Stan Campbell - The Complete Idiots Concise Guide to the Bible

You probably know more about the Bible than you realize. Most people know some of the basic Old Testament stories, a few of the Ten Commandments, many of the things Jesus said and did, and which verse the guy in the funny wig holds up at football games. In addition, the Bibles influence on our culture is reflected in our everyday conversation.

Yet in spite of how much or how little we know about the Bible, most of us realize that there is much, much more we dont know. Unlike other books, the Bible can be quite intimidating in several ways: its length, its language, the unfamiliarity of the people and places it describes, and its variety of writing styles. Even when we think were clear about what its saying, there are parts where the content itself can make us uncomfortable.

This book was written to reduce the intimidation factor of the Bible. Because you already know something, the challenge of improving your familiarity with the Bible is simply a matter of gradually adding small bits of new information. Youll be surprised at how quickly you can develop a basic understanding of the Bible as a whole.

The authors would like to suggest some different options to help you benefit from the Bible. You wont find any recipes in this book, but we hope that your life will be enriched in numerous other ways. Whether you want to read the Bible in search of help for whats ailing you, or whether just out of curiosity you want to know more about it, this guide is a starting point to help direct you in your search.

Extras

As you go through this guide, look for the following sidebars that (we hope) will be helpful in better understanding the material.

POTENT QUOTABLES

Jeopardy! has its Potent Potables category; our Potent Quotables will focus on familiar biblical quotes or especially significant passages.

WHAT SAYEST THOU?

In other words, Whatcha think about this? Weve tried to answer frequently asked questions as we come to them. Some such questions are favorites of Bible skeptics; others are included simply for clarity.

SNAPSHOTS

We are attempting to present the big picture of the Bible in our running text. But sometimes space gets tight and theres only room for a snapshot. These will refer you to fascinating stories or passages that you can delve into on your own.

MANNA FROM HEAVEN

The first time people saw manna (their daily supply of food for 40 years), they called it by the expression in their language meaning Whats it? Our Manna from Heaven pops up in spots where you may need further explanation of who, what, or where something or someone is.

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In This Chapter

• A Bible IQ quiz
• How the Bible can benefit us in practical ways
• How the Bible went from a bunch of manuscripts to a bunch of different modern translations
• Some factors to consider when selecting a Bible

Most major religions have their big books:

• Think Judaism, and you envision Jewish rabbis showing great respect for the Toraha well-preserved scroll containing the first five books of the Hebrew Scriptures.
• These days we hear a lot about the Koran (Quran) and how the Moslems revere it and rally around it. They believe it to be a record of the spoken word of God.
• The Hindus have the Bhagavad Gita, among a number of other works considered holy.

And the Christian church, of course, has the Bible.

But the Bible is becoming more and more a conundrum in our society. Most of the world classifies the United States and certain other countries as Christian nations. Yet, while we would expect most members of any Moslem nation to endorse the teachings of the Koran, and we think nothing of expecting every Jew to express allegiance to the Torah, we certainly dont anticipate the same degree of loyalty between every U.S. citizen and the Bible.

At one time U.S. laws and customs were presumed to be built on biblical values and teachings, but now its simply presumptuous to think thats what every citizen desires. In 200-plus years of freedom, the United States has become a great melting pot that has issued an open invitation to the worlds huddled masses yearning to breathe free. As a result, our Christian nation is now more accurately a m[accent]lange of religions (as well as those who prefer to practice no religion). Consequently, the Bible means little if anything to many such people. Similar shifts in spiritual attitudes can be seen in other Christian countries.