Traced by Nathaniel T. Jeanson

Traced
by Nathaniel T. Jeanson

ISBN-13: 9781683442912
Hardocver: 252 pages
Publisher: Master Books
Released: March 11, 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
What happened to the ancient Egyptians? When their civilization fell, did the Egyptian people disappear? Or do their descendants exist to this day? What about the ancient Persians? Romans? Mayans?

For years, the answers to these questions have been hidden. But no more. Nathaniel T. Jeanson, a Harvard graduate with a Ph.D. in cell and developmental biology, has discovered a DNA-based, generation by generation family tree for global humanity. This tree uncovers the origin and fate of these ancient peoples—and connects them to peoples alive today.

The fascinating research presented in Traced has additional far-reaching consequences for numerous contemporary debates. Traced shows that the races have changed multiple times in human history. Thus, “white”, “black”, “Asian” and other common descriptors lose their meaning in light of modern genetics. The genetics in Traced restores the indigenous histories to many obscure people groups and connects them back to specific ancestors in Genesis 10. Traced represents one of the strongest arguments in print for the recent origin of humanity.

Dive into the wild and emerging field of historical genetics and see how these recent discoveries on the fate of ancient civilizations end up uncovering the story of the whole world.


My Review:
Traced looks at what has been discovered about Y chromosome lineages and how this information helps to show people-group movements, mergings, and extinctions. Tracking genetic mutations and calculating mutation rates, biologists can estimate when certain Y chromosome lineages emerged and where their descendants moved (or stayed), giving a chromosomal-level view of early to modern history.

The author comes from the perspective of a young earth and biblical foundation for the origins of mankind. As in, after the Flood, the people groups were split and moved apart with Genesis 10 recording which groups went where. He tried to identify which lineages were which people groups in recorded history with findings about where various lineages occur providing some interesting insights into how much people got around in the ancient world.

He provided maps showing where the various lineages show up and about how much of the population in that area has that lineage. While I didn't completely understand how they figured out the timing on all the various splits to create the Y chromosome family trees, it's clear the author's put a lot of thought and research into it. The book focused more on trying to match the various lineages to known history. Overall, I'd recommend this book to those interested in what DNA can tell us about our lineage.


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.

The Jesus Discoveries by Jeremiah J. Johnston

The Jesus Discoveries
by Jeremiah J. Johnston

ISBN-13: 9780764243660
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: Bethany House Publishers
Released: March 10, 2026

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
In this eye-opening, faith-fortifying book from acclaimed New Testament scholar and minister Jeremiah Johnston, you'll encounter ten of the most compelling historic finds that corroborate the truth claims found in the Bible regarding who Jesus said he was, when and where He lived, His claims and aims, how His life ended, and how that wasn't the end of His story.


My Review:
The Jesus Discoveries is an apologetics book about Jesus. While the author feels that these are "ten of the most compelling" finds that align with the descriptions of Jesus given in the gospels, several of the finds seemed a bit indirect to be very mind-changing to a skeptic. I've read other apologetic books on the historical existence of Jesus that were more convincing, so I'm unlikely to choose this book to give to a skeptic, but I did find it an interesting read.

The ten historic finds are: the shroud of Turin, magic phrases on pottery that might mention Christ, the James ossuary (with the "James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus" inscription), early mentions by skeptics about Jesus, a stone inscription mentioning Pontius Pilate, the "King of the Jews" crucifixion inscription being consistent with Roman practice, ancient fragments of the New Testament, the Palatine Graffito (a donkey-headed man being crucified while a young man worships him), Josephus' mention of Christians in his writings, and the Dead Sea scrolls.

The shroud was cited first, but much of that chapter talked about why the reader should look at the latest evidence on the shroud. A later, "Dig Deeper" section about the shroud contained most of the evidence that convinced the author that the shroud really was used on Jesus. In the next chapter, he gave details about ancient magical amulets and cups which may reference Christ (or might be using a different name). This supposedly shows that people widely knew Jesus' ability to do miracles, but it's not even certain they refer to the Jesus of our gospels. The Palatine Graffito appears to be a reference to Christians worshiping a crucified god, but this shows more what pagans thought about Christians than anything else. As in, most of the chapters are really only significant if you already believe the Bible account.


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.

The New Testament You Never Knew Bible Study Guide by N. T. Wright; Michael F. Bird

The New Testament You Never Knew Bible Study Guide plus Streaming Video, Updated Edition by N. T. Wright; Michael F. Bird

ISBN-13: 9780310147046
Paperback: 176 pages
Publisher: HarperChristian Resources
Released: Jan. 20, 2026

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from NetGalley:
In this eight-session video Bible study, well-known Bible scholars N. T. Wright and Michael F. Bird team up to take you on a tour of the New Testament. You will discover things you never knew about Jesus' baptism and journey in the wilderness, the meaning behind his parables and miracles, the significance of his death and resurrection, the incredible expansion of the early church into the Greco-Roman world, and how the transforming mission of Jesus can still turn the world upside down today. Through reading the New Testament we continually discover that God indeed keeps his promises, but those promises don't always look like what people expect.

This study guide includes individual access to eight streaming video sessions, group discussion questions, Bible exploration, and video teaching notes, and personal study and reflection materials. Sessions and video run times:

The Books of the New Testament (23:00)
The World of Jesus and the Apostles (20:30)
The Life and Death of Jesus (25:30)
The Resurrection of Jesus (24:00)
The Ministry of the Apostle Paul (25:30) The Early Christians and the Church (23:00)
The Mission of the Church (26:00)
The Creation of the New Testament (23:30)



My Review:
The New Testament You Never Knew Bible Study Guide is an 8-week-long study providing an overview of the New Testament. This is an updated version and came with online streaming video. You start each session with the group/video. The video was about 20-25 minutes long and showed Bible locations while Wright and Bird provided commentary on that session's topic. The written study guide started each week with a short intro (your choice of one of two questions to discuss for 15 minutes), then there were spaces to write notes under the main topic headlines given in the video with important bits from the video recapped in sidebars. You then discuss the video for 40 minutes with provided questions for group discussion. You finish with 10 minutes for prayer on various prompted points. For each of the 5 days after the group study, you're provided with related verses to look up and asked 2 questions about those verses. You are also provided with a few paragraphs of application at the end of that session. This study covered:

Session 1 - The Books of the New Testament
Session 2 - The World of Jesus and the Apostles
Session 3 - The Life and Death of Jesus
Session 4 - The Resurrection of Jesus
Session 5 - The Ministry of the Apostle Paul
Session 6 - The Early Christians and the Church
Session 7 - The Mission of the Church
Session 8 - The Creation of the New Testament

While this study generally provided a good overview of the New Testament and how the books of New Testament came to be a part of the New Testament, they made a few claims that I didn't agree with. For example, they said that John the Baptist was baptizing in the Jordan River near Jericho because he wanted people to see his ministry as a new Exodus. Well, Exodus refers to leaving...in this case, leaving Egypt. By the time Joshua lead the Israelites across the Jordan, only a few people were left that had been a part of the Exodus. Crossing the Jordan River was entering the land of covenant promise. Also, John preached in other locations as well. Anyway, the visuals chosen for the video were interesting, especially if you knew what they were showing (as they didn't label where every visual was located).


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.