What the Bible Is All About

Rating:
Summary: Very Readable
Review: I bought this book for myself and liked it so much I bought a second one for my Mom. It's easy to read and interesting.

Rating:
Summary: A Book of Truths, for Some
Review: I didn't care much for this book but have to say that that's probably because it didn't take the path I'd assumed it would.

I picked it up thinking that it would be a somewhat disinterested look at theology, historical events and so on, and an even-handed look at Judaism and Christianity.

It isn't. It's a book for believers, specifically, Christians, which is fine if that's what you want. The author, Henrietta C. Mears, is clear on her own beliefs and what she and the reader should believe. She's a little more fond of !!!!! than I care for, and there's a kind of a see?-I told-you-so kind of tone to it. Have you ever seen those bumper stickers that say something like, God Said It/I believe it/That's It! ?

That's how this book reads. Now, having said that, here's the general direction of the book.

Mears analyzes every book of the Bible. Every single chapter of her book starts out with the word Understanding, then names that book, from Genesis to Revelation. She reels off details and assessments of each book, with the underlying assumption that the reader agrees with what the Rev. Billy Graham says in the foreword to this book: "The Word of God is the only real authority we have."

So, for example, in her chapter on Genesis, she writes: Satan appears to have special enmity for the book of Genesis. No wonder the Adversary has bent his attacks upon it. It exposes him as the enemy of God and the deceiver of the human race; it foretells his destruction; it depicts his doom." A few pages later, we get this sentence Remember, Jesus Christ is the center of the Bible.

She also gives us such tidbits of information as this: there are 31,102 verses in the Bible, using 775,693 words*; Psalm 119 is the longest chapter; Psalm 117 the shortest. Ezra 7:21 contains all the letters of the alphabet except J (I don't know how well this fact stands up in translated versions and a conspiracy theorist could have a field day with the source J!); the longest book in the Old Testament is Psalms, the longest in the New Testament is Luke.

This book is probably best used in an adult Christian education class or something similar. I don't see it helping much on an ecumenical or evangelical level. Perhaps it works as a self-education tool, for someone who's arrived at Christian belief and wants a wider understanding of the sense of the full Bible.

*In English, I assume.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: This book has tremediously helped me understand God's word. I recommend this book for new Christians and to anyone who reads the Bible but, just can not grasp what it is trying to say.