Key Bible Concepts

by David W. Gooding, John C. Lennox

How can one book be so widely appreciated and so contested? Millions revere it and many ridicule it, but the Bible is often not allowed to speak for itself. Key Bible Concepts explores and clarifies the central terms of the Christian gospel. Gooding and Lennox provide succinct explanations of the basic vocabulary of Christian thought to unlock the Bible’s meaning and its significance for today.

Myrtlefield Encounters are complementary studies of biblical literature, Christian teaching and apologetics. The Definition of Christianity throws fresh light on the Book of Acts and observes how the first generation of Christians identified and defended the unique features of the gospel. Opium or Truth? offers new perspectives on perennial–and crucial–questions such as the problem of pain and the exclusive claims of Jesus Christ. The Bible and Ethics presents a concise survey of leading events and people, ideas, poetry, moral values and ethics across both the Old and New Testaments. The books in this series engage the minds of believers and sceptics. They show how God has spoken in the Bible to address the realities of life and its questions, problems, beauty and potential.

Genres: Christian

180 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1997

About the author

David W. Gooding is Professor Emeritus of Old Testament Greek at Queen's University, Belfast and a member of the Royal Irish Academy. His international teaching ministry is marked by fresh and careful expositions of both testaments. He has published scholarly studies on the Septuagint and Old Testament narratives, as well as expositions of Luke, John 13-17, Acts and Hebrews.

Reviews

[Theo Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Key Bible Concepts explores and clarifies the central terms of the Christian gospel, going over the counter-arguments and explaining what they mean in a practical sense
- What I liked
- The book was clear and structured, I knew what was being explained and how it related to the previous point. The chapters were short which was nice, and the ideas were explained simply and concisely.
- I also liked the rebuttal of some counter-arguments, while these weren't super deep and thorough, as the book isn't really for that, they provided some extra information to help support the ideas.
- What I disliked
- I didn't really find this book enjoyable to read. It felt a bit "dry", in that I never wanted to read on, it was interesting but not in the sense that I would have been annoyed if I had to stop halfway through.
- I would recommend this book to wanting to find out more about the Christian faith, and those wanting to start to read more about christianity and religion, as it explains many concepts very simply.

[Khari · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was quite a good book.

It's essentially an overview of basic theology. It's well explained and the concepts it contains are actually 'key' so it did a good job of limiting what it covered. It's a good book for young Christians who want to understand their faith more deeply, it lays out a good foundation and gives scripture to back up each of its points. It would also be good for people who are non-Christians to read if they want to understand what Christianity is all about and what Christians think is important. I would recommend it to pretty much anyone, but especially to those who don't know much about Christianity. One of the best aspects of this book is how it explains certain vocabulary words like sanctification, justification, regeneration, etc., words that have a special meaning when used in a religious context as compared to everyday language. This book is really helpful in helping people to understand the language used in Christianity.

I actually read it while working through it with a Japanese learner of English as a way of studying English, so it sparked quite a lot of conversation about the religious register of English and Japanese. The only bad point in this is that sometimes the authors write using rather...unusual...grammar or vocabulary. My personal favorite was 'bounden'. Since it was being used as an English textbook, my friend used 'bounden' in several of her sentences, not bad precisely, but not exactly a commonly extant word. There were several instances of such words, but other than that it was a good book.

[S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend for any new Believer in Christ, someone experiencing a crisis of faith or even for those who have trouble understanding Biblical terms and concepts. The book delves into educated discourse on many Biblical themes and tenets of Christianity. Loved it!

[Prof. Luis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple language, key concepts and logical reasoning

This book deals with what the title promises: Key Bible Concepts. Probably the most outstanding feature is they way in which such concepts are preented to the reader. Language is clear and accessible withouth theological jargon. The reasoning and thought flow is superb. My favorite chapter: The Final Judgement, I would by the book just to read that chapter.

[Timo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this over a longer period of time, mostly one little chapter at a time. It was informative and well written. I did, however, like the writing and the way how a train of thought was explained and processed in the books by Lennox alone (at least those I have read) better, although I cannot exactly say why.
This book was well structured, sometimes a bit dry, sometimes lacking depth, but overall still good.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

haven't finished reading it yet. was at the last chapter but gave up. tho I got an ok time reading the book. learned a few more about the bible concepts so it was ok. But for now, I think I would like to drop this and start reading another.

[David Moldenhauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book explaining the fundamentals of the Christian faith. The logic used appeals to the serious thinker, and the illustrations help the reader gain a practical handle on the truths presented.

[Brad Sitzer · Rating 4 out of 5]

solid introductory book into biblical terms, Christians should know.

[Jarmo Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Denne boken er en god innføring i de grunnleggende begrepene innenfor frelsen. Lennox og Gooding forklarer dem på en fin og levende måte med hjelp av bilder og illustrasjoner for å lettere gripe tak i betydningen. Man får noen nye innfallsvinkler til begreper som Forlikelse, Rettferdiggjørelse, Evig liv, Tro, Omvendelse og Helliggjørelse for å nevne noen. Boken passer godt for nyfrelste.
En hake ved boken er den tendenser til å lene seg mot "en gang frelst, alltid frelst" læren ved enkelte tilfeller, men det kommer ikke veldig tydelig fram hvor han står rundt dette. Men ellers en god og oppbyggelig bok!

[Frank Peters · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an introductory book on Christian concepts, and designed to be read by a wide audience, with virtually no pre-existing knowledge required. Given the target audience, the initially book seemed to be designed for quite an immature audience. However, the book has some attributes that are really useful and outstanding: the authors pose and then answer some pertinent and important questions and objections that relate to the various topics. It is this part of the book that raises it from the trivial to the useful.

[Irvin Sales · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books has been very helpful to me especially during my formative years as a Christian who still can't understand certain terminologies used in the Bible.

Strongly recommended to both new and old believers alike.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

solid work, great for a young believer

[Emmanuel Celiz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very accessible book for those who want to know what Christianity really is.

[Erika_kartmann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Theologisch manchmal inkonsequent,
eher eine Missionsschrift als eine Systematik.

[Fillipe Ferrari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amo livros que descrevem o básico de maneira fácil
esse livro é um desses, amei de verdade