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The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Words
16 Key Words. 1 Overarching Message. At the heart of the Bible is one overarching message: God saving his people through their promised Messiah. This accessible introduction to the main point of the Bible traces the development of sixteen key themes― creation, covenant, kingdom, temple, judgment, and more―from Genesis to Revelation, showing how both the Old and New Testaments come together to declare a single unified message. A concise primer to biblical theology, this book helps readers trace God’s unfolding plan of redemption throughout the Bible.
160 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2017
28 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Chris Bruno
6 books11 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.
Chris Bruno (PhD, Wheaton College) is the assistant professor of New Testament and Greek at Bethlehem College & Seminary.
He has served at Northland International University, Cedarville University, and Trinity Christian School in Kailua, HI. Before that, he was pastor of discipleship and training at Harbor Church in Honolulu, HI.
Chris and his wife Katie have been married since 2001 and have four sons who love to be outdoors playing ball or pretending to be super heroes, all while wrestling their dad.
Chris Bruno (PhD, Wheaton College) is the assistant professor of New Testament and Greek at Bethlehem College & Seminary.
He has served at Northland International University, Cedarville University, and Trinity Christian School in Kailua, HI. Before that, he was pastor of discipleship and training at Harbor Church in Honolulu, HI.
Chris and his wife Katie have been married since 2001 and have four sons who love to be outdoors playing ball or pretending to be super heroes, all while wrestling their dad.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
September 5, 2019
Helpful starting point for those completely new to biblical theology, but definitely left me wanting more. Bruno does trace sixteen significant themes in Scripture but has to be quite restrained in his discussion for sake of space. I consistently found myself wishing for longer chapters. However, I recognize that the brief chapters are actually very helpful to other readers.
Bruno's Reformed theology drives a lot of what he says (seen most clearly in his repeated mentions of the covenants), so I am unable to jump on board with everything. I am also still very curious, based on comments made in the creation chapter, what his personal views are on the Genesis creation account. And I wish one of his sixteen words had been glory.
Good springboard to reading more biblical theology. Give me recommendations if you've got them!
Read for my church's adult Sunday School class, May-Sept. 2019.
Bruno's Reformed theology drives a lot of what he says (seen most clearly in his repeated mentions of the covenants), so I am unable to jump on board with everything. I am also still very curious, based on comments made in the creation chapter, what his personal views are on the Genesis creation account. And I wish one of his sixteen words had been glory.
Good springboard to reading more biblical theology. Give me recommendations if you've got them!
Read for my church's adult Sunday School class, May-Sept. 2019.
March 31, 2017
In Romans 1, we can see that the tendency of our hearts is to exchange the truth about God for a lie, worshiping and serving the creature rather than the Creator (vs. 25). This is idolatry. But in these verses, idolatry doesn't take the form of bowing down to a carved image or a golden calf. It takes the form of asserting our own authority to determine who is in charge. It is really worshiping ourselves and our own desires, just as Adam and Israel did. In the verses that follow this worship is called dishonorable passions. When we believe lies about God, it leads to misdirected passions-even to the point of worshiping our passions.
The gospel is about worship. What we worship, why we worship and how we worship. These 16 words are powerful. The words come in 3 parts.
Part 1 -The Foundation
The End
God
Part 2 - The Frame
Creation
Covenant
Kingdom
Part 3 -The Superstructure
Temple
Messiah
Israel
Land
Idols
Judgment
Exodus
Wisdom
Law
Spirit
Mission
Each of these 16 words paint a picture of the Good News. Why it is the Good News and why we have hope. Each of these words were given depth of the Gospel. At the end of chapter, a summary. Under the word Covenant To know the whole message of the Bible, we must know that God always relates to his people through covenants, all of which are fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah. Before each summary two connecting verses from the Old and New Testaments. This was probably my favorite part. As a Christian, I love seeing the whole picture of the gospel and how the old reveals the new. It is important for us to understand the whole picture. It makes understanding scripture more of a discovery of the best kind.
Another insight for me was God's Judgment. Not a popular word even in Christian circles. But in understanding God's judgment, it gives us hope that all things will be made new. We do not have to be in fear of God's judgment when we are in Christ. When we place our faith in the work of Christ. It is through judgment, God saves his people. Judgment is justice served.
This is a great text for any Christian. To help keep our focus on what matters and why. I highly recommend.
A Special Thank You to Crossway for always giving Gospel centered books such as this and Netgalley for being a tool that I may receive an ARC and the pleasure of an honest review.
The gospel is about worship. What we worship, why we worship and how we worship. These 16 words are powerful. The words come in 3 parts.
Part 1 -The Foundation
The End
God
Part 2 - The Frame
Creation
Covenant
Kingdom
Part 3 -The Superstructure
Temple
Messiah
Israel
Land
Idols
Judgment
Exodus
Wisdom
Law
Spirit
Mission
Each of these 16 words paint a picture of the Good News. Why it is the Good News and why we have hope. Each of these words were given depth of the Gospel. At the end of chapter, a summary. Under the word Covenant To know the whole message of the Bible, we must know that God always relates to his people through covenants, all of which are fulfilled in Jesus the Messiah. Before each summary two connecting verses from the Old and New Testaments. This was probably my favorite part. As a Christian, I love seeing the whole picture of the gospel and how the old reveals the new. It is important for us to understand the whole picture. It makes understanding scripture more of a discovery of the best kind.
Another insight for me was God's Judgment. Not a popular word even in Christian circles. But in understanding God's judgment, it gives us hope that all things will be made new. We do not have to be in fear of God's judgment when we are in Christ. When we place our faith in the work of Christ. It is through judgment, God saves his people. Judgment is justice served.
This is a great text for any Christian. To help keep our focus on what matters and why. I highly recommend.
A Special Thank You to Crossway for always giving Gospel centered books such as this and Netgalley for being a tool that I may receive an ARC and the pleasure of an honest review.
February 17, 2024
Best bite-sized intro to the story and various themes of Scripture. A great discipleship tool to introduce someone to biblical theology
February 7, 2017
This title confused me too as I stared at: The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Words. I can tell you my first thought: "Liar, liar, pants on fire!"
Let's be honest, the Bible is giant, and even those who sit in mass or worship service year after year do not know The Whole Thing. Yes, after so many years, attendees have technically heard, read, or sang the entire contents of the Bible. However, distilling it into sixteen words? *Insert skeptical chin scratch* What I'm trying to say is: I don't believe you, Bruno!
...the hope and reality of every Christian is that God himself---not the president, Parliament, Apple, or the United Nations---is making all things new. This reality should change the way we see everything in the world---and the way we read everything in our Bibles" (Foreward).
First things first, Bruno teaches one very important lesson here: Titles matter. This title had me from the beginning. I have gone to parochial school all my life, and I've been attending Catholic mass and Christian events in the decade+ since that time. But even I thought "OOOOHHHH!!!! 16 words?! Prove it!"
Titles. They get ya' every time.
The premise of Bruno's book is simple: the Bible can be summed up by sixteen important words, which serve to show "the whole story of the Bible as a rope that is woven tightly together. The goal... is to pull our sixteen key strands that compose this rope, look at how they contribute to the overall message" (Foreward).
As such, the sixteen words are: [The] End, God, Creation, Covenant, Kingdom, Temple, Messiah, Israel, Land, Idols, Judgment, Exodus, Wisdom, Law, Spirit, and Mission.
In this short book, each word is described, given context, and proven to be a valid word to sum up the Bible's entirety. Each section has references to one's own life (to develop relate-ability), references to the Bible itself with quotes (usually from NIV), and an ending summary which suggests readings and 2-3 sentences reviewing the section.
I would recommend this book to anyone trying to get back into their faith who needs a refresher course on the main aspects of the Bible. I would also recommend it to prayer groups or Lenten study groups, as it offers sections of the Bible for readings and can easily be broken into parts. It is a great conversation starter, that's for sure.
Clearly the book doesn't sum up the Bible in only sixteen words, but it does offer sixteen starting points for learning, discussion, and further study of what most readers will consider to be their faith. Bruno didn't lie in his title, but he definitely offers more than sixteen words to explain each of his sixteen words. :)
Well played, Bruno. Well played.
I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Let's be honest, the Bible is giant, and even those who sit in mass or worship service year after year do not know The Whole Thing. Yes, after so many years, attendees have technically heard, read, or sang the entire contents of the Bible. However, distilling it into sixteen words? *Insert skeptical chin scratch* What I'm trying to say is: I don't believe you, Bruno!
...the hope and reality of every Christian is that God himself---not the president, Parliament, Apple, or the United Nations---is making all things new. This reality should change the way we see everything in the world---and the way we read everything in our Bibles" (Foreward).
First things first, Bruno teaches one very important lesson here: Titles matter. This title had me from the beginning. I have gone to parochial school all my life, and I've been attending Catholic mass and Christian events in the decade+ since that time. But even I thought "OOOOHHHH!!!! 16 words?! Prove it!"
Titles. They get ya' every time.
The premise of Bruno's book is simple: the Bible can be summed up by sixteen important words, which serve to show "the whole story of the Bible as a rope that is woven tightly together. The goal... is to pull our sixteen key strands that compose this rope, look at how they contribute to the overall message" (Foreward).
As such, the sixteen words are: [The] End, God, Creation, Covenant, Kingdom, Temple, Messiah, Israel, Land, Idols, Judgment, Exodus, Wisdom, Law, Spirit, and Mission.
In this short book, each word is described, given context, and proven to be a valid word to sum up the Bible's entirety. Each section has references to one's own life (to develop relate-ability), references to the Bible itself with quotes (usually from NIV), and an ending summary which suggests readings and 2-3 sentences reviewing the section.
I would recommend this book to anyone trying to get back into their faith who needs a refresher course on the main aspects of the Bible. I would also recommend it to prayer groups or Lenten study groups, as it offers sections of the Bible for readings and can easily be broken into parts. It is a great conversation starter, that's for sure.
Clearly the book doesn't sum up the Bible in only sixteen words, but it does offer sixteen starting points for learning, discussion, and further study of what most readers will consider to be their faith. Bruno didn't lie in his title, but he definitely offers more than sixteen words to explain each of his sixteen words. :)
Well played, Bruno. Well played.
I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
May 13, 2017
First sentence from chapter one: We begin at the end, because the end actually starts in the beginning. Confused? Just hang with me for a little while, and hopefully you’ll see where we are heading. If you knew in advance that Frodo survives the journey to Mordor in The Lord of the Rings, but only barely; that Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s dad in Star Wars; and that Bruce Willis is dead the whole time in the Sixth Sense, would it ruin these stories? You might think that it would, but according to a 2011 study published in Psychological Science, people actually enjoy stories more when they know the ending.
Premise/plot: This one is a companion book to Chris Bruno's The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Verses. Bruno stated the purpose for his new book quite clearly in his introduction, "In this book, I want to change our analogy. Instead of talking about the forest and the trees, I want us to see the whole story of the Bible as a rope that is woven tightly together. The goal of this book is to pull out sixteen key strands that compose this rope, look at how they contribute to the overall message, and then put them back in place." Or, "In this book, we are going to trace sixteen words that help us better understand and apply the whole message of the Bible."
The sixteen words: "The End," "God," "Creation," "Covenant," "Kingdom," "Temple," "Messiah," "Israel," "Land," "Idols," "Judgment," "Exodus," "Wisdom," "Law," "Spirit," "Mission."
Each chapter includes two connecting verses. One verse from the Old Testament and one verse from the New Testament. Each chapter ends with a GREAT summary statement.
My thoughts: Like Deron Spoo's The Good Book, Bruno seeks to address the BIG ideas of the Bible, seeks to help readers--no matter their background--understand and appreciate the big picture of the Bible.
But. Bruno does it better. He stays on-task, on-focus. The book is better focused on God and God's Glory. And this one is very meaty, very substantive, and extremely rich in insight. He is also straightforward, "If you want to know the message of the Bible, then you need to read the Bible."
I felt that Spoo's book was like a bag of potato chips--technically food--but not ultimately satisfying like a good MEAL with meat and vegetables.
Some of my favorite quotes:
Premise/plot: This one is a companion book to Chris Bruno's The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Verses. Bruno stated the purpose for his new book quite clearly in his introduction, "In this book, I want to change our analogy. Instead of talking about the forest and the trees, I want us to see the whole story of the Bible as a rope that is woven tightly together. The goal of this book is to pull out sixteen key strands that compose this rope, look at how they contribute to the overall message, and then put them back in place." Or, "In this book, we are going to trace sixteen words that help us better understand and apply the whole message of the Bible."
The sixteen words: "The End," "God," "Creation," "Covenant," "Kingdom," "Temple," "Messiah," "Israel," "Land," "Idols," "Judgment," "Exodus," "Wisdom," "Law," "Spirit," "Mission."
Each chapter includes two connecting verses. One verse from the Old Testament and one verse from the New Testament. Each chapter ends with a GREAT summary statement.
My thoughts: Like Deron Spoo's The Good Book, Bruno seeks to address the BIG ideas of the Bible, seeks to help readers--no matter their background--understand and appreciate the big picture of the Bible.
But. Bruno does it better. He stays on-task, on-focus. The book is better focused on God and God's Glory. And this one is very meaty, very substantive, and extremely rich in insight. He is also straightforward, "If you want to know the message of the Bible, then you need to read the Bible."
I felt that Spoo's book was like a bag of potato chips--technically food--but not ultimately satisfying like a good MEAL with meat and vegetables.
Some of my favorite quotes:
This reality [Revelation 21:3-5] should change the way we see everything in the world—and the way we read everything in our Bibles. We need to see that the end of the Bible is closely connected to the beginning of the story. But we also need to see that the end of the story changes the way we live right now, because the end has already been brought into the present.
Even if you haven’t read Genesis recently, you probably know the main idea of the creation story. God made the world and everything in it. He created humans in his own image and put them in the garden of Eden. But Adam and Eve doubted God’s kindness to them and wanted to be like him, so they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (the only fruit they weren’t allowed to eat). Because of their disobedience, the world and everything in it was broken. And that is basically what we see when we look out the window or turn on the news today. We live in a world where we can still see God’s hand in both the beauty of creation and the creativity of people, but it is also a world filled with broken people looking for some way to fix everything that has gone wrong. If we really want to understand the story of the world and the story of the Bible, we need to see that God told us about the solution almost as soon as we broke the world. And he started to provide for that solution as soon as he told us about it. In Genesis 3:15, he told Adam and Eve that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the Serpent. In other words, he would undo the fall and restore his good creation. From the very beginning, God was committed to stepping into history to change it, renew it, and make it better than we could ever imagine—for our good and his glory. And that, in a nutshell, is what we mean by eschatology. While we need to see that eschatology is heading toward the end, we also need to see that the end shapes the whole story. In fact, that is how I would define eschatology—the study of God’s work in history to bring the story to his intended end. So when we talk eschatology, we have to start in Genesis.
July 26, 2017
What if I told you that in 16 words, you could know the big picture of the bible? That seems like a lofty goal! The bible is several thousand years old, has been used by billions throughout history, and is typically at least 1000 pages in length. How could someone undertake such a daunting task? Those are the sort of books which grab my attention before I’ve even seen the cover!
The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Words by Chris Bruno was my first encounter with Bruno’s writing, and I thoroughly enjoyed his writing! As a student of biblical theology—the tracing of themes as they are woven throughout the tapestry of scripture—this book was a much-needed reminder of just how thrilling and engaging biblical theology really is! Bruno reminds us from the beginning that, “to know the whole message of the bible, we must know that God’s end-time promises have already begun to be fulfilled through Jesus, but they are not yet complete, and will not be until Jesus returns to make all things new.”
In this accessible volume, Bruno walks readers through themes such as: eschatology, judgment, creation, covenants, temple, Israel, etc. In tracing these themes, readers are taken through the corridors of the Old Testament to see how Abraham, David, the Psalmists and many others shaped their foundations. He then traces how these themes are found in the New Testament, are lived out for today, and point us to the ultimate end. This end is when Jesus returns in splendor and glory to receive His bride—the Church—and bring the final judgment before ushering is His eternal Kingdom.
Bruno does an excellent job of introducing themes, briefly showing their flow throughout scripture, and then connecting Old and New Testament passages. This is not a text which will dive into every mention of a theme from Genesis to Revelation. It is more of a book to whet readers’ appetites for digging into the scriptures themselves to see how the bible fits together to point to Christ. One of my most favorite aspects of this book was the final chapter, titled: “Where to Go Next”. He advises that the study of biblical theology be focused on the finished work of Christ. He urges readers to read through the bible yearly. Finally, he gives readers a few sources of further study in biblical theology. This gives the interested reader the proper focus on the scripture and gospel while also presenting them with tools to grow in reading the bible and studying biblical theology.
I highly recommend The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Words. Not only is it a great introduction to biblical theology in general, it is also a tool to help readers get started doing biblical theology for themselves. This could be very useful as a discipleship tool for believers in every stage of their walk with Christ. I also look forward to reading The Whole Story of the Bible in 16 verses by Bruno.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Words by Chris Bruno was my first encounter with Bruno’s writing, and I thoroughly enjoyed his writing! As a student of biblical theology—the tracing of themes as they are woven throughout the tapestry of scripture—this book was a much-needed reminder of just how thrilling and engaging biblical theology really is! Bruno reminds us from the beginning that, “to know the whole message of the bible, we must know that God’s end-time promises have already begun to be fulfilled through Jesus, but they are not yet complete, and will not be until Jesus returns to make all things new.”
In this accessible volume, Bruno walks readers through themes such as: eschatology, judgment, creation, covenants, temple, Israel, etc. In tracing these themes, readers are taken through the corridors of the Old Testament to see how Abraham, David, the Psalmists and many others shaped their foundations. He then traces how these themes are found in the New Testament, are lived out for today, and point us to the ultimate end. This end is when Jesus returns in splendor and glory to receive His bride—the Church—and bring the final judgment before ushering is His eternal Kingdom.
Bruno does an excellent job of introducing themes, briefly showing their flow throughout scripture, and then connecting Old and New Testament passages. This is not a text which will dive into every mention of a theme from Genesis to Revelation. It is more of a book to whet readers’ appetites for digging into the scriptures themselves to see how the bible fits together to point to Christ. One of my most favorite aspects of this book was the final chapter, titled: “Where to Go Next”. He advises that the study of biblical theology be focused on the finished work of Christ. He urges readers to read through the bible yearly. Finally, he gives readers a few sources of further study in biblical theology. This gives the interested reader the proper focus on the scripture and gospel while also presenting them with tools to grow in reading the bible and studying biblical theology.
I highly recommend The Whole Message of the Bible in 16 Words. Not only is it a great introduction to biblical theology in general, it is also a tool to help readers get started doing biblical theology for themselves. This could be very useful as a discipleship tool for believers in every stage of their walk with Christ. I also look forward to reading The Whole Story of the Bible in 16 verses by Bruno.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
November 2, 2020
A great introduction to the Bible and Biblical theology. Chris Bruno is clear and concise. The book is short so many readers will finish wanting to know more but remember that as introduction, this book is giving a broad foundation to build upon. This would be a great book to study in a youth ministry small group.
February 13, 2018
Great book that can be greatly beneficial to those new to the faith or those wanting to dig deeper into reading the bible. Easy to read and follow, it has energized my reading of scripture.
June 10, 2018
A must read.
Every person needs a Bible and this book so they can understand fully God's plan for all His creation. A wonderful, enlightening read.
Every person needs a Bible and this book so they can understand fully God's plan for all His creation. A wonderful, enlightening read.
November 13, 2019
A nice little theology primer.
November 6, 2020
A good introduction to biblical theology
February 5, 2021
We used it to direct our devotional time. Very helpful
December 3, 2022
Un libro muy recomendado, para quien esté iniciando el estudio de la teología Bíblica. Te guiará paso a paso por los temas más resantantes de la historia de la Biblia
October 27, 2023
Very simple book laying out the major themes of scripture. I believe Chris does a great job of making the ideas clear without dumbing down the text. Solid book for new and old Christians alike!
April 19, 2024
Love this! Will be re reading and taking thorough notes. Was easy to read but also still went deep and made connections throughout the Bible I hadn’t seen before.
July 12, 2024
Loved this one so much! Shows how the bible is completely interconnected
January 15, 2021
This is a short, fast read that has far-reaching benefits. It's easy to read the Bible with no concept of how what you're reading fits into the Bible as a whole. This is a great guide to give you the framework you need to help read Scripture in light of three main pillars: Creation, Covenant, and Kingdom. The book is easy to understand and well-organized. At the end of each chapter (or each 'word') he provides an OT and NT verse as well as a summary sentence for that word. As someone who grew up in the church and is pretty familiar with my Bible, this book served as a good reminder that there is always more that is revealed in Scripture the more time you spend in it and I look forward to seeing new connections and knowledge with these themes in mind. The Bible is an amazing book that could not be the masterpiece it is without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The depth God has revealed to us in it is stunning and I'm thankful for books like this that remind me of that!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews