Miller - The complete guide to the Bible

Copyright 2007 by Stephen M. Miller

The author is represented by The Steve Laube Agency LLC, Phoenix, Arizona.

ISBN 978-1-59789-374-9 (Print)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted for commercial purposes, except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without written permission of the publisher.

Churches and other non-commercial interests may reproduce portions of this book without the express written permission of Barbour Publishing, provided that the text does not exceed 500 words and that the text is not material quoted from another publisher. When reproducing text from this book, include the following credit line: From The Complete Guide to the Bible by Stephen M. Miller, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. Wheaton, Illinois 60189, U.S.A. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked CEV are from the Contemporary English Version, Copyright 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NCV are taken from the New Century Version of the Bible, copyright 1987, 1988, 1991, Word Publishing. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked NRSV are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the HOLY BIBLE , NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. NIV . Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked THE MESSAGE are from THE MESSAGE. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Front cover images: Camel caravan, Library of Congress/G. Eric and Edith Matson; God, the Eternal Father, by Giovanni Francesco Barbien Guercino, Alinari / Art Resource, NY; The Christian Martyrs Last Prayer, 1863-83 (oil on canvas), Gerome, Jean Leon (1824-1904) / Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA / The Bridgeman Art Library.

Back cover images: Romans parchment, Chester Beatty Library; Rachel, William Whitaker; Genesis World map, Rani Calvo / Geological Survey of Israel / rendered by Stephen M. Miller (ark, Edward Hicks / Wikimedia; Eve, Lucien Levy-Dhurmer / Wikimedia); Corinth ruin, Elveoflight / Wikimedia.

Published by Barbour Publishing, Inc., P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683 www.barbourbooks.com

Our mission is to publish and distribute inspirational products offering exceptional value and biblical encouragement to the masses.

I spent a year working full-time on this bookwith occasional workday breaks to look out the window.

No, I wasnt bird-watching, goofing off, or giving my mind a place to wander. Just the opposite. I was trying to keep my head focused.

How does looking out the window do that?

Well, sometimes I get stumped over what words to type. Ive been a Christian since I was a little boy. Im used to church jargon, pulpit clichs, and Bible scholar lingowhich I call academese (ACK-uh-duh-MEEZE). Rhymes with sneeze.

So its easy for me use the Christian tech talk I grew up with. Trouble is, its a foreign language to the people I want to see reading this book.

I didnt write this for folks who understand Christian jargon. I wrote it for curious people who have more questions about the Bible than answers.

Thats a tough crowd.

But I figure if I can get them to read this book, maybe the Bible old-timers will read it, too. Who knows, maybe both groups will enjoy seeing ancient ideas all dressed up in fresh words that make sense today.

So when I was writing, I looked out the window to remind myself who I was writing for.

I work out of a home office. When I look out the window, I see a cul-de-sac of neighborsmost of whom I know, and most of whom are not Christians. When I back my car down the driveway on Sunday mornings to go to church, theres no rush hour going on. More like a hush hour. Dead silence. No movement but me and my family disturbing the peace while my neighbors obey at least one Sabbath Day commandment: rest.

I write for people in bed on Sunday mornings.

Im hoping that once they get vertical theyll come across this book somewhere. Maybe as a curiosity that catches their eye while theyre trolling aisles in a store. Or surfing Web sites. Or maybe itll come in the mail as a gift.

Im hoping theyll take a peek inside to discover an easy-reading Bible reference book that

• looks like a magazine,
• treats the Bible with the respect due a 2,000-year-old, and
• explores different opinions about what the Bible is saying.

If youre one of those Sunday morning, sleepy-eyed readers curious about the Bible and the God behind it, I have a confession. I thought I was donating a year of my life to youa sacrifice of sorts. Boy, was I wrong. No one spends a year in the Bible only to come out on the short end of the deal.

If this book Ive written leads you into the Bibleand I sure hope it doesyoull see what I mean.

Lots of people helped bring this book to daylight. From midnight to dawn, here are a few.

Steve Laube, my agent. He believed in the idea enough to risk his time and money pitching it to publishers.

Paul K. Muckley, Barbour editor. He liked the idea enough to pitch it to his publishing board committee.

Linda A. Miller, my wife and first-round proofreader. She catches most of my mistakes and happily tells me about them. I smile and thank her. Well, usually.

Jason Rovenstine, design director. He envisioned this book as something colorful and gorgeousthen he found the folks to bring his vision to life.

Catherine Thompson, book designer. She created a fresh canvas of art with each turn of the page. With such a design-intensive book, she and her colleague (below) had to pull some overtime. So Id like to thank them both at time and a half.

Ashley Schrock, design associate and map czar. Okay, I made up that second title because she worked so hard refining the maps. She did the same with other art in the book, too.

George Knight, Kelly Williams, Connie Troyer, and Annie Tipton, who all contributed to the editing and production process.

Shalyn Hooker, marketing manager. She spread the word that this is a book worth reading.

God bless each one of these people.

And God bless you as you read this book, and more importantly as you read his Book.

Stephen M. Miller

stephenmillerbooks.com