John H. Walton - The Bible Story Handbook: A Resource for Teaching 175 Stories from the Bible

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An excellent resource for anyone teaching or preaching the Bible. While written for teachers of children, the Waltons provide clear and accurate exegetical understanding of the major stories of the Bible that will strengthen any teacher or preacher.

Craig Williford, President, Trinity International University

For too long, Christians have been taught Bible stories as stand-alone episodes that provide moral instruction and encouragement based on imitating human characters in the stories. John and Kim Walton provide welcome correction! The opening chapters show us the real reason for teaching Bible storiesthe revelation of God himselfand the big picture of the Bible, into which all the individual stories must fit. Not only teachers of children but anyone who uses Bible stories to teach others should examine his or her use of narrative passages by the guidelines in this book.

Starr Meade, Christian school and home school teacher; author,
Mighty Acts of God and The Most Important Thing Youll Ever Study

Wow! What a resource! The Waltons provide us with an invaluable tool for the person who teaches the Bible to anyone of any age in any context. The Waltons focus on the biblical story, keeping it Gods story, making God the hero of every story, just as the original writers intended. This work is a gift to Sunday school teachers, curriculum writers, and parents who want informed, rich perspectives on the stories within the biblical metanarrative. The Introduction alone provides a vital background for reading the Scriptures. For a scholar like John, with his expertise in Old Testament studies, and someone with the experience of Kim to corroborate on a work of this magnitude is a timeless gift for the teaching ministries of the church of Jesus Christ.

Scottie May, Associate Professor of Christian Formation and Ministry,
Wheaton College; co-author, Children Matter

Ted Ward once asserted that Christian education is neither. For generations, the church has outsourced responsibility for Bible learning and faith development to curriculum publishers. However, responsible publishers have never presumed that their material can be much more than introduction to the Bible. If Christian education is impoverished, the church, not the publisher, is responsible. This book looks like a curriculum. It is not. It is a description of a method, with abundant examples, that may assist congregations to become hermeneutical communities exercising responsible use of Scripture as they design learning experiences for the people of God.

Linda Cannell, Academic Dean, North Park Theological Seminary

In an effort to make the Bible relevant to children, too often curriculum writers and parents have focused on the wrong issue, which does violence to the text as they seek to make it relate to children. Bible scholar John Walton and his wife, Kim, have responded with this volume that speaks directly to the well-intentioned but nevertheless abusive use of the Bible, offering succinct insight into biblical stories, helping parents and teachers find the actual meaning of the text to enable responsible teaching. I highly recommend this excellent book for those who want to teach the Bible insightfully to children and to adults. They help us all to take the text seriously, letting it speak as God intended.

Perry G. Downs, Professor of Educational Ministries,
Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

All too often we who teach children have come to the Bible with an agenda. We come with a lesson in mind and then search for a Bible story that might be used as a sort of proof text for the lesson with nary a thought of the real intent of the passage. This is a wonderful resource for parents and teachers to help them remain true to the biblical text while providing valuable help in communicating truth to children. It can be used as a supplement to classroom curriculum or as a guide in teaching children in the home. I recommend this book to everyone who understands the importance of clearly and accurately communicating Gods Word, especially to the youngest of Gods family.

Diane Jordan, Director of Childrens Ministry, College Church,
Wheaton, Illinois

The Bible Story Handbook: A Resource for Teaching 175 Stories from the Bible

Copyright 2010 by John H. Walton and Kim E. Walton

Published by Crossway

1300 Crescent Street
Wheaton, Illinois 60187

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, except as provided for by USA copyright law.

Why Do We Teach Bible Stories?adapted from J. H. Walton, L. D. Bailey, and C. Williford, Bible-Based Curricula and the Crisis of Scriptural Authority, Christian Education Journal 13 (Spring 1993). Used by permission of the original publisher.

The Big Picture of the Bible taken from Survey of the Old Testament, 3d ed by Andrew Hill and John Walton. Copyright 2009 by Andrew Hill and John Walton. Used by permission of Zondervan (http://www.zondervan.com).

Maps and Illustrations taken from the English Standard Version Study Bible (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2008).

Cover design: Brand Navigation

First printing 2010

Printed in the United States of America

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version), copyright 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 Biblica. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. The NIV and New International Version trademarks are registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica. Use of either trademark requires the permission of Biblica.

Scripture references marked NLT are from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL, 60189.
All rights reserved.

Scripture references marked NKJV are from The New King James Version. Copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked TNIV are from the Holy Bible, Todays New International Version. Copyright 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan.
All rights reserved.

Trade paperback ISBN: 978-1-4335-0648-2
PDF ISBN: 978-1-4335-0649-9
Mobipocket ISBN: 978-1-4335-0650-5
ePub ISBN: 978-1-4335-2329-8

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Walton, John H., 1952

The Bible story handbook : a resource for teaching 175 stories from the Bible / John H. Walton and Kim E. Walton.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN: 978-1-4335-0648-2 (tpb)