review: This book is excellent reading and research material for anyone searching for solid answers to questions about how everything fits together in the Bible. It covers the different people, trades, lifestyle, geography with maps, etc. It is tabbed for fast research. My daughter said that just reading the first 20 pages explained more to her than she had ever understood about Biblical times and customs. This book is great to just read from cover to cover and then refer to as you study the Bible, both old and new testament. It enlightens the study to a more understandable text for the common person.
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