Be Basic (An Old Testament Study. Genesis 1-11)

Rating:
Summary: Be Basic: Basically Not Good
Review: Warren Wiersbe has again written a disappointing book. Mr. Wiersbe makes what are obvious mistakes in his exegesis of the Scripture, in this case Genesis 1 - 11. Mr. Weirsbe is generally very capable of writing basic commentaries when the approach is life application. But when he attempts to dig a little deeper, whether it be theological or more subtle nuances, he misses the obvious. It could be, considering the speed at which he is writing the "Be" series, that he just isn't giving himself the time to appropriately understand the scripture. The "Be" series is a basic commentary, for sure, but whether one is very knowledgeable of the Word of God or just a babe in Christ, this book and the rest of the series require a great amount of discernment (a discernment which new believers would not have, and yet the books are written more for their benefit). One must basically study the scripture for themselves more closely than Mr. Weirsbe did in writing the book. If one needs to do that, then why even buy the book? Do it yourself (which is what we're supposed to do primarily anyway). I believe that the average, well-studied Bible teacher would find this series to be quite shallow compared to what he already knows and thus would be spending a lot of time just trying to figure out the errors instead of preparing his lesson. On the other hand, though the errors certainly aren't heretical by any means (although his view of divorce and remarriage is scary and a little wierd), the books are not truly safe for a new believer, for such a person would not realize just all the problems in the explanation of scripture contained in the book and would tend to believe that Mr. Wiersbe is right because of his education. Thus, new believers would get off on the wrong foot right from the start, not on heretical things, but on a whole lot of little things that would add up to some big problems. Mr. Wiersbe is a wonderful Christian man and certainly able to teach the scripture if he takes his time and is more careful, but for whatever reason, he fails in this series to adequately compare scripture with scripture in drawing conclusions about the meaning of scripture. I own all the books in the series to this point, and in most cases, it has been a frustrating experience to read them. I read them mainly to see what people may be saying (especially those who are learning from Mr. Wiersbe) that is not accurate and then come up with a biblical correction. I rarely turn to this series for serious, positive, investigational study.

Rating:
Summary: Be Basic: Basically Not Good
Review: Warren Wiersbe has again written a disappointing book. Mr. Wiersbe makes what are obvious mistakes in his exegesis of the Scripture, in this case Genesis 1 - 11. Mr. Weirsbe is generally very capable of writing basic commentaries when the approach is life application. But when he attempts to dig a little deeper, whether it be theological or more subtle nuances, he misses the obvious. It could be, considering the speed at which he is writing the "Be" series, that he just isn't giving himself the time to appropriately understand the scripture. The "Be" series is a basic commentary, for sure, but whether one is very knowledgeable of the Word of God or just a babe in Christ, this book and the rest of the series require a great amount of discernment (a discernment which new believers would not have, and yet the books are written more for their benefit). One must basically study the scripture for themselves more closely than Mr. Weirsbe did in writing the book. If one needs to do that, then why even buy the book? Do it yourself (which is what we're supposed to do primarily anyway). I believe that the average, well-studied Bible teacher would find this series to be quite shallow compared to what he already knows and thus would be spending a lot of time just trying to figure out the errors instead of preparing his lesson. On the other hand, though the errors certainly aren't heretical by any means (although his view of divorce and remarriage is scary and a little wierd), the books are not truly safe for a new believer, for such a person would not realize just all the problems in the explanation of scripture contained in the book and would tend to believe that Mr. Wiersbe is right because of his education. Thus, new believers would get off on the wrong foot right from the start, not on heretical things, but on a whole lot of little things that would add up to some big problems. Mr. Wiersbe is a wonderful Christian man and certainly able to teach the scripture if he takes his time and is more careful, but for whatever reason, he fails in this series to adequately compare scripture with scripture in drawing conclusions about the meaning of scripture. I own all the books in the series to this point, and in most cases, it has been a frustrating experience to read them. I read them mainly to see what people may be saying (especially those who are learning from Mr. Wiersbe) that is not accurate and then come up with a biblical correction. I rarely turn to this series for serious, positive, investigational study.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Outliner of the Bible
Review: Wiersbe continues to present the reader with a basic overview of the Bible in layman terms that are easy to grasp and apply. His outlines open the Scriptures in a way that makes them easy to apply and understand. Any Christian should include these books in their library. Those who find criticize Wiersbe usually attack his faith and dance around his solid use of references and insight. If you don't believe or don't want to believe, this series is not for you. If you want to grow in the faith, by all means own this series.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Outliner of the Bible
Review: Wiersbe continues to present the reader with a basic overview of the Bible in layman terms that are easy to grasp and apply. His outlines open the Scriptures in a way that makes them easy to apply and understand. Any Christian should include these books in their library. Those who find criticize Wiersbe usually attack his faith and dance around his solid use of references and insight. If you don't believe or don't want to believe, this series is not for you. If you want to grow in the faith, by all means own this series.