John Dickson - A Doubter’s Guide to the Bible

ENDORSEMENTS FOR DOUBTERS GUIDE

Making sense of the Bible in a skeptical world is hard work. John Dicksons The Doubters Guide to the Bible is a wonderful tour guide through the high points of Scripture, dealing directly with the questions people have while explaining the gist of what is going on in Scripture. It is a tour well worth taking because it is led by such a competent guide.

Darrell Bock, Senior Research Professor of New Testament, Dallas Theological Seminary

Even though the Bible is the bestselling and the most influential book of all time, it can be a daunting read: hundreds of colorful characters, thousands of years, dozens of countries, sixty-six books. Its a common experience for even regular readers to feel lost and to ask, Where am I now? Why are we in Egypt? Why in Babylon? Why in Rome? Who is Abraham again? Who is David? Who is John the Baptist? What its all got to do with Jesus anyway? Dicksons A Doubters Guide to the Bible is the ultimate map for reading the Bible. He gives both seasoned and new Bible readers the requisite knowledge, the rich backstory, and a sense of where things are heading, so that youll never feel lost again. Everything you need for a satisfying journey through the Book of Books in one slim volume!

Dr. Brian Rosner, Principal of Ridley College, Melbourne

A Doubters Guide to the Bible is a delight to read. Dickson clearly and winsomely takes us through the overarching narrative of the Bible, showing how all the major themes and plot-turns weave together as part of Gods salvation story, and addressing challenging questions with respect and insight along the way. This book offers an engaging introduction to the story of the Bible for Christians and skeptics alike.

Justin S. Holcomb, author of Know the Heretics and Know the Creeds and Councils; professor of Christian thought, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

John Dickson takes readers on an engaging journey through biblical history, inviting his audience to wrestle with various counter-perspectives along the way. He is a passionate historian and winsome communicator who has lectured alongside my colleagues and me in various global settings. His book is a helpful and unique introduction to the Bible for skeptics and believers alike.

Ravi Zacharias, author and speaker

ZONDERVAN

A Doubters Guide to the Bible

Copyright 2014 by John Dickson

ePub Edition November 2014: ISBN 978-0-310-51844-0

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Dickson, John P., 1967

A doubters guide to the Bible : inside historys bestseller for believers and skeptics / John Dickson.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-310-51843-3 (softcover)

1. Bible Introductions. I. Title.

BS475.3.D53 2015

220.6'1 dc23

2014021663

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Studio Gearbox

Interior design: David Conn

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 /DCI/ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For Elsie Faithorn who taught me The Lords Prayer before I knew anything about the Lord or prayer

CONTENTS

Thanks to

Casey Ankers for transcribing the rambling lectures that got this book going

Kate Wilcox for editorial and research assistance

Claire Fern for fresh eyes on the Bible

J. R. for masterful library support

Jenny Glen for ten wonderful years working as my assistant

T he Bible is historys number one bestseller by a factor of about ten. Six billion copies have been sold. Admittedly, it had a head start on other books; it was the first item off the modern printing press. But it has been Number One every year since records have been kept except for 2007, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows topped the list, with forty-four million sales. Unlike most bestsellers, however, the Bible actually increases sales each year. Harry Potters forty-four million in a year is spectacular, but no doubt it dropped to about ten million the following year, one million the next, and now Deathly Hallows probably sells in the mere hundreds of thousands.

The latest figures for the Bible are hard to fathom. It sold thirty million copies in 2009 alone. That is 82,000 copies a day, 3,400 copies an hour. That means someone gets a Bible every second perhaps sixty copies have changed hands since you started reading this page. If we were to include the sales of individual portions of the Bible, such as books containing just the Gospels (the four biographies of Jesus), you have to multiply these numbers by a factor of twelve. The Bible is available in 2,500 languages, Harry Potter in just fifty-five.

WHY IS THE BIBLE SO POPULAR?

One answer to this question about the Bibles popularity is linked to the churchs power. Some people think of a domineering Vatican or some dark right-wing lobby imposing the Bible wherever it goes. I think that gets things the wrong way around. The church does not create the Bible; the Bible creates the church. Proof of this in the modern world is the situation in China. No one argues the Bible is being imposed on the Chinese, who have been under atheistic communist rule for decades. However, just recently, Amity Press in Nanjing had a public celebration for the 100 millionth Bible published in China. Today this monumental printing company, which I recently had the pleasure of visiting, produces twelve million Bibles a year, making up one third of all Bibles published in the world. Such figures make it difficult to sustain the argument that the church is imposing its holy book. The Bible has its own life, its own uncanny attraction.

I believe the Bible is so popular and influential because it tells a story we recognize as true. I dont just mean it tells an accurate story though it is telling that the Bible stands tall even after more than two hundred years of secular criticism. What I mean is that its account of humanity and the world we live in rings true. Reading the Bible can be like meeting someone you dont know who, oddly, somehow seems to know you deeply. It is uncanny. Sometimes when you read the Bible, you find yourself asking, How does this book know that about me? How does it know that about our world especially when it was written so long ago?

When you read the Bible, it is as though it reads you. And it is my hope that as you dip your toe into the Bibles story and viewpoint, you will find yourself feeling that the Good Book knows more about the world and about you than any normal book does.

MY GOAL

This little book is an ambitious attempt to unpack the whole Bible or, perhaps more accurately, to give a sense of the whole biblical narrative and of the theology that emerges from it. More than that, I want to offer a snapshot of the worldview and lifestyle the Bible inspires.