Hebrews: A Visual Introduction: Access to God

by Kerry M Pierce, Faye Fite (Contributor), Kirsten L Pierce (Contributor)

The Letter to the Hebrews is unique.  A sermon written to a group of Christians facing persecution and wrestling with doubt, Hebrews is considered the highest literary quality in the New Testament.  The author employs Greek Philosophy, logic, and a wide range of passages from the Old Testament to encourage his audience to hold fast to their faith in Christ.
No other book in the New Testament highlights Christ's supremacy or the high priestly role of Christ as Hebrews does.
Hebrews teaches us that Christians are the most fortunate individuals on the planet.  Through the work of Christ, we have been given access to God.
 Access to God is a Bible commentary for the rest of us.  The treatment falls between an illustrated study Bible and a scholarly text.  It employs fictional history, art, and detailed explanation.  The study is intended to make the Letter to the Hebrews approachable to all, serving as an introduction to the Epistle.

145 pages, Paperback

Published July 16, 2019

Reviews

[J.E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 3.5.
I'm extra picky with my theology. I highly value good theology and good teaching, and I feel the Bible does as well. I did receive this book free for review but I'm going to be entirely honest with it.
The book opens with a fictional piece meant to help readers get their head wrapped around the setting. I'm not typically someone who enjoys the blending of fiction and non-fiction. I've seen it done well, but more often the fact that you have to suspend your disbelief for fiction while you have to have your "thinking cap" on for non-fiction makes it a wierd blend for me. Not that you cant learn from fiction or use your imagination with non-fic, but I just dont find the transition easy for me. That's probably more of a taste thing.
And while the fiction side of things was well written and it didnt get in the way, I just find this to be a device I enjoy.

As far as for good things, I thought the theology was pretty solid in this book. A lot of it was pretty basic, but not shallow or weak. I most appreciated the authors understanding that context is essential. Be it textual, cultural, or historical. There were many sections were he pointed out contexts I wasnt aware of or hadn't seen talked about before and I appreciated that a lot.

Unfortunately this book was difficult at times to read simply because the format was awkward. I think this is partially do to the author's intelligence and maybe some inexperience with writing in a way that helps the reader immerse themselves? But the text followed the scriptures, often blocking in large portion of the scriptures themselves, and read more like someone's devotional journal than a teaching tool. It was often more "stream of consciousness" and jumped from one subject to the next without much indication. There wasnt much structure to it so sometimes it was hard to follow along. At times the author would explain a concept, but in doing so would use a concept that itself needed explaining, making it even harder to understand. One point was especially egregious when he used computer programming concepts to describe a relaticely simple philosophical topic but ended up spending more time explaining the computer programming concept.

Despite the bumps with the format, the concepts themselves were mostly well explained. There were a few bunny trails, particularly around art, but I actually really enjoyed most of the visuals that were included. Even if they were only used as illustrations, they added a fun extra dimension and something extra to think about.

There were a few chapters that sucked me in as well. Most of those were when the author went into some personal experiences, or showed us some of the ways a particular passage impacted him.

I would probably recommend this book to readers who are still learning how to study and understand the Bible for themselves. The author often walks through concepts and passages step by step in a way that would help people learn those sorts of tools in order to dig into the scripture in a similar way themselves. Like I said, it reads like a personal devotional journal, which means it could be really helpful for someone looking for a deeper devotional life.

[Julia Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Until now, the only Biblical commentary I had read was a tiny one on the gospel of Mark that would’ve been considered a pamphlet. When I opened the package from Amazon containing this commentary, I was astounded at the size of it. It’s about the size of a magazine with the depth of a proper book.
  I’d been told that it was a “visual” book, but that term didn’t quite register in my brain until I started flipping through it. The book is filled with charts and pictures by the author as well as famous paintings by people like Raphael, Rembrandt and William Holman Hunt among other artists.
  I’d taken a little of logic in middle school, but it didn’t quite prepare me for the in-depth study of it in chapter one that prepared the reader for the arguments and conversations in the following chapters.
  If not for the many visual aids reading this book would’ve been daunting. The pictures and charts made it easier to understand.
  Prepped with my Bible and my yellow highlighter, I began to go through it, a chapter a day.
 As I read, I would often get excited about what I was reading and had to share what I was learning with my Mom. Now she wants to look at it.
  The introductory story about two young Christians in Nero’s Rome by Hannah Heath and Kirsten Pierce set up the context for the Book of Hebrews in a way that was fun, informative and engaging. It made me think about the struggles of the early Church at the time the Book of Hebrews might’ve been written.
  One thing that I loved about this book was the parallels drawn between the Old Covenant and laws in the Old Testament and the New Covenant and Jesus’ work on the cross. There were so many things that I would’ve never thought about on my own and I’m excited for my parents to read the book so I can discuss them further.
  This book is like a fine meal which you continue to remember and enjoy long after it is over. Definitely worth the read. Just bring your highlighter.

[Katelyn Buxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

First of all, this book is well out of my usual reading territory; but when I opened it up and discovered that the first fourteen pages were a bit of historical fiction, the book felt instantly more approachable. I've read the Bible through several times, but honestly, if asked what Hebrews was about, I wouldn't have been able to give any more detailed an answer than, "It was written to the Hebrews." (I'm a genius, I know.) :P

That said, I enjoyed it. I liked that Pierce gave us the rundown of Boolean operators almost immediately in order to show just how logical the author of Hebrew's argument was, and the fact that Pierce stood for the relevancy of the Old Testament in a time when many Christians would like to watch the New Testament unfold without understanding the foundation it's set upon. I also appreciated Pierce's blunt honesty. Whenever there was a question without a known concrete answer (such as who actually wrote Hebrews), he didn't try to hide it. He made clear that it was his best guess that the author was Apollos, and listed his reasons. (Although there are other camps—my dad favors Paul, for example.)

As mentioned previously, I really loved the fact that the book opens with historical fiction. It may be shallow of me, but whenever I've read fiction about a real person or place, I am instantly more interested in the period involved. The intro of Hebrews: A Visual Introduction: Access to God sets the stage for the rest of the book, and gives it meaningful historical context that might be lacking otherwise.

The visual nature of this book is also very helpful. The paintings, art, tables, flowcharts, and illustrations found throughout made me pause and think about what I was reading more than I would have without them. I read the book slowly, a chapter or two at a time, and digested what I'd found there. One thing I will comment on, however, is that there were several times I found myself wishing that a reference had been printed within the book. Most of Hebrews was written inside as necessary, but there were times when Pierce referenced another verse, and didn't insert it. This makes it tempting to breeze right by without reading it and forming my own conclusions about the text. As others have said, it's good to have your Bible handy!

This brings me to the part of the review where I always get a little nit-picky (but these are small complaints, so don't run away yet)! I'm not really sure why Pierce came to the conclusion that Rahab may have housed the Israelite spies in an inn slash brothel (except that she was a harlot), but both the English Standard Version of the Bible (the one Pierce uses the most) and the New King James (my personal favorite) use the word "house." I haven't delved into the Hebrew to see whether that's really accurate or not, but I have heard commentators say that Rahab may have already been trying to carve out a new means of living because of the flax she was drying on the roof. Basically, she might have been entering the textile business. Another small complaint I have is that it would have been great if Pierce outlined how, exactly, a person is filled with the Holy Spirit. (Although maybe he didn't, since this book seems to be geared towards already born-again believers?)

I would recommend Hebrews: A Visual Introduction: Access to God to anyone who would like to take a closer look at Hebrews, and arm themselves with apologetics for the supremacy of Christ. As this is what I believe the author was aiming for, he did it well!

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who loves theology, but isn't very familiar with the book of Hebrews, this book was absolutely perfect! It was very basic and easy to understand but not in a surface level way. It perfectly instilled a solid foundation of what the book is about without overwhelming me with advanced scholarship.

But, it isn't just an overview of the book. It's far more than just that. It's also full of symbolic art-with very well conveyed explanations of the meanings behind said art- Platonic philosophy, historical research, coding, and a fictional short story introduction (brilliantly written by K.L. Pierce and Hannah Heath) to help the readers connect with the people and the situation the letter was written to.

Perhaps my favorite aspect of the book is how much the author emphasises context. He goes to great lengths to make sure readers understand the historical, biblical, and literary context. For example, I love how in chapter 1 the author points out how the whole logical argument built at the beginning of Hebrews about Jesus being superior to the angels is likely addressing Jewish presuppositions about how angels were the ultimate high priests, due to some of their misinterpretations of the Torah. Or, to give another example, Pierce at one point talks about how the writer of Hebrews was fused the Platonic theory of forms in his argument, and was likely inspired in terms of subject matter by Philo.

As far as individual chapters go, my favorites would have to be chapters 5 and 6.
I think the reason why these ones impacted me the most is because of how well the author lays out the flow of thought the writer of Hebrews is trying to convey. The whole point of the chapters is drawing connections between Jesus and the priest Melchizedek, and how the Hebrews writer moves from one line of thinking to the next in proving these connections, and as said before, in the grand scheme of things proving that Jesus is the ultimate high priest.
And another thing I love about these chapters is the in-depth explorationof how the priesthood was used under the old covenant, how it related to the temple, and how the whole thing points back to Jesus.

All that said, I do have to take off a star for two reasons:

(1) Sometimes the author would break away from his flow of thought to temporarily break away to a different thought, without alerting the reader, and then would switch back again, which made it a bit difficult to keep track of everything.

(2) I felt like the author sometimes went a little too in depth in some of his explanations for things which were fairly easy to grasp. Take chapter 1 for example. While I really appreciated the author's dedication to making sure we grasped the logical argument of Hebrews, I thought the whole code based explanation got a little too analytical, and perhaps made grasping the argument a little harder than it needed to be.

But having said those things, this book accomplishes exactly what it intends to: to be a basic guide to beginners in the book of Hebrews. In fact, I'd say it goes beyond its intention. I truly feel like I've grown in my understanding of it, and am extremely glad to have read it.

Highly recommended for anyone looking to get a basic grasp of Hebrews!!

[Bethany Fehr · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not your typical biblical commentary. Hebrews: Access to God is one of the most creative theological presentations I've had the pleasure of reading. In my mind, little red flags typically go up when the words creativityand theology appear in conjunction, but I was very happy to find that the content supported by this work's revolutionary format turned out to be solid orthodox teaching. Pierce doesn't try to say anything new: he gives the Bible the last word and magnifies what is already there using the artistic media of historical fiction and visual art as a lens.

The commentary is introduced with a historical fiction piece that provides meaningful context behind the writing of the book of Hebrews. The story gives a helpful perspective on the original audience of the book of Hebrews and the situations they were facing at the time. I really appreciated the specific historical details regarding Nero's reign and his persecution of Christians in Rome, and how these details are made relevant to the fictional characters' lives. Vivid sensory details make the setting come to life and lend the story authenticity. From my vantage point, the story seems to be well researched; the only things I picked up on that didn't quite seem to fit were a couple instances of modern Christian phraseology that don't come directly from Scripture (e.g. accepting Jesus into one's life.) I also appreciated that the dialogue during Apostle Paul's brief appearance in the story is clearly based on his words in the Bible while being pertinent to the situation he's addressing. I think the story would have had an opportunity to have been even more interesting if a little more attention had been given to how the issues addressed by the book of Hebrews impact the main character, but I may have missed some subtle themes.

A huge collection of visual media is displayed throughout the book, including helpful charts and illustrations, many biblical masterpieces by respected historical artists, and some original pieces created by the author in response to the themes presented by Hebrews. The visual aspect of the book was probably the element that did the least for me personally, but this is likely due to my own personality and education. I've never cultivated an appreciation for Surrealistic art, or highly symbolic visual art in general. As an artist and appreciator, I find I tend to judge based on realism and not much else, so I have a harder time appreciating genres of artwork that have to be explained for me to understand them properly. I also find that I personally get more out of verbal input that visual representations of information. If you're a visual learner or a student of Surrealistic art (or historical art in general,) the artwork might be right up your alley.

The commentary itself is a bit heavier reading than I am used to, but the writing is pretty straightforward and plainspoken. I think that a few parts could have been written more simply, but the author's explanations are helpfully thorough.

Access to God examines the book of Hebrews chapter by chapter, so I read through Hebrews alongsidethe commentary. Each chapter of the commentary highlights distinct themes, but the unifying thread of Christ's plan to open a way for all people to have access to His presence ties it all together as Pierce follows the story of the God who is the same yesterday today and forever. Access to God looks at the repercussions of the New Covanent throughout history, from the faith of the Old Testament believers and the Law that pointed toward Christ's final sacrifice, to the context of the original audience of Hebrews and the struggles of the newborn Church, to the relationship we can have with God in our present, to the glorious future in God's presence that Christ purchased for us.

Pierce uses creative examples to make some of the more involved information easier to understand. For example, to illustrate the logical arguments for the supremacy of Christ, he compares digital and analog logic and explains the specific functions of several logical keywords, giving interesting examples from technology and real-life situations. I enjoyed learning more about how computers work, and I understood better how the logic of Hebrews reinforces its messages.

I found the commentary's focus on Hebrews's references to Old Testament passages to be one of the most fascinating aspects of the book. I've read through Hebrews several times, but I never realized just how much of it ties directly back to the Pentateuch.

I initially was a little disappointed that the commentary skipped over a few passages and didn't go into more depth on individual verses, but then I remembered that this work is intended as an introduction, not a full-scale commentary. This book's focus is on drawing out the big pictures in Hebrews, and while I'm a details person, I really appreciated how this book increased my understanding from the wide-angle view. I think the author achieved what he set out to do with this book. I'm glad to have read it, and it left me wanting to continue digging into the book of Hebrews. That's what an introduction should do.