Brief Insights on Mastering the Bible: 80 Expert Insights on the Bible, Explained in a Single Minute

60-Second Scholar

by Michael S. Heiser

Clear comprehension of what's in the Bible and what it means isn't a lost cause. This book provides expert observations so that you can comprehend more of Scripture than you ever have before.

The Bible was written for us—but not to us. We're not part of the ancient world that informed its writers. We're strangers to their ideas, experiences, and worldview. Because we're cultural and historical outsiders, what we read in the Bible can often be perplexing and leave us with more questions than answers. For

What purpose did Old Testament creation stories and genealogies serve when they were written?Why do the ancient Israelites talk about the gods of other nations as though they were real?Why do the gospel accounts differ from each other, and can we trust them?Is everything in the Bible ultimately about Jesus? 

Each of this book's 80 short chapters consist of statements or insights about the Bible, many of which may surprise even those who grew up in a Christian tradition.

Throughout Brief Insights on Mastering the Bible (part of the 60 Second Scholar series), you'll tour each section of Scripture, tackling themes, details, and misunderstandings with the goal of seeing Scripture as what it really is and not what we would prefer that it is.

The path to real biblical understanding requires that we don't make the Bible conform to denominational preferences.

Genres: Christian, Christianity, Faith, Theology

185 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2018

About the author

Mike Heiser is a scholar in the fields of biblical studies and the ancient Near East. He is the Academic Editor of Logos Bible Software. Mike earned the M.A. and Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible and Semitic Languages at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004. He has also earned an M.A. in Ancient History from the University of Pennsylvania (major fields: Ancient Israel and Egyptology). His main research interests are Israelite religion (especially Israel’s divine council), biblical theology, ancient Near Eastern religion, biblical & ancient Semitic languages, and ancient Jewish binitarian monotheism.

Mike blogs about biblical studies at The Naked Bible, and fringe beliefs about the ancient world at PaleoBabble. He offers courses to the public in Old Testament, biblical theology, Israelite religion, ancient languages, the Book of Enoch through his online institute, MEMRA.

Mike's other academic interests include the paranormal and the occult. His UFO Religions blog discusses how the pop cultural belief in aliens shape religious worldviews. Mike has been a frequent guest on a number of radio programs such as Coast to Coast AM. He is best known for his critique of the ancient astronaut theories of Zecharia Sitchin and his paranormal thriller, The Facade, which intertwines many of his interests.

Reviews

[George P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brief Insights on Mastering the Bible is one of three volumes in Michael S. Heiser’s 60-Second Scholar series, published by Zondervan. The other two similarly titled volumes have to do with Bible study and Bible doctrine. Each book contains 80, two-page chapters that explain the topic sentence which constitutes the chapter’s title. For example, the title of chapter 43 is “Most of the Material in the Prophetic Books Isn’t About Predicting the Future,” and the chapter goes on to explain why this is the case.

Heiser is scholar-in-residence at Logos Bible Software, as well as an erstwhile professor at several evangelical schools. He’s the host of the Naked Bible Podcast and author of The Unseen Realm (reviewed here), among other books. He blogs regularly at drmsh.com.

Brief Insights on Mastering the Bible is a quick, helpful read, especially for those seeking an introductory text on how to interpret the Bible. It covers similar ground as Gordon D. Fee and Douglas H. Stuart’s excellent How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth (4th ed.), also published by Zondervan.

Though I enjoyed Heiser’s book and plan on reading the other two in the series, I still recommend Fee and Stuart’s as my first choice for an introductory level text on biblical interpretation. Where Heiser’s material is short and suggestive, Fee and Stuart’s is longer and more detailed.

Book Reviewed
Michael S. Heiser, Brief Insights on Mastering the Bible: 80 Expert Insights, Explained in a Single Minute, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018).

P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote “Yes” on my Amazon.com review page.

[Cassie Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading the Bible can be a leisurely activity at times, but most Christians will want to dig deeper to find the gems that lay below the surface. However, we are only human, and we can unknowingly allow biases and modern cultural messages to interfere with our reading of the Scriptures. In this book, author Michael S. Heiser offers eighty brief insights into how to adjust our modern lens to properly read the different books of the Bible. From physical, cultural, and time contexts to the categories of literature and how we should look at each type, Heiser covers a range of topics that will help you, in one way or another, to change the way you see the Bible, both the Old Testament, the New Testament, and the Bible as a whole, and get to the various treasures that lay within.

[Michael K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was not a big book (or eBook) by any means, but powerful in it projected information. Tips and instructions on how to get more out of your Bible studies or reading by keeping certain things in mind. Quite often, people try to interpret under today's, or present day's, standards. This would be inadequate, we need to look at the historicity of the Bible as a whole based upon the time and cultural understanding of when it was written. This is but one aspect to view your Bible studies and reading. Well worth the time to read, just took two days on breaks at work.

[Bill Hooten · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michael Heiser is one of my favorite writers. I don't always agree with everything that he says, but he always makes me think. I really like this little book, because it deals with an approach to the study of the Bible. He encourages us to take the Bible for what it is -- in its culture, its aim, and what it is trying to say. I believe that anyone that wants to be a serious student of the Bible would profit from the study of this book. Personally, I am looking forward to reading the other two books in this series.

[Ronb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unfortunately for me, I am discovering Michael Heiser after he has died, and am not able to write and ask him questions. Fortunately, he left behind a body of work that covers more area than I would expect for a PhD in Hebrew. Apparently, he was brilliant, and with a documentary I saw on YouTube has many respected scholars who support his research and findings. For those of us who are working with short focus times, this is an excellent coverage of a wide-ranging topic.

[Bruce Colella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Especially Good for

someone who is transitioning from Bible “reading” to Bible “study”. Gives many examples of things to look for while studying the Bible to help increase understanding of interpretation in the context of time written.

[Todd Remias · Rating 5 out of 5]

Better than my bible degree.

[Norjak · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really solid sound-bites, with good breadth and enough to get you into the idea/topic.

[Andy Febrico Bintoro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book like Bible survey, though maybe just a little bit of introduction on each segments in the Bible.

[Heather Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read, useful information.