Bible Overview by Rose Publishing

Bible Overview by Rose Publishing ISBN-13: 9781596365698 PDF or Paperback: 276 pages Publisher: Rose Publishing Released: October 8, 2012

Source: Review ebook copy from the publisher.

Book Description, Modified from Christianbook.com:
The Bible has 66 Books, more than 1,000 chapters, and was written by about 40 different authors. Bible Overview will help you get a grasp of each book quickly, with a 4 to 6 page explanation for each book. Includes full-color maps and time lines as well as:

• Purpose: Author, setting, and date written
• Outline of the book
• Key themes, verses, and people
• What it tells us about Jesus

My Review:
Bible Overview is a Bible reference book that gives a summary of each book of the Protestant Bible and also explains how it relates to the overall themes of the Bible--like how God interacts with mankind and mankind's need for a savior.

Overall, I found this book interesting, informative, and an easy enough read that tweens, teens, and adults could all get a lot out of it. This would make a great youth group or new believer Bible study on understanding the Bible as a whole. Rose Publishing permits making "up to 300 copies of individual pages from the book for classroom use."

Bible Overview starts with an introduction: how we got the Bible, reasons to study the Bible, and how to study the Bible. Next is an overview of the whole Old Testament. Later there's an overview of the whole New Testament, including some historical background information about the inter-testament period.

There's also an overview of each group of books (Pentateuch, historical books, poetry and wisdom books, prophetic books; gospels & acts, epistles & revelation). These explained why certain books were grouped together and also summarized the main themes, types of writing, and key people in that grouping.

Then, for each Biblical book, we told the book's purpose (a quick summary of the book and what we learn about God--and mankind--from the events in this book), where the book got its name, a chart or two summarizing important patterns or information, an outline of the major events and what chapters contain those events, who wrote the book and when (giving both traditional and "late dates"), where and when the events took place, the main themes, a few key verses, parallels and contrasts between how God related to mankind then and how God relates to Christians now, and the Jesus theme ("Christ fulfills this need").

Each chapter had a full-color timelime showing when events in that book took place and usually had a simple map showing the main locations and movements mentioned in that book. Some chapters had a list of the most significant people in that book. Full-color pictures were used as decorative chapter headings, and some other paintings and photos were sprinkled throughout the book.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.


Excerpt: Read an excerpt from the publisher's website.