Bibles Bible Studies Books

Most Christian professionals have little understanding of what happened after the first half of the first century. This book carries perspective beyond that point to the understanding of the formation the Orthodox Chrtistianity (Western Orthodox). An essential tool for interpreting the New Testament and its developemnt into theologies that form the religion's beginning today. Christianity is not the religion of Jesus. It is the religion that developed about Jesus and this book helps us understand that early period. The interpretation of its impact on us today is up to current individuals.

Book arrived in good condition and in a timely manner.

Professor Ehrmann has assembled a nice collection of Christian (orthodox and heterodox) writings from the period immediately following the New Testament and before the Council of Nicea. Although these are not brand new translations and all are readily available in other collections, the easy-to-read double column textbook format, the thematic way the texts are categorized, and the brief, helpful introductions make this anthology well worth its price. This volume and Ehrmann's other anthology THE NEW TESTAMENT AND OTHER EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITINGS are essential companions to his THE NEW TESTAMENT: A HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITINGS.

On the frustrating side, there is much overlap between Ehrmann's two anthologies--in fact, I ended up buying them both because it was too much trouble to compare the tables of contents to see which volume included more non-New Testament works. Also somewhat disappointing was the fact that there are no bibliographic references to the supplied texts (each chapter introduction concludes with a short list of general topic books "For Further Reading"). I would, at least, like to know if there are other respected translations or commentaries in print on any of these texts. Another oddity: The Didache is split into three parts and presented out of sequence (with the document's brief chapter 6 being omitted altogether). This is not inappropriate, considering that Ehrmann has arranged his texts topically so readers can read significant key documents in relation to one another (such as, The Structure of Early Christianity [Did ch 11-15]; The Development of the Liturgy [Did 7-10]; Leading the Upright Life [Did 1-5]).

This is a nice, handy collection of key texts that I'm sure I'll return to over and over, especially as I read other books about the beginnings of the early Church.

I used this book in a course on Early Judaism and Early Christianity, which I took as an undergraduate. Although one may read a secondary reader, there is nothing like reading a well-chosen sampling of primary texts - and the selections here are just that: well-chosen.

Although the Church traces its lineage and heritage through a particular history - the New Testament, followed by the Apostolic Fathers and they themselves followed by the Church Fathers - in reading this volume one immediately notices a spectrum of thought, filled with every subtle shade of variation that one could imagine. It is in reading the differences and polemical writings contained here that makes the battles between traditions so fascinating: after the New Testament, one can rightly speak of earliest Christianities. Somehow or another, though, they all find their raison d'etre in Jesus, the itinerant Jewis Hasid from Nazareth.

Perhaps one may be generous enough to say that every writing in this book seeks to answer Christ's question to the Apostles: "Who do you say that I am?" From Gnostic writings and proto-orthodox Church Fathers to apocryphal Gospels and "lost" Epistles, one is thrust into a mass of movements, each of which claims to have the answer to this question. (And, as a side note, it turns out that the views of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches are, in fact, among the most ancient of these various other traditions.)

Ehrman's introductions are short and to the point; they are helpful and note where writings develop earlier, more historical traditions, if writings were later declared orthodox or heretical and what the polemical context was of a particular piece. He also notes where texts were once used and where they were popular, and if and when they fell out of favor. Lastly, and most interestingly to this reader, is the short section that notes the development of the canon of the New Testament and how many books that are now taken for granted were hotly debated in those early centuries.

One could easily spend hundreds of dollars collecting the various works that were important to and written by early Christians/s/s/s/s/...; this book is a wonderful, well-written selection of those works. As a supplement to studies in early Christianity, Judaism and/or later Antiquity, it will prove to be quite helpful and informative. For the interested lay person, this book will also prove to be both informative and an excellent introduction to the subject. In short, it is a profitable read.

Though the Church in the Second and Third Centuries is a "Dark Age" in the minds of most Christians, the darkness is not due to lack of data. The 19th Century series "The Ante-Nicene Fathers" runs to 5,000-some large pages in small type - and it was not complete even in its own day. Subsequent discoveries, most notably the Nag Hammadi library of Gnostic-Christian literature, have added much to our knowledge or, oftentimes, to our perplexity.

Professor Ehrman's selection of readings gives an overview of this vast forest. He has selected 76 works, mostly self-contained excerpts, though a few are complete. In addition to familiar items that cannot be omitted from such a collection (e. g., the Epistle to Diognetos, large parts of the Epistles of St. Ignatios, and selections from Justin Martyr, Tertullian and Origen), we are given much that later generations found heretical, dubious or silly: apocryphal Scriptures, esoteric Gnostic speculation and writings by Christians who refused to recognize any separation between their faith and Judaism. The texts are arranged thematically (e. g., "The Attack on Christianity: Persecution and Martyrdom in the Early Church", "Anti-Judaic Polemic", "The Development of the Liturgy") in such a way that neighboring pieces illuminate one another.

The translations have all appeared in print before, and the editor deserves credit for choosing clear, readable versions. His introductions, while well-suited to the intended audience, are open to criticism. On the positive side, they are judicious and nonpartisan, avoiding (except on the topic of the ministry of women in the early Church, where no mainstream modernist can afford to be completely candid) speculation beyond the evidence. On the negative, they are so judicious that the untutored reader is left unaware of controversies that have a major impact on the meaning of the texts. To take a significant instance, Prof. Ehrman blandly states that "most scholars" date the manual of Church discipline known as the "Didache" to c. 100 A.D. True enough, but some date it much earlier and some much later, and its value as evidence depends crucially on the time and place from which it came.

All in all, for anyone who would like to know more about pre-Nicene Church history, this volume is, if not the last word, a useful and interesting preface.

As best as I can determine, this is the only paperback edition of the King James Version with all 80 books included on the market. As such, as you're after one this will have to be it and I've bought more than one myself.
Unfortunately, the notes in the back are not Christian (they contain a lot of so-called 'higher criticism') and perhaps this explains why the word 'Holy' is not included on the cover also. The type in the part before Genesis is a little small in parts but most people don't buy this kind of edition for the sake of those words anyway.

I was glad to find a 1611 KJV with apocrypha. The text is easy to read and is same English used in he revised authorized KJV we currently have today. What else can I say about the content, other than it is - God's Holy Word!

I have owned my copy for 4 years, and I use it regularly. The first problem I had was the size of the book. It is so thick, it is almost cube-like in appearance. The thickness makes the book cumbersome to handle. Second, the paperback binding is weak. The entire Gospel of Luke has liberated from the binding. I have glued it back several times. Each time a few more pages come loose.

This is a copy of the KJV complete with the Apocrypha texts that are often lacking in copies of the KJV today. For that reason, along with the nice type setting and layout, this is a nice copy of the King James and I am certainly pleased to own it, and I've recommended this edition, with caution, to others. The editorial notes, while of some efficacy express a perspective that is too concerned with "historical" aspects of the Bible. The Bible is not a science text, nor an historical document. Scholarship running in the vein of history (or science for that matter) is only going to be of limited value. The use of "BCE", and "CE" is simply an academic barbarism that people who actually believe they live in the year of our Lord will rightly find distasteful. Such a dating system has little place in commentaries accompanying the text of the venerable translation of the very work that gives rise to the use of "BC" and "AD". However, one should read the KJV for other reasons than the affected commentary inserted around the text, and this edition otherwise presents the KJV very nicely.

This reviewer got this surprisingly low priced edition of the King James Bible (KJV) because of historical interest and to win a friendly wager. A young lady who is Protestant and this reviewer discussed the KJV, and we agreed that based on the Epistle Dedacatory,dedicated to King James I of England (1603-1625), that the KJV was an anti-Catholic Bible. However, she disagreed that the original KJV had the Aprocrypha Books which are in all Catholic bibles but not in most Protestant bibles. So, the friendly wager was made, and this reviewer won this friendly wager.

The editors' Introduction is of historical interest. There are good comments on the different arrangement of the Hebrew Bible (for Christians the Old Testament) and the Christian Old Testament. In the earliest editions of the Christian Bible,the Apocrypha Books (Judith, Tobit or Tobias, Baruch, Ecclesiasticus,not to be confused with Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, and I Maccabees and II Maccabees)were part of the Christian Bible for over a thousand years. Readers should note that for political and religious reasons, this rearrangement was made by 400 AD.

Another point the editors made in the introduction was that the KJV and other editions of the Bible were based on what might be called layers of translations. Much of the Hebrew Bible was originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic. The editors speculate that Hebrew, the oldest known biblical language, may have been introduced to the Ancient Hebrews from other Mesopotamian peoples. The first known translation of the Hebrew Bible or most of it was made between c. 287-247 BC whereby the Hebrew was translated into Greek. This translation was known as the Septuagint and exposed the Hebrew Bible to larger readership. Many of the Ancient scholars in Western Civilization knew Greek but not Hebrew.

As mentioned above, St. Jerome (346-420 AD) translated the Latin Vulgate Bible which, again, was the Christian Bible in Western Europe. The editors noted that as early as St. Jerome, the Christian Bible had already undergone layers of translations. The Catholic Church authorities, contrary to popular opinion, did not discourage translations of the Bible into vernacular languages as long as they were based on the Vulgate Bible. For example St. Bede (680-735)was working on an Anglo-Saxon translation when he died. In other words the Bible had undergone layers of translations in the early history of Christianity.

By the time of the Reformation (c. 1517-1650), there were several Protestant translations most of which had anti-Cathoic overtones. Some of these omitted the Aprocrypha, but the earliest KJV did not. The translators worked under severe restrictions impose by James I which can be found on pages xxvi-xxvii of the introduction. For example, James I stated that he wanted to word ecclesia to be translated as church(Church of England) and not congregation as the Puritans, whom James I did not like, would have it.

The introduction also shows the serious divisions among the Protestants themselves. Many of the "reformers" hated each other and their followers as much if not more than the Catholics. For example, the German Protesants who met with their Catholic counterparts at Diet of Speyer in 1529 had to be silenced due to their loud internal disputes. When the Catholic authorities called the Council(s) of Trent (1545-1663), their Protestant guests had to again be silenced. This was not so much due to Protestant disputes with Catholicism but due more so to their rancorous internal disputes. Such divisions can be seen in the Epistle Dedicatory and James I's comments on other Protestant bibles. For example the editors cite James I's remarks that the Geneva Bible, a Protestant Bible, was the worst Bible he had ever seen.

The original translators' notes are worth reading. These men had to be as accurate as they could with translating the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek while adhering to James I's guidelines which were very restrictive. The notes not only present the difficulties faced by the translators, but they are are of historical interest.

Readers should also note that some of the early KJVs had embarrassing errors. One edition of the KJV was known as the Murderers' Bible because typesetters omitted the word "not" in the Sixth Commandment about not killing (the Seventh Commandment for Catholics). Another edition was known as the Wicked Bible because typesetters forgot the word "not" in the Seventh Commandment (Eighth Commandment in the Catholic Bible) about not committing adultry. One early edition of the KJV was know as the Vinegar Bible because Christ's parable about going into the vineyard was set in type as vinegar. Yet, the KJV survived these careless errors as well as other which can be found on pages 141-143 in Father Graham's book titled WHERE WE GOT THE BIBLE.

Readers may ask why this reviewer gave this Bible a high rating. The KJV is an expression of great English Literature. The translators knew that the English language was undergoing rapid changes in the 17th. century, and they used what some call Archic English to give the KJV a permanent place in biblical literature. The verses are cadenced, and the use of the Archaic English is a pleasure to read. Younger readers may think this reviewer is old fashioned, and they may be right. However, this reviewer likes the reading of the KJV.

This reviewer also wants to correct a historical error re English translations of the Bible. Some men have argued that the Catholic Douay-Rheims Bible, an English Catholic translation, was written in response and as a reaction to the KJV. Such an assumption does not stand historical scrutiny. The Catholic Douay Rheims Bible was finished in 1609, and the KJV was finished two years later.

This reviewer highly recommends the Oxford Classics edition of the KJV. This book has interesting historical notes and a solid bibliography to attract interested readers. As a couple of reviewers stated the Oxford Classics edition of the KJV is very reasonably priced, and even though this edition is paperback, it is well bound and made to last. Readers would do well to get this book.

This is the version used by Catholics and is missing Psalm 151, 3 and 4 Maccabees. It does not contain the entire Apocrypha!

This is a classic that the beginning or accomplished Bible student will refer to often when looking for the chronology on the life of Christ as recorded in all four Gospels.

This classic helps the reader of the Gospels to clarify what goes with what. It is indispensable in showing the myriads of details that will be missed by reading an account in only one of the Gospels. You will not be sorry you purchased this book.

Revised Version not King James Version.
Missing verses makes it incomplete.
"Horizontal Harmony of the Four Gospels in Parallel Columns" is cheaper, and much better.

I purchased this book while in Bible College back in 1974 and it has been a valuable addition to my personal library ever since. Like hammers, and saws are basic tools of a carpenter, so too is Robertson's Harmony of the Gospels a tool for the student of the Bible. Robertson is not the original author of this book; rather, he edited and revised an earlier work by Dr. John Broadus, adding his own notes and analysis. The only draw back I can see is that Robertson uses the Revised Version of the Bible. It's not a bad version, but the NIV is pretty much the Bible of choice now.

I have been using this book as a guide for teaching a Bible Study class at my church. Mark's ability to capture the essence of each book and provide a high level view of how the Bible is designed plus his ability to elaborate on the intent and message of each book has given me a view of the Scripture that I had not noticed before. I have a much greater appreciation of how God designed His written Word. Having this knowledge makes reading and studying the Word more exciting. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to dig a little deeper in understanding what God wants to communicate to us through His written Word.

I really would like to give this book a five star review. The book is I will admit very helpful for those of us going into the seminary. Each chapter is a sermon based upon a book of the Bible. In other words, from Genesis forward, each book of the Bible is given an overview of its importance and its need in the larger text of the Bible. For those who will be ministers, this book helps you to see how you too can give an "overview" sermon on a particular book of the Bible. For those of you who will be teachers, this book helps you to gain extra information that can help you when teaching a class on Old Testament theology. The writing is clear, the sermons are engaging, and Pastor Mark Dever knows a lot of what he is talking about. It is good to know and have examples on how one can use the Old Testament in ministry, whether teaching or preaching, because so many people (sadly) have a harder time understanding the OT more than understanding the NT. Thus I would really like to give this book a five star review because I know that I will use it when I teach and minister the Old Testament when I finish up my seminary program.

The reason I won't give this book a five star review is because apparently Pastor Dever is one of the many growing "Replacement" theologians. The Replacement theology is that the Church fully replaces God's covenants and bindings with the Jewish people. Replacement theology is a theology that Dever aims toward whether he realizes it or not and is a theology built upon centuries of racism toward Jews within the Church. This racist thought goes back to the fault standing racism of "spiritualizing" Israel out of hatred toward the Jews that goes back from St. Augustine and even through Martin Luther to many of today's believers of postmillennialism, amillennialism, and preternism. Unlike the other reviewer, who I feel is wrong, Biblically speaking, Replacement Theology of the Church that Dever proports to is not built upon and understanding of Jesus Christ and His Earthly Ministry, after the resurrection of Christ and His ascension, up through the Apostolic period (Acts and a bit after Acts into the first few years of the Church history).

If you truly read the Old Testament, you will firmly see throughout the entire prophetic movement of the OT a literal interpretation toward a return of the Jews to the Holy Land (as seen in Ezekiel), the Millennial Kingdom centered around the Jews (as seen in such prophetic books as Isaiah), and through and into the teachings of the New Testament all the way through the futurist point of view toward a literal fulfillment of the Book of Revelation and, going back to the OT, books such as Daniel. There has always been a Biblical understanding, that is until the Church became a powerhouse of politics (especially against the Jewish people), that there will be a physical Israelite Kingdom where Yeshua will rule, as seen in both Testaments, and as expressed as being the Millennial Kingdom as finalized in the Book of Revelation. To say that there were prophecies that literally came true in the First Advent, but only will "spiritually" come true for the Second Advent is built on faulty reasoning and faulty understanding of Scripture. One must trust the Bible which says that there is a physical and spiritual manifestation of both the First Advent and the Second Advent.

While Dever is not a racist, I do believe, I do believe he is Biblically wrong in His replacement theology that states that Israel is of no importance now nor are we as Gentile Christians suppose to fully care and reach out especially to the Jewish people (we should witness, yes, says the Replacement Theologian, but not anymore than anyone else). Dever does not believe that the Israelites are of any importance anymore, as seen in his final words on his discussion in the examination of the Book of Joshua. I firmly disagree with Replacement Theology on the grounds that both the Old Testament and the New Testament firmly show through works like Isaiah and the Book of Revelation that the Israelites, the Jewish people, do have a specific fate in prophetic history. That the fact that the Jewish people are now able to return, and that movements both politically, spiritually, and prophetically encircle Israel to an exact and, on a wider berth, the entire Middle East, shows this prophetic futurist interpretation of Scripture to be exact and empirical.

First off, there is the Millennial Kingdom prophecies of OT and NT that will be fulfilled after the seven years of tribulation. We see this Yeshua controlled kingdom in books like Isaiah, for example. The very nature of the Millennial Kingdom shows that Yahweh will rule as Yeshua (the King of Kings, Faithful and True) from Jerusalem and that the people of Israel will finally reside in peace with their Messiah. Yeshua will rule over the nations in the Millennial Kingdom by way of Jerusalem, there He will rule over both Jews and Gentiles alike. From there, secondly, when the New Heavens and the New Earth come forth, at the end of the Millennial Kingdom, the world's center where Yahweh will live with us His people will be the New Jerusalem, just as pictured throughout the OT prophecies and finally pictured in the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation shows that the New Jerusalem will be a place of remembrance always and forever of many things, many of whom will be linked with Jewish history from Abraham til that time present.

Now please, realize that I am not saying that Pastor Dever is a racist or that he hold fully anti-Semitic ideologies. I believe that the Pastor is a good man who does a great job being a shepherd to his people, to those people Yahweh has lead to him. However, like a lot of Gentiles (and yes I am Gentile myself but I am also a full supporter of such groups as Jews for Jesus), there are those who hold to indifference toward the Jewish people because they (the Gentiles of the Church) do not recognize the Jewishness and the Jewish fate as clearly spoken of in the Bible, instead they spiritualize and symbolize to such an extent that the Jewish beauty of the Bible has been taken away. Which leads to, at the least, indifference toward Jews and Israel, to out right anti-Semitism.

Thus I say again. This book is very helpful for those of you who are either planning on being ministers or being teachers at seminaries, like I myself will hope to be one day as soon as I get through my seminary classes. I do recommend this book, but I want you the reader to know that there is a big problem with this book, at least in my opinion. Thus you should know the good and the bad concerning this book. The book has and will help me I know, but I also know where the faults of the book lies and so should you.

To correct the previous reviewer's post, Dever's position on Israel is not some new "replacement" theology but the historic Christian understanding prior to the invent of 19th century dispensational theology. Dever views God's promises to Israel in light of a covenantal structure rather than a dispensational one. The Old Covenant completely fulfilled in Christ, must now be viewed through His fulfillment and establishment of the New.

The previous poster's claims of a 7 year tribulation and millenial kingdom etc. are not to be found in Dever's book because Dever simply has a different theological lens and eschatological viewpoint than that offered by Dispensationalism.

This should not cause a loss of rating, for it is not the substance of the book, rather, the book should be judged on its faithfulness to the Scriptures.

As I have made my way through the Bible, I have been weekly interacting with Mark Dever in his two summary-of-the-Bible books, Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made and The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept. For the last many years Mark Dever, pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church, has periodically preached single messages covering an entire book of the Bible. Modified transcripts of these sermons make up the bulk of the content of these two books.

Trying to reveal the intent and message of the author of each book and God's design for how that message would fit into the whole of the Bible and redemptive history, Dever attempts to fly us above the details to get the big picture of the Bible. Message of the Old Testament opens with a chapter on the big picture of the Bible. Then, he follows with a chapter on the overarching theme of the Old Testament, which he summarizes as "Promises Made". Finally, grouping the books of the Old Testament into groups (i.e. Pentateuch: "The Great Story", Historical Books: "The Other Millennium", Wisdom Books: "Ancient Wisdom", Major Prophets: "Big Hopes", and Minor Prophets, "Eternal Questions") he delves into the message of each book, each having its own chapter of approximately 20-25 pages apiece.

How helpful is this book! Rightly, we are directed to dig deep into a text, and we have this modeled in excellent expository sermons that may spend weeks on a single verse and years on a single verse. This type of expository preaching is good; it is right, and it is to be emulated in personal study. But without Dever's model, the Christian may be very prone to lose his or her way. If we truly want to know the God of the Bible we must know His message, and in order to know God's message in a single verse we must know the message of the chapter, and to know the message of the chapter, we must know the message of the book, and to know the message of the book we must know the message of the Bible.

I imagine what Dever is doing is similar to how I play with the map program, Google earth. Sometimes to better understand what I'm looking at up close, I need to zoom out. We must be in the habit of doing this, and that is exactly what Dever does: He zooms us out. He describes what he is doing as flying over the Biblical landscape rather than walking (or crawling) through it.

Not only is the concept of the book an excellent one, but so is the implementation. This book has been years in the making. Written with knowledge and precision of the scholar, but at a level that a lay Christian can easily understand, I know of no other resource like this that I can recommend as highly. The hours and hours of hard work, reading, prayer, and research that went into each sermon is evident. Each chapter, full of excellent content and providing a good introduction and expository summary of the book, is made even better by the pastoral bent of the work. Dever will not settle for mere knowledge, but pushes the knowledge all the way to the heart, with the hope that the reader will love the Holy, redeeming, loving, and self-giving God that His Word reveals.

Beginning in December 2006, I have been leading my smallgroup on a study through the entire Bible, focusing on one book of the Bible for 2 weeks at a time. We have been using Message of the Old Testament as a supplement to our daily reading and study precisely for all the reasons stated above. The consensus of the more than 20 people who have likewise been weekly interacting with Dever is "Excellent". You would do well to purchase this book and make good and slow use of it. I do not have the same level of familiarity with the The Message of the New Testament: Promises Kept that I have with this one but will post a review of it as soon as I do; I expect that it is more of the same (but I can tell you that just the foreword by John MacArthur makes it worth the price).

Dr. Missler's years of experience in our country's military and business worlds, have given this book the background to tie together what is happening in the world today with the prophesies foretold in Daniel, Isaiah, Amos, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and all over the New Testament by Christ. He details the differences between the first fall of Jerusalem, the coming war of Armageddon, and the final battle. Phenomenally appended by a wealth of information from the sciences, as well as historical manuscripts and present day governmental studies. It helps one to see the entire picture of us and the world's future, instead of just the little corner we are presently residing in.

My wife bought this book for me. I'll admit I had never heard of this author before she bought this book. It is definitely well worth reading; Chuck Missler is thoroughly knowledgeable in Bible prophecy and current events. He also encourages the reader to look at his website as well. Some of the material presented in the book might be over some peoples' heads but all in all, this is one book I highly recommend.

This is an excellent read for both, a novice regarding Bible prophecy, or someone more knowledgeable. It is not as detailed as Chuck's Bible studies from [...], but there are many scripture references to keep you very busy. Overall, I thought it was one of the best books to learn about Bible prophecy outside of the Bible itself. Also, I think this would make an excellent book for any non-believer with strong curiosity.

Chuck demonstrates the uniqueness of the Jewish and Christian scriptures as God's fingerprint to the authenticity of His Word through the Bible, as well as who the God of the Bible claims to be. He references many fulfilled prophecies given to humanity as verifiable evidence today of 100% accurate predictions of future events told by Jewish prophets hundreds and even, thousands of years in advance, gives us absolute hope and confidence that other unfulfilled prophecies will be coming true in the near future.

Be watchful so His coming does not surprise you as a thief in the night (1 Thes 5:1-11, Luke 12:38-40, Luke 21:36, Rev 16:15); these are truly the last of days (Matt 24, Luke 21, Mark 13, 2 Thes 1:8-10, Zechariah 12 & 14, Ezek 36 - 39, Dan 9 & 12, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Psalm, and Rev).

I am by no means a prophecy expert. I have read a few books on the subject though, and this is by far my favorite. I really like the way Dr Missler insists you don't take his word for it and do your own research; which I did many times. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone interested in the subject matter. I do wish the footnotes were at the bottom of the pages instead of the back to make referencing much easier. Because the footnotes are in the back, I wish the chapter numbers were at the top of each page. Other than that, if you are even remotely interested in biblical prophecy, you really need to check out this book.

Great book. I have become a big fan of Missler and this book is the main reason. You can't stop reading it and I wished it were longer. Write another Chuck.

I bought two of these Bibles for my children and absolutely love them! I showed them to my Pastor's wife and we're talking about ordering more to give out as prizes for Vacation Bible School. As said in another review, I was disappointed that Christ's words are not in red or at least highlighted. But that is the only thing I'd change!

These Bibles were purchased for my grandchildren. They love them and they are colorful but they are complete KJV Bibles which was hard to find in stores for kids.

I was so happy with my purchase. My son is 9 1/2 and he was very intriqued with all of the pages that helped him look up stuff that he found interesting.

For those committed to the use of the Authorized Version of the Holy Bible this is an excellent resource for children of all ages. There are many helpful features to keep the child's interest in addition to the faithful text of the King James. Most importantly, there are no pictures of the Saviour. Most of the children in our church now have a copy.

I purchased this Bible for my then 4 year old son. He was begging for a Bible that we could use to study in at night. We searched forever to find a King James Version children's Bible. When I found this one and saw all of the great reviews, I knew it would be perfect. Now that he is learning to read, it is perfect for him. He is able to follow along with our pastor during church service and the extra little sections and study guides are perfect for us to use at bedtime. The illustrations usually catch his eye and give us a place to start studying. I highly recommend it. I am thinking about getting one for myself!

This is a great book for all Christians to read. It puts creation back into perspective and establishes all the solid biblical proof for why creation had to exist in both space and time. Unbelievers will scoff but in this book believers will be reminded of who they are and where they came from.

One of Schaeffer's best that I have read.He looks at the start of time for us not God, since God is eternal.It really made me stop and think. Also to look at Genesis in a whole new way

It definitely would have gotten 5 stars had it been a little longer and more detailed. Here is my report on it for a class I had:

Perhaps no chapters in the whole Bible are as important to our faith than the first eleven chapters of Genesis, discussed in this book. These chapters provide the foundation for our faith, and our understanding of reality. In this book, Francis Schaeffer examines some of the concepts which come from these chapters. He also emphasizes the need for the belief in the actual historicity of these chapters. I think it has become common among Christians to try to “spiritualize” these chapters; to say that they are not historical, but are meant to convey general truths. Schaeffer, however, sees the absolute necessity of the belief in the historicity of these chapters.
First, we have the foundation for the belief in creation by a personal God (in contrast to an impersonal one). Many, including pantheists or deists, believe that the world was created (or at least “formed”) by an impersonal being(s). However, this does not adequately explain personalness of mankind. If God is not personal, then there is no basis for man being personal, and since man is indeed personal, we would have to conclude that the belief that an impersonal being created the universe does not provide a proper explanation of reality (Schaeffer 20-21). In Genesis, however, we have the explanation: we are told that a personal God existed in a triune nature, communicated within the trinity, and specifically created the universe, and mankind, in order to communicate with us on a personal level (i.e. God talked personally with Adam and Eve) (21-22).
Adding on to this, since God created us purposefully, not as an accident, and in his image (imago Dei), we have in Genesis the foundation for the belief in the intrinsic value of mankind. Today’s culture, with its belief in the evolution of man (whether they believe that there was a God who started the process or not), has no real basis for claiming that humans are somehow valuable (46). Indeed, many have realized this, and now claim that humans and animals are just as valuable. We can see this is organizations like PETA, who often put the rights of animals before the rights of man. The refutation for this is found not only in the imago Dei of man, but in the dominion mandate, when man is given dominion over all the animals of the earth. This does not mean we should treat lightly our responsibility to care for creation, but it does mean that man’s rights should come before animal’s rights.
Also, within the Genesis account of the creation of mankind we find the creation of woman from man’s rib. This is the foundation for the unity of man and woman, the unity of mankind. Other worldviews have some problems explaining why humans should be united. After all, we do not see animals of the same species united in quite the same way that humans do. Why is it that mankind cares so much about fellow men? We find the answer in Genesis: we were created to be united (45).
Another important foundation in Genesis which Schaeffer pointed out is the foundation for moral absolutes. If God did not create everything, then we do not have a basis for deciding what is right and wrong, and we must then believe that whatever is is right (48). In Genesis, however, we have a basis for denying that what is happening in the world is the way it should be, while other worldviews cannot even claim that there is a way it should be.
We find the explanation as to why things are not the way they should be in the account of the Fall. Since that time, creation is marred and man has lost some of his capacities. If we do not acknowledge this account, we once again have no basis for saying that the world is supposed to be different. If we do not acknowledge the Fall recorded in Genesis, we must conclude that humans are the way they are supposed to be. Perhaps this is why people deny the intrinsic value of man: because they do not acknowledge that he is not supposed to be a corrupted being, they do not know that he does not act according to how he was created to act. They then see a corrupt being often bent on self-service and other evils, and, with no knowledge of the Fall, why should they not conclude that, at the very least, humans are not a whole lot better that animals? In the Genesis account, however, we find that man has fallen, but that he still retains the imago Dei, even though it is much harder to see now.
Also found in the Fall is the explanation as to why the four separations of man exist: man from himself, man from man, man from nature, and man from God. Man is separated from himself, which is seen in psychological problems (98). Man is separated from man, which is seen in wars, strife, alienation, etc. Man is separated from nature: he has lost some of his dominion over it, and nature itself is sometimes used as the vehicle of judgment upon sin (100). . Most importantly, however, man is separated from God, he can no longer communicate with Him on the level that he was created to communicate on.
However, we also find in Genesis the foundation for the belief that God can communicate to us, even though we are not perfect. Schaeffer points out that after Adam and Eve sinned and hid themselves, they communicated with God (60). Sin does not stop communication with God, it merely hinders it. We also find the foundation for the belief that God would redeem his creation. In Genesis 3:15 we hear of the “seed of woman” who will crush the head of Satan. We believe this to be Jesus Christ. Already in Genesis the foundation was being laid for the redemption of creation, and the solution to the separations of man (108).
Finally, we find in Genesis the foundation for the belief that history is going somewhere, and it not merely cyclical (Eastern thought), static (existential thought), or eternal (naturalist thought). It has an absolute beginning in the creation account, and is headed toward a set end (Revelation).
These are just some of a multitude of foundations and explanations in Genesis 1-11 for what is believed in and seen even in today’s world. There are numerous others which I did not have time to cover, such as the basis for the division of human history with Cain and Abel, the (possible) basis for mythology in Genesis 6:1-2, the foundation of languages with the Tower of Babel, etc., so I attempted to cover the ones I thought were most important. These foundation and explanations are vital to the Christian worldview, and this is why Schaeffer is vociferous about believing the actual historicity of these chapters. There are two major reasons why we must accept their historicity. First, if we do not accept these things as historical events, we lose the foundations. They cannot simply be spiritualized, because they then lose their validity as explanation for the real space-time world. Secondly, if we are Christians, we must accept the historicity of these chapters, or else our faith will be undermined. Jesus, as well as Paul and the other NT authors treat these chapters as historical events. If we deny that these are historical events, we must conclude that either Jesus was wrong, or that the gospel writers misquoted him. Either way we lost the foundation for our faith: if Jesus is wrong he cannot be God, and if the gospel writers are wrong about this we cannot know that they are not wrong about other important events which they record. In essence, we either lose the belief in the deity of Jesus or we lose the belief in the reliability of scriptures, which I would contend results in the downfall of Christianity. Neither option is acceptable, so we are left with only one option: to accept that the first eleven chapters of Genesis must be understood as historically reliable by Christians.
Unfortunately, this has not been my experience in church. I went to two different churches in high school, and both presented different views on Genesis 1-11. The first, my home church, refused to take an official position. They claimed (and taught) that we did not know whether it really happened the way Genesis describes, and that it was probably just a story to tell us that God created the universe. The rest of Genesis (as far as I know) was affirmed, but I seriously doubt that the importance of it was realized. The other church I went to strictly followed the account in Genesis, and they were militant literal, seven-day creationists. They also never mentioned the importance of that belief, nor of the rest of the belief in the historicity of the rest of Genesis. While reading, I have frequently come across interpretations which reject the historicity of Genesis 1-11. The most notable example that comes to mind is C. S. Lewis, who rejected at least the historicity of the story of Noah, saying that “Jonah and the Whale, Noah and his Ark, are obviously fabulous; but the Court history of King David is probably as reliable as the Court history of King Louis XIV.” (Clives Staples Lewis. God In the Dock, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970), 58.) I think that it is very important that we realize that this is not an acceptable interpretation. We have already looked at why these chapters must he seen as offering real history, and now we need to make sure that this information reaches the people in our church congregations. I have yet to hear a sermon in church dealing with this issue, which is not good, since it is the foundation of our faith. This needs to change, and we need to go back to Genesis in our preaching so we have a foundation for the rest of the story.

Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-84) was an American Evangelical theologian and philosopher whose works were very influential on Evangelical thinking. In this fascinating book, Dr. Schaeffer takes a look at the first eleven chapters of the book of Genesis, which many Christian thinkers seem to find irrelevant to a truly Christian worldview. On the contrary, Dr. Schaeffer shows that the early history of man, as contained in the beginning of Genesis, is crucial to understanding why man is the way he is, and how God works with and through man.

I must say that this is a truly mind-expanding book that goes a long way towards giving the reader a truly Christian view of the man and the world that he inhabits. I mean, how is man "fallen," and what was and is his relationship with God? These are crucial questions to understanding the very foundational concepts of our religion, and the answers are contained in this book.

This is a great book, and a true classic of Christian thought. I do not hesitate to say should be read by all believers.

Christianity contains the answer to the modern man's questions. This book provides the foundation for Christian belief and the understanding of an infinite personal God who is there.

A must read...for all

The Bible in 90 Days Participant's Guide: An Extraordinary Experience with the Word of GodReceived this book in excellent condition, reads like a novel, love it.

This bible is laid out in a great way. Following the schedule is very tough, but if you have someone with you who is undergoing the same task, you will find yourself gaining a greater "bird's-eye" view of the scriptures. I recommend this for every disciple.

I was dissapointed in the delivery time and the quality of the book. I knew it was a used book, which I have purchased many times before, but this book was filled with writing in it. I don't remember that amount of use was in the product discription.

I believe this is a wonderful journey for anyone interested in reading the bible. It really helps you understand it more than the other versions. I recommend this to anyone who will listen.

I am so happy that I bought this book. As a Christian, I enjoy reading the Bible, and this is a planned way of reading for a short time each day. It is a disciplined way to read the Bible that is very rewarding. I plan to read through it a minimum of twice a year. I highly recommend this book for those who are serious about the Word of God.

Yes I had to use that pun. Because it's TRUE!

I love Peter J. Gomes, and he is rapidly becoming one of my preaching heros. He has such compassion for the biblical texts and for those that read them. Inside this book you will understand what the Bible is and where it came from.

Of course, a book about the Good Book would not be complete without an analysis of how it has been used, or mis-used, in the past centuries and today. Such issues as slavery, alcohol prohibition, women clergy, and homosexuality are addressed. I particularly found the chapter on temperance to be really interesting for the scare tactics that were involved, and the fear of those "Whiskeypalians".

Get this book!

If you want to understand what the Bible says about homosexuality, this reference book will explain it in the context of today's society.

....and I'm sure that Dr. Gomes is a decent man, who loves God, and The Bible. Still, I think he misses the mark. He holds that The Bible is a great book, worthy of study, but not necessarily the infallible Word of God; some of us disagree.

The main controversy centers around Dr. Gomes' defense of homosexuality, asserting that The Bible is merely condemning non-consensual sex; numerous denominations, including Dr. Gomes' own, hold homosexual conduct to be a mortal sin, with the sinner in need of Christ's forgiveness. The Bible speaks against some forms of consensual heterosexual sex, too [Exodus 20:14]. Of course, EVERYBODY is against rape; Dr. Gomes is setting up a straw man. A good friend and co-worker is a Christian Conservative Republican lesbian [life is filled with contradictions]; she holds that a close reading of The Bible only condemns male homosexuality.

I gave this book two stars, instead of one; as I said, it is very well written, and well organized. Also, Dr Gomes is quite right about some things; people in this country are possessed of Biblical ignorance to an absolutely appalling degree...in some of my other reviews, I've spoken about historical ignorance; this is FAR worse. In fact, there will be hell to pay someday. The main good point is Dr. Gomes frequent encouragement to read The Bible, and learn for ourselves; to that, I can but say AMEN.

Being a person who is very much bothered by the idea that the Bible should be read literally, with no attention paid to the time, place, and culture in which it was written and in which it is being read, this book gave me hope. The author really encourages us to pay attention to the spirit (and the Spirit) and not necessarily "the letter". It was not exactly a breeze for me to read because there was so much I wanted to note and remember. I plan to reread the book with a highlighter pen in hand. I highly recommend the book to anyone who is interested in understanding what the Bible really has to say. The Bible is not static. In fact, if it is not a "living" word for us today, in our culture, there's not much point in reading it more than once. But if you're looking for the spirit in which it was written, you may wish to continue studying the Bible, as well as "The Good Book: Reading...".

Dubbed by Times magazine as one of America's seven best preache's, Harvard professor of Christian Morals and pastor of the school's University's Memorial Church, Rev. Gomes' latest work, The Good Book, is a bestseller selection of the Book of the Month and Quality Paperback Book Clubs. This well-written, compassionate and thoughtful book is written for the general public to entice them back to reading the Bible through new eyes, paying more attention to its moral principles than the social practices.

Rev. Gomes asserts that Biblical literacy in this country is extremely rare. Among a thousand people polled in the US by the Barna Research Group 10 percent said that Joan of Arc was Noah's wife, 16 percent were convinced that the New Testament contained the Gospel of Thomas, and 38 percent believed the Old and New Testaments were written a few years after Jesus' death. Gomes observed humorously that, "These replies are worthy of the old Sunday school howler in which the epistles are defined as the wives of the apostles." (p. 5)

The Good Book is divided into three sections: "Opening the Bible" wherein Gomes warns against three dangerous and common temptations on Biblical interpretation: (1) bibliolatry, "the worship of the Bible, making it an object of veneration and ascribing to it the glory belonging to God," (2) literalism, "the worship of the text, in which the letter is given inappropriate superiority over the spirit, and (3) culturalism, "the worship of the culture in which the Bible is forced to conform to the norms of the prevailing culture." Section two, "The Use and Abuse of the Bible" is a historical account of how the Bible has been used to oppress certain groups: Jews, women, homosexuals, and minorities. Section three, "The True and Lively Word" explores what the Bible has to say about the good life, evil, suffering, temptation, wealth, science, mystery and joy."

In an interview about the book with the Harvard University Gazette, Gomes commented "I would say, one, the Bible is accessible. Two, it takes work. The Bible is not a Reader's Digest sort of enterprise, and you can't simply open it up, as 90 percent of religious people do, and just hope that inspiration oozes out of the page or that you can just figure it out because you're a reasonably intelligent person. But, three, the work pays off because the Bible has to do with issues, both great and small, that are as relevant as tomorrow's headlines."

The Good Book is filled with scholarship and imagination, with wit and wisdom sufficient to serve as a road map back to and through the Bible. I join with the former Archbishop of Canterbury, The Right Reverend Lord Runcie, who hailed The Book as "easily the best contemporary book on the Bible for thoughtful people."

It is always great to have additional resources for learning Biblical Hebrew and Greek beyond the standard grammar books or college textbooks. This book is such a resource.

The book's greatest strengths are the exposition of differences between modern languages and Biblical languages. Not just with respect to the alphabet, but more importantly from the word order and semantics points of view. Its sections on discourse, and dialects and changes and relations of languages are very helpful too. The same goes for the chapter covering practical ways to study Biblical languages. It also provides glossary of linguistic terms and a list of Internet resources for studying Biblical languages.

Truly a valuable resource for both student and teacher. Highly recommended.

As a teacher of five languages as foreign languages and a self-taught on eleven I feel comfortable to recomend this jewel! Almost everyone of the insights I have been acquiring along years of language teaching and self-study is in it! Sure, not only students of biblical languages will profit abundantly from this work! Students of Arts will benefit from it as well, in the subject matter of Linguistics! It has even useful examples in Spanish, wich is very close to my own mother language, Portuguese! You will soon find yourself transferring learning without pain!

This book approaches biblical languages from a must-needed linguistic point of view. It shows how both Hebrew and Greek work in their grammar and spends more time demonstrating how the alphabets work. Probably the greatest strength of the book is the continued focus of how they work in relation to how English works. In addition, time is taken to address word order, with the nice example of the literal translation of John 3:16. As a whole, the book is well-written and full of insights that greatly enhance the study of the biblical languages.

By request of the author, here is the summary from the back of the book:

"An ideal supplement to first-year Hebrew and Greek grammars, this practical guide makes learning the biblical languages a less daunting task. By introducing students to characteristics and functions of all human languages, experienced linguists Peter James Silzer and Thomas John Finley create the basis from which to describe the major features of Hebrew and Greek: how the sounds are pronounced, how words are put together, how phrases and clauses are structured, how words convey meaning, and how languages change.
"The book includes practical exercises, a glossary of linguistic and grammatical terms widely used in standard grammars of Greek and Hebrew, and other resources for further study, including Internet sites.

Also requested was the outline of the chapters:

1. The Big Picture: An Overview of How Language Works
2. Can You Spell That? Reading and Writing
3. Putting It into Words: How Words Are Made
4. Putting Words Together: Phrases and Clauses
5. Telling Stories and Writing Letters: Understanding Discourse
6. What Do You Mean? It's Just Semantics
7. Variety Is the Spice of Life: Dialects and Change
8. Practical Ways to Study (and Learn) the Biblical Languages
-- Appendix: Glossary of Lingustic Terms
-- References

Typical "American Style" textbook starting from the basics (especially viz-a-viz grammar) which took me back to Latin class 50 years ago. Lots of interest which I'm still digesting so its probably unfair to be so critical so early. Good book for the beginner.

How Biblical Languages Work, is a guided introduction to Greek and Hebrew. The book has some short-comings. The Hebrew and Greek alphabets were charted-out in the second chapter but never used in the book. The IPA and SBL transliterations were used, then later only SBL. The value of this book would be increased if the transliterations were coupled with the Greek or Hebrew letters throughout the book. Sounds of the characters were highlighted in the second chapter but not sufficiently. The reader is encouraged to go to services (Jewish or Greek Orthodox) to aid learning by immersion, yet the possible pronunciations they would encounter there are never covered. This book lacks examples on many topics, many examples are English words only. The tables and charts are located in odd places in relation to the written topics. The table formats, in my opinion, could have been improved for better comprehension.

This book covers areas others books do not. Topics such as language change, speech mechanisms, study strategies for individual personality types, and online resources for futher study set this book apart and make it worth the time. If you already have experience in these areas there is no need to buy this book, it doesn't teach you Hebrew or Greek, it only "guides" you in your attempts with other resources.

I found it distasteful that the authors added religiously motivated, Christian comments. Other books seem to leave religion out of the pages when learning languages. But I guess most who are willing to learn Hebrew AND Greek are Christians, not Jewish or just "curious".