The Jesus Way series helps readers encounter big questions about the reign of God in the world. Concise and practical books deeply rooted in Anabaptist theology. Start small.

Many people are often understandably intimidated or overwhelmed by the sheer size and complexity of the Bible. But now popular author and Boston University professor Peter Kreeft has written a clear road map of the Bible, focusing his keen insight and engaging wit on the core message of each book. It won't take long for you to understand why his guide to scripture has become a best-seller! Sparkling with intelligence and Kreeft's trademark humor, You Can Understand the Bible will transform dry study into spiritually satisfying adventures in God's Word. Regardless of how you approached- or didn't approach- the Bible before, you'll come away with a new appreciation of its depth and meaning. Kreeft also provides practical guidance for praying the scriptures every day, allowing the reader to delve into the messages of scripture in a manner that will surprise, delight, and reward.

Everything you need to grasp God’s big picture in Scripture so you can dive deeper into each book of the Bible. Every single word in the Bible is powerful and purposeful. But too often we can be guilty of thinking that the details of God’s plan for us must be buried in obscurity somewhere in the vastness of the Bible—as if we’re missing God because we missed that tiny iota subscript in the original Greek. What if it is the opposite? What if our daily purpose, our next step tomorrow, our discernment in the moment comes from a broad understanding of God’s revelation in the Bible? When you grasp God’s Word holistically, your life begins to make more sense each and every day. In this book, Sam Rainer will help you Understand God’s big picture as revealed in the Bible Explore the major themes of Scripture Know quickly and easily the subject and purpose of each book of the Bible See the entire masterpiece instead of focusing on the brushstrokes. Understand the broad themes that occur from Genesis to Revelation to find God’s purpose and plan for your life.

Can you distinguish when Scripture is literal vs. figurative? Should parables, allegories, and prophecies be interpreted with the same method? If you're wondering - or want your study time to be more rewarding - here are clear explanations, guidelines, advice, and discussion questions to help you discover what the Bible really means.

We approach the Bible with American eyes and therefore completely miss or misunderstand so much of it. It is an old Middle Eastern book. To really understand it, we must try to understand their culture, theology, language, and thinking. A good translation is just the first step in understanding the Bible. Figures of speech that are second-nature to native speakers-but often bizarre to others-are especially difficult. When these are further clouded by differences in customs, grasping the original meaning can be very difficult. What most of us fail to realize is that we do not think the same way the writers of the Bible thought. The logic we find so easy and familiar did not yet exist when most of the Bible was written. Without considering those differences, we try to impose on Hebrew word-pictures our Greek logic patterns. Sometimes it works, and at other times the results are disastrous. No wonder we have loud conflict and seething separation within the church today, in direct violation of Jesus' prayer for unity within his body. This book is the result of years of answering questions from students and friends. It can be understood by anyone who can read a newspaper. The Bible is the record of God's intervention in human affairs, and where he draws a lost and hurting world to himself. Despite the critics' shrill cries, the Bible can be understood.

Did God intend His Word to be difficult for us to understand? Is it God or man's fault that the Bible remains a mysterious book to most people? Is there a clear path provided by the Author of the Bible to make it easily understandable? Can the Bible be trusted at all? Do we add or subtract from its content? Who should even study the Bible? Are you aware of the battles being waged behind the scenes since ancient times against the Bible and those behind this? Just how many gospel messages do we have in the Bible anyways? Does this message ever change to suit the demands of a particular generation? Can this message be easily identified? Can we trace the source of false doctrines? Do you really know who Jesus was? What was His message? Why did He have to die on man's behalf? Who were His true killers? Did Paul and the other apostles amend His message or did they preach the same message? Do you really understand the main purposes behind God's commandments in the Old Testament? How about really understanding the writings of Paul in particular and the rest of the apostles in the New Testament? Does the teaching of Paul contradict that of his master Jesus Christ? What was God's purpose for creating man? Does God love some groups of people more than others? What brings blessings and / or curses? What does it mean to be righteous according to the Bible? What are the characteristics of a righteous person? Just what is the New covenant and what was it intended to achieve? Who is a neighbor according to Jesus Christ? Unlike the rest, this book discards the denominational approach of studying the Bible and takes the reader on chronological steps to have the Bible decoded and plainly sets the reader on a personal journey of studying it without the aid of a Concordance or a Commentary.

Have you ever felt like you can't make sense out of the Bible but wished you could? Then this book is for you. Starting from scratch, Norton Sterrett presents the general rules for reading the Bible's ordinary language and moves on to specific principles that apply to special types of language such as parables, figures of speech, Hebrew poetry and symbols.

An Introduction for Skeptics, Seekers, and Religious Liberals A thoughtful, warm, and witty introduction Understanding the Bible is designed to help empower skeptics, seekers, nonbelievers, and those of a liberal and progressive outlook to reclaim the Bible from literalists. In making accessible some of the best contemporary historical, literary, political, and feminist readings of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures, it encourages all who would find in the biblical heritage an ally and not an enemy in the quest for a more just and humane world. Brief and to the point, it can easily be used to stimulate group discussions and personal reading of the biblical texts themselves, and is an excellent introduction to the Judeo-Christian tradition for those of other faiths. Understanding the Bible includes four preliminary chapters on the why, who, which, and how of biblical understanding, followed by eight brief thematic chapters covering the core of the Hebrew Bible and six covering the Christian scriptures, plus chronologies, maps, and helpful suggestions for further reading. John Buehrens was president of the Unitarian Universalist Association from 1993 to 2001 and is now minister of the First Parish in Needham, Massachusetts, and special assistant to the secretary general of the World Conference of Religions for Peace. He is coauthor, with Forrest Church, of A Chosen Faith (Beacon / 1617-9 / $15.00 pb). Praise for Understanding the Bible: “Biblical literacy is not just for Biblical literalists. To grasp the nuances of Western art and literature or the religious subtext of Western law and society requires a working knowledge of the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Yet, to the uninitiated, the Bible is daunting. One opens its pages only to get lost in its maze. John Buehrens has performed a great service for the many religious liberals and seekers who would explore the Bible if only they could find a trusted guide. Addressed to thoughtful skeptics who know enough to be skeptical of their own ignorance, Understanding the Bible is an accessible, unpretentious introduction to the most influential writings of all time.” --Forrest Church, author of The American Creed and Lifecraft: The Art of Meaning in the Everyday “Understanding the Bible is a thoughtful and honest introduction to the tragedy, compassion, mercy, justice, grief, and ecstasy that we share with the tellers of biblical stories and with the stories themselves. Read Buehren’s enlightening as well as entertaining work and you almost certainly will find yourself learning, thinking, and laughing as you reach for a copy of the Bible to read it again or for the first time.” --C. Welton Gaddy, President, The Interfaith Alliance "Spiritual seekers of a liberal persuasion have too often dismissed the Bible, perhaps because of unhappy childhood experiences with literal interpretations. The Bible is neither history nor science, but rather stories of human struggle and divine presence throughout that struggle. John Buehrens engages us in the powerful stories of the Judeo Christian scripture, returning to us a rich heritage without which we would be both culturally and spiritually impoverished." --Marilyn Sewell, editor of Cries of the Spirit “If with Saint Augustine, you ‘believe in thinking and wish to think in believing,” John Buehrens’ book is for you. He spells out clearly the historic importance and textual complexities of the Bible, which then enables you to stand face to face, soul to soul, with blazing biblical insights sorely needed in these dark days.” --William Sloane Coffin, author of A Passion for the Possible

The Bible: How To Read, Understand, and Study The BibleThe Bible is an incredible book. When we are discouraged it can offer us hope, when we're afraid it can help us feel reassured, and when we're excited and brimming over with joy, it has the ability to perfectly capture what we want to say. Yet sometimes it can also be confusing. If we're honest, we don't always know how to read certain passages. For example, when Jesus says: "If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another's feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do" (John 13:14-15), does this mean that we should actually wash one another's feet or that we should behave humbly with each other? Maybe at church we should have foot-washings, alongside of Bible study and evangelism classes?These are just some of the types of questions that can come up when we are trying to understand God's word. This would all be fine if we were just studying it for curiosity's sake, but chances are you also want to live it out. Whether you're a believer whose either grown up in a Christian home and come to realize how true it is, or you've recently put your faith in Jesus, and want to follow him, this is important to you. The reason is because when we love someone we want to do right by them. It is no different with our Lord. This is why the better we can understand the Scriptures, the better we will understand him, and the better we will be able to align our lives with what makes him happy. Bible Guidesis a series intended to help us learn how to better read and understand the Bible. This book gives a broad overview to the entire Bible: explaining how to read its different books so that we can read it, interpret it, and study it. Other books in the Bible Guides series will go deeper, focusing on specific books in the Bible, and giving us guidance on how they each talk and think about God. We suggest beginning with this book. If you are serious student of God's Word, this is the series for you!I promise you if you commit yourself to learning the Bible, you'll be blessed. This isn't just my word though, it's also God's:Blessed is the man who does not walkin the counsel of the wicked,Nor stand in the way of sinners,nor sit in company with scoffers.2Rather, the law of the Lord is his joy;and on his law he meditates day and night.3He is like a treeplanted near streams of water,that yields its fruit in season;Its leaves never wither;whatever he does prospers.Psalms 1:1-3The Bible: How To Read, Understand, and Study The Bible

Moses' world would hardly be recognizable today. David and Solomon, Isaiah and Nehemiah, Peter and Paul...all the biblical authors wrote to people whose mind-sets were very different from readers' today. Add to that the immensity of the Bible story...no wonder the Scriptures can be difficult to understand! Bible scholar Douglas Jacoby has taught Bible survey courses for more than 25 years, bridging the gulf between the biblical world and the twenty-first century. He uses clear, easy-to-understand language to explain the big picture of the Bible and show how each of the pieces fit together. Among the many compelling issues covered, readers will discover... the basic chronological outline of the Bible; the most important themes of the Old and New Testaments; how the Bible relates to a twenty-first-century worldview. Perfect for personal or group use, this survey removes many of the barriers that keep people from understanding and enjoying the Bible.