Knowing the Bible 101: A Guide to God's Word in Plain Language

by Bruce Bickel, Stan Jantz

With extensive biblical knowledge and a fresh, contemporary perspective , Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz provide an easy-to-understand approach to God's written message as This is a must-have resource for readers who have been planning to get serious about Bible study—longtime believers, new Christians, Bible study leaders, and even seekers who want to read the Bible for the first time. Formerly titled Bruce & Stan's® Guide to the Bible .

Genres: Christian, Religion, School

336 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2003

Reviews

[Mike McCollum · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book accomplishes what it sets out to do. It gives the reader an introduction/overview of the whole Bible. It uses language that is approachable to most readers of English…including those unfamiliar with church jargon.

This should take longer to read than the size suggests because it includes an inline guide to reading key chapters of the Bible. The reader will get much more value by incorporating those chapters.

[Adam Jarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a somewhat lighthearted, basic, easy read overview of the Bible. The authors are knowledgeable, and explain things in a very simple, big picture format.

I think this book would be good for a buddy you hang out with who is interested in the Bible, but not looking for anything formal. It reads like a casual, backyard, barbecue Bible study.

This could be a somewhat difficult read for someone who knows English as a second language.

I appreciated that authors also give many book suggestions throughout if the reader does want to dive deeper into a particular subject.

[Kristi Totty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great introduction to the Bible. Their writing style is very conversational and easy to follow. They do a fabulous job of explaining how the whole Bible fits together. I highly, highly recommend this book to anyone who follows Jesus. I picked it up after I'd been studying the Bible for years, and still found the information very helpful and clarifying. We are never too far along in our journey to pick this book up.

[Amy Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book for a small group Bible study. Lots of great information, easy to teach, and fun to read. There's a good amount of history without being dry and a fair amount of humor as well, which keeps what could be a tedious topic light-hearted and engaging. I'll totally use this book the next time I lead a Bible class.

[Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

WARNING: NOT for the armchair theologian. If arguing semantics in your small group floats your boat or you are "churchy" by self-description, then just back away and get back to your Greek lessons. This book gives an excellent overview of scripture, especially for the new or young believer. I use it in my homeschool with my 9th graders, just to make sure they have a solid introductory view of the Word, but I would not hesitate to give a copy to anyone even remotely interested in learning more about the bible. Readable. Understandable. Outstanding.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed really this immensely. I learned alot and look forward to reading the rest of the work in the series.

[Tori Friedlander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book for new Christians, informative and easy to read, packed with good information, reading lists, and study plans.

[Amy T. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great. It essentially goes through the purpose of the Bible, the history behind it, it's validity, and then summarizes it book by book in casual terms. The authors' writing style was engaging and conversational and made me smile and laugh occasionally as they outlined every highlight the Bible had, with loving humor at times. If you have studied the Bible in an academic setting at some point, this is probably not the book for you. But for anyone else, this is a fantastic book. I think it is particularly good for anyone who is very unfamiliar with the Bible or is not a Christian and is interested in getting a summary of it. However, not being a Biblical scholar but being someone who had studied the Bible extensively on my own, I actually really appreciated this book and I actually learned a lot and appreciated how the authors went about presenting His Word. There were a lot of points they made, particularly regarding the Old Testament, that I had missed in my own readings of the Bible. Most importantly, they presented His Word faithfully particularly focusing on what was most important: that every story centered and culminated on the coming of the Savior Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection, and His Second Coming which we are now waiting for. These authors are not Biblical scholars, which I actually appreciated (they are a lawyer and a businessman who seem brilliant and have studied the Bible on their own time), but they are definitely the real deal and know the Gospel. They present it in a great way to make this resource worth anyone's time. I definitely recommend it!

[Alec · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow! The fact that this has 4 stars says a lot about the state of American (presumably) biblical and theological literacy. It was so simple and used imprecise and unclear language that often what was said obfuscated the truth. I couldn't recommend this book to anyone, even the most new Christians. There are other books that are better that introduce the Bible and Theology to people. And as to the humor elements, they just weren't funny.

I should add that the authors are an attorney and a marketing consultant. It seems what they lack in academic credentials they make up for in self-promotion. The book is full of "suggestions" to buy their other books...and what do you know, they keep making money. Find a book written by someone who actually studies the Bible as a career, you will be better off.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was used as a textbook for my Intro to the Bible class. Although parts of it were very interesting, and other parts helped manage Biblical chapters into cohesive bits, what irked me the most was the self-promotion that was plugged into almost every chapter for another book in the "Christianity 101" series or another book written by the authors.

[Laurie Leney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am enjoying the big picture summaries, the sense of humor and the way the material is organized. It has increased my love for God as seen through the Old Testament which has been challenging. Our discussions and lectures have been awesome!

[Fallon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book for a class I was taking. This is an excellent book for someone beginning their journey in the Bible. I’ve been reading the Bible for many years now and enjoyed having a good summary at my fingertips.

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It was an entertaining breakdown and summary of the Bible.

[Todd Burgett · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great overview of what the Bible is all about - easy to read and understand. A little week in some areas but great for new or young Christians to grasp Gods Word.

[Sue Meland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for people exploring the Christian faith. It is humorous, factual, asks and answers great questions. Highly recommend to those who are searching... great gift too!

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

We read this book as a small group in our church... it has some interesting bible trivia-type facts and the authors are quite conversational, but we found it to be EXCRUTIATINGLY simple. We decided that if you're completely, totally, brand-new to the bible (like never opened one before), and if you're NOT skeptical of Christianity, that this could be a useful book for learning more about the book called The Bible.

As veteraned believers and all around churchy-people, we found ourselves debating some of what they said as being on the fringe of theologically, um, omissive, for lack of better descriptive.

We had to cram the last 4 chapters in all in 1 week so we could finish on time to join a whole-church study. The chapters we gave only a fly-by were the ones we enjoyed the most. We decided this is a book to read at 30,000 feet. The fly-by view is great.

[Terri Palermo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the entire Christianity 101 series and this one in particular is a great foundation to have on hand. I can see where I'll have this always on hand to turn to when I have any questions during my Bible study.

[Hank Pharis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in two hours and didn't learn a thing. BUT this book is great at what it does. It is an excellent introduction to and overview of the Bible for those who know almost nothing about it. Well written.

[Eversindustries]

heel leuk om te lezen. En handig! Maar het komt niet hierdoor dat de Bijbel me gaat aanspreken hoor :) het maakt het in de context begrijpbaar.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

little remedial at points for my taste but good overview esp for those new to The Book. lots of nuggets of insight sprinkled in.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very easy read. Bible 101. Would be great for a new believer.

[Jane Riebe-Tritten · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is an excellent book to have & to keep as a reference.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very handy guide to knowing the books of the bible simply and easily.

[Jamie Bates · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book for a new Christian, or one wanting a brief overview of the bible. Informative, engaging, and concise.