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The Biographical Bible: Exploring the Biblical Narrative from Adam and Eve to John of Patmos
The Biographical Bible offers an engaging overview of Scripture through the lens of the fascinating figures who populate its pages. Through insightful reflections on the lives of over eighty individuals, this unique book captures the essence of these colorful characters, warts and all. They are people who have much in common with twenty-first century people of faith. Here the reader will find a lively and insightful narrative that brings the Bible to life as no other book does.
448 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 2004
236 people are currently reading
197 people want to read
About the author
Ruth A. Tucker
35 books40 followersRuth A. Tucker (PhD, Northern Illinois University) has taught mission studies and church history at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Calvin Theological Seminary. She is the author of dozens of articles and eighteen books, including the award-winning From Jerusalem to Irian Jaya. Visit her website at www.RuthTucker.com.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 7, 2014
The Biographical Bible: Exploring the Narrative from Adam and Eve to John of Patmos was probably one of the most interesting Bible reading experiences I have ever embarked on. I found this book to be both engaging and informative, but it was also unusual.
The Positives:
- It offered a chronological approach to Bible review.
- It cited several references and statements of assessment from prominent books and theologians throughout.
- It included maps and pictures so that the reader might be able to better comprehend an introduced subject matter.
- Topics of narrative discussion included familiar and less familiar subjects.
- The author provided a condensed summary at the end of each section.
- Further reading indications were noted per chapter.
- The outline was attention-grabbing.(Iloved the way Tucker broke down her "talking points.")
- The sections containing the notes and index were quite thorough.
The So So's:
- The book had a bit of a contemporary voice mixed with the historical.
- The e-reader format... This was a lot of information to digest. (Reader options need to be strongly considered on the whole.)
The Negatives:
- While the author initially indicated that she stayed pure and authentic with her presentation of material, I found this to be somewhat of a stretch. Even from the beginning, I could not help but hear her voice, her thoughts, and her take on matters. This remained the case throughout the material.
- The injection of the humorous tones in the reading was not to my liking. I found it to be corny at times.
- It seemed that many presumptions were made as it related to the whys of what someone may have done. I felt that this was confusing and that it might very well lead someone astray on their quest to understand Bible figures.
Other:
- Personally, I would have liked to have direct Scripture references per chapter to go along with the discussed subjects as they were introduced. Even with a narrative approach to the Bible, this could be a plus for anyone intent on studying Bible material. It was tedious going from front to back in terms of the notations. This might be easier to manage with a copy in hand, but for an e-reader, it was not fun.
All in all, I liked this book. I could see myself using it as a quick reference for a brief overview on a particular man or woman from the Bible. Whether or not I would recommend it to others is still under review.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommend: TBD
Bookshelf Worthy: Still under consideration
Options: Quick reference resource
Preference: Softcover versus e-copy or hardcover
A complimentary e-copy of this title was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The words I have shared are my own constructive critique. I was neither compensated for this review, nor was I expected to give a positive review.
The Positives:
- It offered a chronological approach to Bible review.
- It cited several references and statements of assessment from prominent books and theologians throughout.
- It included maps and pictures so that the reader might be able to better comprehend an introduced subject matter.
- Topics of narrative discussion included familiar and less familiar subjects.
- The author provided a condensed summary at the end of each section.
- Further reading indications were noted per chapter.
- The outline was attention-grabbing.(Iloved the way Tucker broke down her "talking points.")
- The sections containing the notes and index were quite thorough.
The So So's:
- The book had a bit of a contemporary voice mixed with the historical.
- The e-reader format... This was a lot of information to digest. (Reader options need to be strongly considered on the whole.)
The Negatives:
- While the author initially indicated that she stayed pure and authentic with her presentation of material, I found this to be somewhat of a stretch. Even from the beginning, I could not help but hear her voice, her thoughts, and her take on matters. This remained the case throughout the material.
- The injection of the humorous tones in the reading was not to my liking. I found it to be corny at times.
- It seemed that many presumptions were made as it related to the whys of what someone may have done. I felt that this was confusing and that it might very well lead someone astray on their quest to understand Bible figures.
Other:
- Personally, I would have liked to have direct Scripture references per chapter to go along with the discussed subjects as they were introduced. Even with a narrative approach to the Bible, this could be a plus for anyone intent on studying Bible material. It was tedious going from front to back in terms of the notations. This might be easier to manage with a copy in hand, but for an e-reader, it was not fun.
All in all, I liked this book. I could see myself using it as a quick reference for a brief overview on a particular man or woman from the Bible. Whether or not I would recommend it to others is still under review.
Rating: 3.5/5
Recommend: TBD
Bookshelf Worthy: Still under consideration
Options: Quick reference resource
Preference: Softcover versus e-copy or hardcover
A complimentary e-copy of this title was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The words I have shared are my own constructive critique. I was neither compensated for this review, nor was I expected to give a positive review.
April 9, 2020
Biography of people in the bible
Very informative. It opened up the bible , and put flesh on the prophets and diciples. I highly recommend it.
Very informative. It opened up the bible , and put flesh on the prophets and diciples. I highly recommend it.
December 4, 2022
A unique re-telling of the Bible, The Biographical Bible focuses on the characters who comprise and compose the stories of the Bible. By trying to get into their shoes, we read the Bible from more of a ground-level perspective.
The biggest benefit of this book is giving us a glimpse of what the lives of Bible characters likely were like as they lived inside of the stories we have read about for years. The disadvantage is that sometimes Ms. Tucker takes liberties with the gaps in the biblical stories. While some of those liberties seem like fair assumptions, other times those assumptions seem to step on other biblical verses or concepts leaving the reader to wonder if we should really trust the ground-level view we are given.
That said, The Biographical Bible is a fresh read through the Bible, insightful, and engaging.
The biggest benefit of this book is giving us a glimpse of what the lives of Bible characters likely were like as they lived inside of the stories we have read about for years. The disadvantage is that sometimes Ms. Tucker takes liberties with the gaps in the biblical stories. While some of those liberties seem like fair assumptions, other times those assumptions seem to step on other biblical verses or concepts leaving the reader to wonder if we should really trust the ground-level view we are given.
That said, The Biographical Bible is a fresh read through the Bible, insightful, and engaging.
December 19, 2013
The "rest of the story" about some of the major Biblical characters. Written from a Protestant perspective. Full review at http://rannthisthat.blogspot.com/2013...
August 9, 2022
essential
May 1, 2017
Exploring the Bible
I gave this book 3 stars because it is OK but it is so looooong and so repetitive that it took me so long to get through it. I can't say that I learned anything new but it did reinforce much of what I already know. I really didn't like her perspective on Isaac nor Joseph. I almost didn't continue reading after I got through them. It's not boring but so repetitive and so long.
I gave this book 3 stars because it is OK but it is so looooong and so repetitive that it took me so long to get through it. I can't say that I learned anything new but it did reinforce much of what I already know. I really didn't like her perspective on Isaac nor Joseph. I almost didn't continue reading after I got through them. It's not boring but so repetitive and so long.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews