Book Review : The Bible and the Land (Ancient Context, Ancient Faith) : Gary Burge

If you've ever seen an illustration of "How to Prioritize Your Time" that involves big rocks, little rocks, and sand, you'll appreciate what Gary Burge sought to do with the Ancient Context, Ancient Faith series.  And if you're not familiar with that illustration, here's a quick catch-up: the gist of it is that if you have a jar and want to fit in all three components discussed above, there is really only one best way to do it and that's by getting the biggest things in first and working your way down to the fine grain sand that ends up filling in all the gaps.  Once you get the main priorities taken care of, you can keep working down until you get to work on finer details.  The same can be said for how we relate to our knowledge of Scripture: we start out with the big rocks of the gospel itself and the gospel's implications for living as the set apart people of the Triune God and continue having the gaps filled in with broader and deeper knowledge of the things of God.

Dr. Burge has provided, in a series of short and engaging books released over the past few years, some great pebbles to help fill in gaps of understanding that are naturally present for those living outside the time and culture in which the Scriptures were first penned.  This series of books, spanning six volumes, is written by Drs. Burge, Timothy Laniak, and Bradley Nassif with the goal of exploring "themes from the biblical world that are often misunderstood."  Think of the books as literary tour guides that have the benefit of being well-researched and written by men with years of study informing what they're passing along to you.  That's at the heart of this series, Ancient Context, Ancient Faith, published by Zondervan.

The first book released in this series is titled The Bible and the Land.  Don't look for any hidden meanings in the title.  Though you'll be helped to better understand the "lay of the land," you won't find it wrapped up in flashy wrapping paper.  In that sense, the title of the book communicates fairly clearly the content you'll find: how the land informs the imagery of the Scriptures and the experience of the folks you'll find throughout the Bible.  And, frankly, that's right on par with what a series like this should be getting across.  With far too many people making bizarre claims that misinform the genuine believers looking for more helpful Bible background, this book camps out on appropriate themes and treats them solidly.

The book weighs in at just over 100 pages and is populated with pictures on most every page.  This makes the book very readable and particularly readable on a casual (pick-up/put-down) basis.  The chapters address the following themes, beyond the Introduction: "The Land," "Wilderness," "Shepherds," "Rock," "Water," "Bread," and "Names."  As with the title of the book, the chapters aren't intended to grip your attention.  However, the content is very helpful and serves to fill in gaps that may exist between how you read a passage and the richer background informing it.  A good example of that background-informing helpfulness comes in Burge's comparison (with pictures) of a traditional loaf of Israeli bread and the limestone common in Israel.  He helpfully draws out the comparable appearance of the two and then draws our attention to both the wilderness temptation recorded in Matthew 4:3 and the Savior's words on the Father's graciousness toward His prayerful people in Matthew 7:9.

Altogether, the book is helpful, clear, and readable.  The presence of so many pictures helps move the background material away from remaining abstract and puts "a face to a name."  And with the relatively short length of the book, it's hard to be disinterested in finishing it.  The Bible and the Land is a useful volume for filling in the gaps and sets the tone for the rest of the series.  The book (as well as the other volumes in the series) would do well for personal Bible study, homeschooling, or even for use in mentoring/discipleship.  Thanks to the folks at Zondervan for supplying me with a complimentary copy, without the expectation of positive review.

Book Review : frameworks : Eric Larson

While I was in seminary, we were frequently assigned an Old Testament or New Testament Introduction book as a bird's eye view of the biblical books covered in the course.  My experience with these "Introductions," however, made clear to me that the introductory nature  of those volumes referred more to the relatively short treatment of each biblical book and not the quality or accessibility of the treatment.  Which means that an average OT/NT Introduction book may very well be intimidating for folks who are genuinely seeking a better understanding of Scripture, yet don't have the supporting resources provided in a seminary environment.

This presents a fairly wide gap in the literature available to the vast majority of Christians seeking help in understanding the literary background of the most important Book around.  The Bible is the very Word of God and careful handling of the Word shouldn't be alone practiced by those men called to shepherd the local church in pastoral ministry.  The Scriptures necessitate responsible handling by all, which can be helped by the responsible use of a volume that treats the big picture, background, authorship, and intent of the books comprising the Old and New Testaments.  In writing frameworks, Eric Larson seeks to fill this void with an accessible resource he labels "An Extraordinary Guide for Ordinary People."

Mr. Larson's efforts are, by and large, helpful and function as they are intended.  Nowhere does he intimate that this book is intended to replace Guthrie's New Testament Introduction.  His style of writing is accessible (more on that below) and the book's structure is memorable and helpful.  Though the book's content comes in around 350 pages, it is graphically rich and presents helpful images that capture the theme he intends to communicate.  The scholarship draws water up from disputed wells so as not to confuse readers with unnecessary adventures into academia.  It is, largely, a fairly helpful resource.

There are a couple things that I would encourage future efforts in this vein to avoid.  Larson's writing, intentionally accessible, is, at times, a bit too casual.  Titus is compared to Red Adair and, while I understand his rationale, this example - along with others - displays a bit too much liberty taken in characterizing the people and literature of the New Testament.  It is memorable, but may not be helpful and accurate in its memorability.  Additionally, while I recognize the desire to avoid over-complicating issues of scholarship, there is a lack of complexity to his treatment that may oversimplify some things.  The only issue I found with the content itself was what seemed to be a portrayal of the Law and Old Testament institutions that was only abolished by Christ instead of fulfilled.  It might be me being picky, but I believe it makes a big difference when we look at the Old Testament finding its fulfillment in the Savior, rather than a sense of abandonment for the New.  Otherwise, frameworks would find a decent home in most any evangelical church.

Altogether, Mr. Larson has done a very decent job in providing a resource to Christians seeking to gain a better understanding of Scripture without the intimidating likeness belonging to a number of resources that are otherwise very helpful.  This book, with the slight reservations mentioned above, would do well for any Christian to pick up and gain a more helpful understanding of the New Testament.  Thank you to the publisher for providing a complimentary review copy, which was provided to me free from expectation of a positive review or recommendation.