What do you think?
Rate this book
How to Get into the Bible
In today's media-driven culture, how do you introduce the Bible to people who are used to movies, comic books, and USA Today? You give them How to Get Into the Bible, a fast-paced, action-packed look at the main characters, events, and meanings of the Old and New Testament. Using with the reader-friendly Contemporary English Version, this book makes it even easier for adults who are unfamiliar with the Bible to get into the Scriptures.
469 pages, Paperback
First published March 15, 1998
29 people are currently reading
68 people want to read
About the author
Stephen M. Miller
88 books21 followersSTEPHEN M. MILLER was born in Oakland, Maryland on August 3, 1952. He was the first of six children--four boys, two girls--born to Clyde and Virginia Miller. Their sixth child, a boy, lived just a few hours. So Steve grew up in a family of five kids and both parents. At age 12, when his Grandpap died, Granny moved in with Steve's family. She's was Virginia's mom.
Steve's parents grew up two miles apart in coal country near Tunnelton, West Virginia, a deer hunter's long walk south of Morgantown.
After Steve came along, Clyde went looking for a job that didn't involve dragging a pick into a dark hole. He moved the family to Akron, Ohio where he became a tool and die maker, crafting steel parts for machinery.
His tax withholding statement for 1963 shows a salary of $5,990.51. By that time, all five kids were on board, the youngest age three.
Virginia didn't work outside the home until all the kids were in school. Then she took a part-time job as a sales clerk at JC Penney--as much for the clothing discount as for the slight salary.
Steve, at age 15, started working part-time after school at a Sohio service station, pumping gas, changing oil, and fixing flat tires. (Sohio stood for Standard Oil of Ohio.) It was a job he kept into his college years, until the owner died. The salary, which started at 75 cents an hour, paid for his first car. An extreme vehicle. Extremely used. Ford Galaxy, dingy green. The first time he drove it, he didn't know how to work the manual choke. A kid on a bicycle passed him.
NEWS JOURNALISM AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
In college, Steve knocked out his general courses at the nearby University of Akron. Then he transferred to Kent State University, where he got a bachelor's degree in news journalism. For those wondering where he was in 1970 when the Ohio National Guard came to Kent State to quell the Vietnam War protests and ended up killing four students in the parking lot outside the School of Journalism, Steve was a senior in high school.
His mother enrolled at Kent State the same year he did. She got a degree in elementary education, launching her career as a public school teacher. Don't ask Steve who finished college with a higher grade-point average.
Steve commuted to college; he couldn't afford to live on campus. He drove the 45 minutes each day to Kent, Ohio. After the owner of the Sohio service station died, Steve found a full-time summer job working in a factory. He ran heated molds that pressed uncured rubber into auto parts. Then he dug out the parts with a brass pick. He sweat through his clothes in the first 10 minutes, and through his boots by 30. At shift's end, his crust of body salt sculpted him into Lot's wife's brother.
WORKING AT THE NEWSPAPER
When Steve landed a summer internship his senior year, working as a news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune in central Ohio, life was looking up. He lived in a rented trailer and listened to his mouse traps snapping at night. Which wasn't as tough as listening to the girl next door match her oscillating voice to a record player with an rpm that couldn't decide which r to pm. But Steve was out of the rubber factory. And into an air-conditioned office.
After graduation, he took a job as a news reporter with the Alliance Review. He worked there a year and a half, covering general news and editing the religion section and the business section. Small paper. Pleasant town.
It was during those months that he decided the Christian publishing world needed a little help from writers and editors who had taken journalism 101.
further info...
http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/auth...
Steve's parents grew up two miles apart in coal country near Tunnelton, West Virginia, a deer hunter's long walk south of Morgantown.
After Steve came along, Clyde went looking for a job that didn't involve dragging a pick into a dark hole. He moved the family to Akron, Ohio where he became a tool and die maker, crafting steel parts for machinery.
His tax withholding statement for 1963 shows a salary of $5,990.51. By that time, all five kids were on board, the youngest age three.
Virginia didn't work outside the home until all the kids were in school. Then she took a part-time job as a sales clerk at JC Penney--as much for the clothing discount as for the slight salary.
Steve, at age 15, started working part-time after school at a Sohio service station, pumping gas, changing oil, and fixing flat tires. (Sohio stood for Standard Oil of Ohio.) It was a job he kept into his college years, until the owner died. The salary, which started at 75 cents an hour, paid for his first car. An extreme vehicle. Extremely used. Ford Galaxy, dingy green. The first time he drove it, he didn't know how to work the manual choke. A kid on a bicycle passed him.
NEWS JOURNALISM AT KENT STATE UNIVERSITY
In college, Steve knocked out his general courses at the nearby University of Akron. Then he transferred to Kent State University, where he got a bachelor's degree in news journalism. For those wondering where he was in 1970 when the Ohio National Guard came to Kent State to quell the Vietnam War protests and ended up killing four students in the parking lot outside the School of Journalism, Steve was a senior in high school.
His mother enrolled at Kent State the same year he did. She got a degree in elementary education, launching her career as a public school teacher. Don't ask Steve who finished college with a higher grade-point average.
Steve commuted to college; he couldn't afford to live on campus. He drove the 45 minutes each day to Kent, Ohio. After the owner of the Sohio service station died, Steve found a full-time summer job working in a factory. He ran heated molds that pressed uncured rubber into auto parts. Then he dug out the parts with a brass pick. He sweat through his clothes in the first 10 minutes, and through his boots by 30. At shift's end, his crust of body salt sculpted him into Lot's wife's brother.
WORKING AT THE NEWSPAPER
When Steve landed a summer internship his senior year, working as a news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune in central Ohio, life was looking up. He lived in a rented trailer and listened to his mouse traps snapping at night. Which wasn't as tough as listening to the girl next door match her oscillating voice to a record player with an rpm that couldn't decide which r to pm. But Steve was out of the rubber factory. And into an air-conditioned office.
After graduation, he took a job as a news reporter with the Alliance Review. He worked there a year and a half, covering general news and editing the religion section and the business section. Small paper. Pleasant town.
It was during those months that he decided the Christian publishing world needed a little help from writers and editors who had taken journalism 101.
further info...
http://www.newreleasetuesday.com/auth...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
Read
August 21, 2020Very Good. Very thorough. Each book is covered very carefully with good illustrations and maps. This should be on every high school and college bookshelf, but it speaks to adults as well, especially new Bible readers who may not know where to start. For Roman Catholics, the book has a fairly obvious Evangelical slant, but the authors deal with and explain the Apocrypha very thoroughly so that in the end, this work focuses on what Christians hold in common rather than what divides us. All in all, a very complete and impressive book. More like this!
April 21, 2024
We bought this book many years ago (before we had kids), and I decided to give it another read. It's a good introduction to the books of the Bible (and obviously, no substitute for the real thing). With its timelines, background, and synopses, it's very helpful if you are new to the Bible and a nice reference if you want a quick reminder of what is in the big book. The side notes and historical information are also interesting, prompting further study of facts that give context to the events of the Bible.
April 17, 2021
An excellent companion to your Bible reading. The author provides a backgound, synopsis, highlights, and then brief theological analysis, of every book in the Bible. Read the relevant book section in How To Get Into The Bible before tackling the full version in your Bible.
September 13, 2025
Awesome Book
This book was very insightful. It gave clarity to the bible. I would recommend this to any first time or novice readers of the bible.
This book was very insightful. It gave clarity to the bible. I would recommend this to any first time or novice readers of the bible.
August 18, 2012
Very good summary and introduction to the various books in the Bible, as well as a brief mention of the Apocrypha. Useful for anyone interested in getting a solid overview of the Bible. Additionally helpful for those who are familiar with the Bible but would like to see the history clearly laid out in a way that makes it easier to remember and understand how different events in the scriptures are interconnected.
September 14, 2009
Clear, concise summaries of each book of the Bible. Provides objective coverage of authors, time periods, 'hot button' issues (e.g., predestination), end times prophecies, and more. Highly recommended as a companion to 'bible-in-a-year' volume.
October 19, 2009
I use this when I have a question or start a new Sunday school lesson. It gives an historical context, timeline, outline, plot, starring rolls, location, key texts, and interpretation. A great book to have on your religion shelf.
February 5, 2008
The Ultimate Bible "Cliffs Notes". A great way to keep yourself on track if you are reading the Bible. Not always factually or scholarly accurate, but a handy resource.
Read
April 17, 2014i like it. it got down to the basice. any one can read this book.
Read
December 5, 2016great book. it was easy to read.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews