This revised and expanded edition of A Catholic Guide to the Bible is a guide to the basics of biblical scholarship. Offering historical backgrounds and information about the author and the literary style of the work, it provides a theological interpretation of selected passages based on the latest Scripture scholarship and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Drawing on more than 30 years experience as a priest and Catholic educator, Father Lukefahr helps ensure that the Bible will become a friend on your journey through life.
This book was very informative explaining the origins of each book in the Bible, the style in which it was written and the audience it was directed to. This will make a good reference book for future studies.
The back cover calls this a guided tour of the scriptures, and that is an apt description.
It certainly is a huge amount of information coming at you all at once, but I found it made the scriptures much less intimidating for me. This book begs to be read in small doses over a period of time. To read not only the information in this text, but also the selections of the scriptures recommended in the chapters, and to work on the exercises, took me about 3 months.
I am a Catholic Christan who loves God, and I wanted to learn Scripture, but I was intimidated beginning what seemed like a huge project. This was the perfect place for me to start.
If you want a good overview of the Bible without needing to buy a commentary to hit on the high points, this is fantastic. It sums up major themes, author, and historical context. Dei Verbum states that when Catholics read scripture we are to take the history and context of the whole scripture into account. This is a great book to walk people through, especially those not familiar with scripture at all.
Okay, so I only got a quarter of the way through this before I had to return it to the church library, so I guess it was not riveting, but who would expect that? The reason I got it in the first place was to find some answers to questions I had regarding Catholic Church beliefs about the bible. I found my answers and happily found that they mesh very well with my own thoughts and beliefs. If anyone is interested in further explanation, send me an e-mail!
Interesting, and I have enjoyed this entire series. The only problem is that there is a tremendous amount of information condensed in short chapters. It is a good introduction for each book of the bible, if you are studying the bible on your own or as part of a class.