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Baker's Bible Atlas
Baker's Bible Atlas gives readers a greater understanding of how geography influenced the history of Israel. It is organized to follow the scriptural narrative, making it especially convenient for Bible study or textbook use. The atlas includes full-color maps, illustrations, photographs, a time line, and a chapter on archeology's role in the continuing history of Bible lands. An index and Geographical Gazetteer enable readers to locate significant places of Bible times on modern and traditional maps.
347 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1961
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 18, 2022
Baker Book House is a well-respected evangelical publisher of quality resources on biblical, theological and other Christian nonfiction topics. This particular book is a widely-used combination of atlas and introductory text on both Old and New Testament geography and history, designed for serious Bible students (whether laity or college students). The vocabulary level is geared to the college educated, and the focus is on illuminating the study of the Bible itself, with background and context provided as an aid to that. A PhD. (Dropsie College) and author or editor of around 35 scholarly tomes, Pfeiffer was Professor of Ancient Literatures at Central Michigan Univ. (I read the 1973 revised edition of this title, which is the one I'm reviewing here.)
277 pages of actual text includes a central section of 26 colored maps, going through all stages of biblical history, plus one of the Holy Land as of ca. 1970. These are supplemented by 17 black-and-white maps interspersed through the text, along with numerous black-and-white photographs (all maps are listed in the introductory matter). The first two dozen chapters begin with an overview of the "World of the Old Testament" and continue through the geography of the book of Revelation. Another two chapters cover the subsequent history of the Middle East and its state in the (author's) present, while the final chapter provides an accurate but cursory survey of 20th-century biblical archaeology, by country or area. (Serious students, though, should read at least a whole book, or books, on that subject!) A short "Time Line of Bible History," a gazeteer of cities and geographical features (briefly defined and keyed to the maps where they're shown) and an index make up the balance of the 333 total pages. (Pfeiffer doesn't cite sources here, and there is no bibliography, at least in this edition.)
Even though this is an older book (over 50 years old now), it still provides a serious beginner to the study of the Bible --which I was when I read it!--with a solid core of basic information on which to build. I would continue to recommend it as a helpful and dependable resource for undergraduates taking Bible or history classes, preachers and Sunday school teachers, or any layperson wanting to learn more about the Bible and its background.
277 pages of actual text includes a central section of 26 colored maps, going through all stages of biblical history, plus one of the Holy Land as of ca. 1970. These are supplemented by 17 black-and-white maps interspersed through the text, along with numerous black-and-white photographs (all maps are listed in the introductory matter). The first two dozen chapters begin with an overview of the "World of the Old Testament" and continue through the geography of the book of Revelation. Another two chapters cover the subsequent history of the Middle East and its state in the (author's) present, while the final chapter provides an accurate but cursory survey of 20th-century biblical archaeology, by country or area. (Serious students, though, should read at least a whole book, or books, on that subject!) A short "Time Line of Bible History," a gazeteer of cities and geographical features (briefly defined and keyed to the maps where they're shown) and an index make up the balance of the 333 total pages. (Pfeiffer doesn't cite sources here, and there is no bibliography, at least in this edition.)
Even though this is an older book (over 50 years old now), it still provides a serious beginner to the study of the Bible --which I was when I read it!--with a solid core of basic information on which to build. I would continue to recommend it as a helpful and dependable resource for undergraduates taking Bible or history classes, preachers and Sunday school teachers, or any layperson wanting to learn more about the Bible and its background.
April 24, 2023
Excellent atlas of the Bible lands and People.
January 20, 2012
We usually think of an atlas as simply a book of maps. However, Baker’s Bible Atlas is much more. In my first year of college the original 1961 edition, which did have a section of full colored maps, served as the textbook for the course commonly called “Freshman Bible.” The first semester was originally called “Old Testament History and Geography,” and the second semester was “Luke-Acts.” However, they were credited as social studies courses, “Judaeo-Christian History” and “The Beginnings of Christianity.” I have continued to use the book as a resource for studying the history and geography of the Bible.
Imagine my surprise when, after we began homeschooling, I found that Rod and Staff uses the 2003 edition Baker’s Bible Atlas, which has the full colored maps scattered throughout the book, as the textbook for “a social studies course for use in grades seven to ten” on “Bible Land History and Geography,” publishing a student workbook, test booklet, outline map supplement, and teacher’s answer key to go along with it. We used it with both boys for their seventh grade history and geography. I personally think that the tests from Rod and Staff get extremely detailed and even a little too picky, so I ended up making my own tests, but I especially liked the accompanying map work. I also used some of the material for a homeschool co-op class that I called “Ancient Middle and Near Eastern Civilizations.”
Baker’s Bible Atlas basically follows the Biblical narrative beginning with the world of the Old Testament through the Roman Empire, then picks up with New Testament Palestine through the geography of Revelation, and concludes with chapters on the centuries between, Bible lands today, and Biblical archaeology in the twentieth century. A Gazetteer and three indices help to make finding specific information in the book easy. There might be a few statements or observations of an interpretative nature with which some would disagree, but the book takes a primarily conservative and authoritative approach to the scriptures, and besides it deals primarily in factual information not theology. Since the original author Charles F. Pfeiffer, who was Professor of Ancient Literatures at Central Michigan University, is now dead, the updating of the Revised Edition was probably done by the consulting editors, E. Leslie Carlson on the Old Testament, and Martin H. Scharlemann on the New.
Imagine my surprise when, after we began homeschooling, I found that Rod and Staff uses the 2003 edition Baker’s Bible Atlas, which has the full colored maps scattered throughout the book, as the textbook for “a social studies course for use in grades seven to ten” on “Bible Land History and Geography,” publishing a student workbook, test booklet, outline map supplement, and teacher’s answer key to go along with it. We used it with both boys for their seventh grade history and geography. I personally think that the tests from Rod and Staff get extremely detailed and even a little too picky, so I ended up making my own tests, but I especially liked the accompanying map work. I also used some of the material for a homeschool co-op class that I called “Ancient Middle and Near Eastern Civilizations.”
Baker’s Bible Atlas basically follows the Biblical narrative beginning with the world of the Old Testament through the Roman Empire, then picks up with New Testament Palestine through the geography of Revelation, and concludes with chapters on the centuries between, Bible lands today, and Biblical archaeology in the twentieth century. A Gazetteer and three indices help to make finding specific information in the book easy. There might be a few statements or observations of an interpretative nature with which some would disagree, but the book takes a primarily conservative and authoritative approach to the scriptures, and besides it deals primarily in factual information not theology. Since the original author Charles F. Pfeiffer, who was Professor of Ancient Literatures at Central Michigan University, is now dead, the updating of the Revised Edition was probably done by the consulting editors, E. Leslie Carlson on the Old Testament, and Martin H. Scharlemann on the New.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews