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The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama
This book provides an overview of the grand narrative of the Bible, showing how God's action in the world gives meaning to our lives and provides us with a foundation for our actions. The authors' bestselling textbook, The Drama of Scripture, presented this message for a student audience. It was then abridged and published at a more popular level as The True Story of the Whole World. This revised edition has been further updated and streamlined throughout for church readers and small groups. It includes contemporary reflection sections and discussion questions for individual or group use in each chapter.
185 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 28, 2009
90 people are currently reading
352 people want to read
About the author
Michael W. Goheen
29 books41 followersMichael W. Goheen (PhD, University of Utrecht) is professor of missional theology, Newbigin House of Studies, San Francisco, and Jake and Betsy Tuls Professor of Missiology at Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is also minister of preaching at New West Christian Reformed Church in Burnaby, British Columbia, and is the author or coauthor of several books, including The Drama of Scripture, Living at the Crossroads, A Light to the Nations, and a work on Lesslie Newbigin's missionary ecclesiology.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
March 22, 2024
The early portions started a little slow. Once the second half of the book began, things got rolling downhill in the best of ways. I had trouble putting the book down from page 107 on. The clarity, unity, and hope that Goheen and Bartholomew draw out of the biblical narrative—the true story of the whole world(!)—is mesmerizing. When I finished, the first thing I wanted to do was go back and read the book again.
I’ve been sourcing different approaches to teaching new/young Christians how to read and study the Bible. Even wanting to consider how to communicate a simply yet robust doctrine of Scripture to unbelievers. I’ve come across a handful that are very helpful, and I’d recommend them all. But here, in the revised version of “The True Story of the Whole World,” I’ve found my favorite approach. Biblical theology in a subtly Neo-Calvinist tune. A beautiful melody.
Here’s to eagerly longing for the return of the King.
I’ve been sourcing different approaches to teaching new/young Christians how to read and study the Bible. Even wanting to consider how to communicate a simply yet robust doctrine of Scripture to unbelievers. I’ve come across a handful that are very helpful, and I’d recommend them all. But here, in the revised version of “The True Story of the Whole World,” I’ve found my favorite approach. Biblical theology in a subtly Neo-Calvinist tune. A beautiful melody.
Here’s to eagerly longing for the return of the King.
February 2, 2021
This is a helpful book for those who may be new to reading scripture or to those who struggle to see how all of scripture points to Christ. There are many books written that point out the Christocentric storyline, but this book is unique in the way that it tells it as a story. It may be dry at times for those who have been trained in this before, but even there I found helpful parts that are unwritten in scripture, namely the intermission (the 400 years between the Old Testament and New Testament), and the end of Act 5 which addresses our current place in the story. My favorite parts were toward the end of the book, where the authors help us discern how we fit and what were called to, and the way they addressed the importance of focusing on the victory that comes when Jesus returns as opposed to the details of how it will all go down.
April 16, 2025
Great overview of the whole narrative of scripture! Had to read this for school but I’m glad that I did :))
February 22, 2017
Every Christian should read this. I've read through the Bible multiple times and would have said I had a grasp of biblical theology but this book beautifully walks through the story summarizing it into six acts.
"This restoration of the creation will be comprehensive: the whole of human life in the context of the whole creation will be restored. Too often our view of the future has emphasized solely the salvation of individual persons apart from the full creation and relational context in which human beings live their lives. Often the whole of the biblical story seems to revolve around "me". Yet the vision of revelation - indeed the whole story of the Bible - leads us to look forward in hope to a creation restored to wholeness. Every facet of it is to be brought back to what God has, all along, intended for it. And wishing that glorious fullness and perfect wholeness, there is a place for us."
"This restoration of the creation will be comprehensive: the whole of human life in the context of the whole creation will be restored. Too often our view of the future has emphasized solely the salvation of individual persons apart from the full creation and relational context in which human beings live their lives. Often the whole of the biblical story seems to revolve around "me". Yet the vision of revelation - indeed the whole story of the Bible - leads us to look forward in hope to a creation restored to wholeness. Every facet of it is to be brought back to what God has, all along, intended for it. And wishing that glorious fullness and perfect wholeness, there is a place for us."
November 5, 2023
This was a really helpful book to see that the Bible is one story starting with the Israelites and God’s plan to redeem the whole creation and people. I will continue to refer back to it because it gives helpful overviews of a lot of books of the Bible.
April 24, 2025
Excelente recurso para todo cristiano . Un libro muy profundo pero a la vez accesible. La traducción al español es buena .
June 4, 2025
I read this book for a class I did with my church. It was an easy read, taught me a lot, and is definitely something I plan to read again. The content of the book is something I wish I would have been taught years ago. It has helped me see the connections of the biblical story better.
February 17, 2020
I read this book for a class, so admittedly I didn't come into it with a lot of enthusiasm. However it ended up being on of my favorite assigned readings. It truly does read like a story and draws the reader in. It does a great job of illustrating it's point by showing instead of telling, so to speak! I'm familiar with the biblical stories in here, but to see them pulled altogether into a cohesive whole with consistent tone was well worth the read.
February 21, 2024
This book provided a concise and accurate summary of the bible, emphasizing a narrative backbone connecting the story from start to finish. What would have strengthened the book, in my opinion, are more references and sources apart from the Bible to support 1) the historical accounts and 2)interpretations of scripture that are counter-cultural within both secular and Christian worldviews.
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A few examples where I found myself wanting a more thorough explanation or external references
On page 14-15, the authors state, “Genesis 1:26-28 has become notorious among some environmentalists who believe this teaching has been used to justify much of the environmental destruction characterizing the modern world. This passage, however, clearly identifies humankind’s vocation of domination not as tyrannical exploitation of nature but as caring stewardship. [...] It is impossible to read this as suggesting that humans are free to do what they like with God's workmanship.”
I think what threw me off was the tone created through the words, "clearly" and "impossible." This tone is directly in contrast to what they stated; not only is it possible to interpret the passage differently, they have stated that this passage is notorious, meaning common or frequent, for people interpreting it contrary to what they believe. For such a strong sentiment, the evidence they provided that it should be read in accordance to their viewpoint felt insufficient. Even if I agreed with their perspective, I do not feel I was given enough of a foundation to explain this interpretation to those who may be skeptical.
On page 10, they state, “In order to understand the Genesis account of creation, we must understand something about the kind of writing it is. Scholars themselves have a hard time describing this, but they agree that the story told in the first chapters of Genesis has been very carefully crafted.” There were no sources provided for the scholars they referenced and at the end of this section, I was unsure what they wanted me to understand about the “kind of writing [Genesis] is.”
Another example is on page 8, “Though some aspects of the creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2 may seem strange to us, we need to remember that they made perfect sense to the people of Israel when they first heard them.” The authors elaborate by stating this account was intended to contrast with other origin stories of the world, specifically those that include multiple gods associated with the fertility of the land, the sun and the moon, and who made humans to be servants. At the end of this section, I was unsure what parts of the creation story they were assuming felt “strange” to modern readers. I was unconvinced that it would have made “perfect sense” to the people of Israel, not because I disagree but because I wasn’t sure why it was assumed that it wouldn’t make sense nor what about the early Israelites’ beliefs or customs would have negated the assumed confusion for modern readers.
On page 15, they state that “we ‘image’ God in his creation as we develop its potential and cultivate its possibilities in agriculture, art, music, commerce, politics, scholarship, family, life, sports, leisure, and so on, in ways that honor God.”
While I believe strongly that our faith impacts many facets of our internal lives as well as greater society, this is an interpretation, albeit well documented, that is not accepted by all Christians; there are some who believed we should be reject or be isolated from many elements of culture or that our primary role should be evangelism above all else. I was disappointed to not see a more thorough explanation or at least reference to the many resources that support this perspective.
Based on the little that I know about these authors, they have done the scholarly work to support their historical narrative and theological perspective. This could mean they intentionally left out references to make the text more accessible or less overwhelming or that they believed their intended audience shared their belief and had a solid foundation to support their beliefs.
Regardless, I would have preferred references or more context for both the concepts with which I agree and towards which I am skeptical.
------
A few examples where I found myself wanting a more thorough explanation or external references
On page 14-15, the authors state, “Genesis 1:26-28 has become notorious among some environmentalists who believe this teaching has been used to justify much of the environmental destruction characterizing the modern world. This passage, however, clearly identifies humankind’s vocation of domination not as tyrannical exploitation of nature but as caring stewardship. [...] It is impossible to read this as suggesting that humans are free to do what they like with God's workmanship.”
I think what threw me off was the tone created through the words, "clearly" and "impossible." This tone is directly in contrast to what they stated; not only is it possible to interpret the passage differently, they have stated that this passage is notorious, meaning common or frequent, for people interpreting it contrary to what they believe. For such a strong sentiment, the evidence they provided that it should be read in accordance to their viewpoint felt insufficient. Even if I agreed with their perspective, I do not feel I was given enough of a foundation to explain this interpretation to those who may be skeptical.
On page 10, they state, “In order to understand the Genesis account of creation, we must understand something about the kind of writing it is. Scholars themselves have a hard time describing this, but they agree that the story told in the first chapters of Genesis has been very carefully crafted.” There were no sources provided for the scholars they referenced and at the end of this section, I was unsure what they wanted me to understand about the “kind of writing [Genesis] is.”
Another example is on page 8, “Though some aspects of the creation stories in Genesis 1 and 2 may seem strange to us, we need to remember that they made perfect sense to the people of Israel when they first heard them.” The authors elaborate by stating this account was intended to contrast with other origin stories of the world, specifically those that include multiple gods associated with the fertility of the land, the sun and the moon, and who made humans to be servants. At the end of this section, I was unsure what parts of the creation story they were assuming felt “strange” to modern readers. I was unconvinced that it would have made “perfect sense” to the people of Israel, not because I disagree but because I wasn’t sure why it was assumed that it wouldn’t make sense nor what about the early Israelites’ beliefs or customs would have negated the assumed confusion for modern readers.
On page 15, they state that “we ‘image’ God in his creation as we develop its potential and cultivate its possibilities in agriculture, art, music, commerce, politics, scholarship, family, life, sports, leisure, and so on, in ways that honor God.”
While I believe strongly that our faith impacts many facets of our internal lives as well as greater society, this is an interpretation, albeit well documented, that is not accepted by all Christians; there are some who believed we should be reject or be isolated from many elements of culture or that our primary role should be evangelism above all else. I was disappointed to not see a more thorough explanation or at least reference to the many resources that support this perspective.
Based on the little that I know about these authors, they have done the scholarly work to support their historical narrative and theological perspective. This could mean they intentionally left out references to make the text more accessible or less overwhelming or that they believed their intended audience shared their belief and had a solid foundation to support their beliefs.
Regardless, I would have preferred references or more context for both the concepts with which I agree and towards which I am skeptical.
May 21, 2020
This book reads like a Cliff Notes for the Bible. It impressively summarizes sound scholarship and provides some good insights along the way.
They adopted N.T Wright’s metaphor of the Bible as a drama and employed a 6-part structure.
Act 1: God establishes the kingdom—creation
Act 2: Rebellion in the kingdom—fall
Act 3: The king chooses Israel—redemption initiated
Scene 1: A people for the king
Scene 2: a land and king for the people
Interlude: A kingdom story waiting for an ending
Act 4: the coming of the king—redemption accomplished
Act 5: spreading news of the king—the mission of church
Scene 1: from Jerusalem to Rome
Scene 2: to all the world
Act 6: the return of the king—redemption completed
The goal of the book was to help readers find their place in the story or drama of the Bible. Because in order for us to make sense of our lives and to make our most important decisions we depend upon a story that provides a broader framework of meaning. Particular events can only be understood in the context of a story.
Any outline of a worldview story answers these questions:
1. Who am I? What does it mean to be human?
2. Where am I? Where did our world come from?
3. What is wrong? Why does the world seem so troubled?
4. What is the remedy? Can humans alone fix the problems of the world.
5. What time is it? Where are we in the story?
One disagreement: They say that a broad mission is central to our being the church. To me there seems to be tension between saying something is broad and yet central. My view is that we a have broad mission in which making disciples and being a witness to the Messiah is central. I understand their impulse. They want to infuse significance into secular work, environmentalism, and mercy ministry. But, you can say something is important while, at the same time, refusing to say it is central. If everything is central nothing is central.
They adopted N.T Wright’s metaphor of the Bible as a drama and employed a 6-part structure.
Act 1: God establishes the kingdom—creation
Act 2: Rebellion in the kingdom—fall
Act 3: The king chooses Israel—redemption initiated
Scene 1: A people for the king
Scene 2: a land and king for the people
Interlude: A kingdom story waiting for an ending
Act 4: the coming of the king—redemption accomplished
Act 5: spreading news of the king—the mission of church
Scene 1: from Jerusalem to Rome
Scene 2: to all the world
Act 6: the return of the king—redemption completed
The goal of the book was to help readers find their place in the story or drama of the Bible. Because in order for us to make sense of our lives and to make our most important decisions we depend upon a story that provides a broader framework of meaning. Particular events can only be understood in the context of a story.
Any outline of a worldview story answers these questions:
1. Who am I? What does it mean to be human?
2. Where am I? Where did our world come from?
3. What is wrong? Why does the world seem so troubled?
4. What is the remedy? Can humans alone fix the problems of the world.
5. What time is it? Where are we in the story?
One disagreement: They say that a broad mission is central to our being the church. To me there seems to be tension between saying something is broad and yet central. My view is that we a have broad mission in which making disciples and being a witness to the Messiah is central. I understand their impulse. They want to infuse significance into secular work, environmentalism, and mercy ministry. But, you can say something is important while, at the same time, refusing to say it is central. If everything is central nothing is central.
September 30, 2025
The never ending story
Well written, in layman’s language. It clearly explains the Bible is one story. God created man as his highest creation to be in fellowship with man and lived with man on earth. Sin broke man’s relationship with God. After that epic event, God set about a way to restore all His creation He pronounced “very good “ to once again be as the cosmos was before sin. Ultimately, in the last book of Revelation we see God bringing Heaven to earth to dwell forever, minus sin and evil to continue living in a perfectly restored heaven and earth. Man will have roles/responsibilities working in this new global Eden without sin, death, illness or war. We live a life of constant love and enjoyment in all we do in fellowship with our fellow man and all Gods creation and perfect relationship with our God and His Son Jesus who reigns over the new united global Kingdom. We will live then in a world without end. Sin and evil are banished and can never enter to destroy those who love God and believed in Jesus as their Savior who removed our sin and with His resurrection promised we too will one day be physically resurrected with a body that will never grow old.
Well written, in layman’s language. It clearly explains the Bible is one story. God created man as his highest creation to be in fellowship with man and lived with man on earth. Sin broke man’s relationship with God. After that epic event, God set about a way to restore all His creation He pronounced “very good “ to once again be as the cosmos was before sin. Ultimately, in the last book of Revelation we see God bringing Heaven to earth to dwell forever, minus sin and evil to continue living in a perfectly restored heaven and earth. Man will have roles/responsibilities working in this new global Eden without sin, death, illness or war. We live a life of constant love and enjoyment in all we do in fellowship with our fellow man and all Gods creation and perfect relationship with our God and His Son Jesus who reigns over the new united global Kingdom. We will live then in a world without end. Sin and evil are banished and can never enter to destroy those who love God and believed in Jesus as their Savior who removed our sin and with His resurrection promised we too will one day be physically resurrected with a body that will never grow old.
January 16, 2021
This book is a summary of the story of the bible from Genesis to Revelation. If you attend a bible teaching church you'll know the biblical stories and theological purpose. This book would be helpful if you use it for a new believer's class or if you're personally discipling a new believer so they can have a basic framework of the storyline through the bible. Understanding the historical context in each time period will illuminate anyone's comprehension of the biblical text.
The best chapter was the one on the intertestamental period of the bible (400 years between the Old Testament and New Testament) because churches don't teach on that historical period often, if at all. There was a lot going on and understanding that time period helps you understand the set up when we arrive to the Gospels in the New Testament.
The best chapter was the one on the intertestamental period of the bible (400 years between the Old Testament and New Testament) because churches don't teach on that historical period often, if at all. There was a lot going on and understanding that time period helps you understand the set up when we arrive to the Gospels in the New Testament.
September 19, 2023
This will be a new go-to buy for friends who are just starting to read the Bible for the first time. It summarizes the full story of scripture chronologically and points out the importance of viewing our individual lives as part of this larger story, “the one true story of the whole world.”
This book gave explanations and commentary for stories and even entire books of the Bible that had once seemed out of place or confusing to me.
In every aspect of my life - my career and parenting in particular - I’ve caught myself more often asking “What does this teach me about my place in the story” or “How do I engage this situation in the context of the larger story” instead of trying to throw Christian principles individually at a situation.
I feel refreshed, motivated, and equipped to share Jesus with people in my life in a way I didn’t before and I’m super thankful for that!
This book gave explanations and commentary for stories and even entire books of the Bible that had once seemed out of place or confusing to me.
In every aspect of my life - my career and parenting in particular - I’ve caught myself more often asking “What does this teach me about my place in the story” or “How do I engage this situation in the context of the larger story” instead of trying to throw Christian principles individually at a situation.
I feel refreshed, motivated, and equipped to share Jesus with people in my life in a way I didn’t before and I’m super thankful for that!
January 30, 2021
This book is solid. Having read the Drama of Scripture, I was interested to see how Bartholomew and Goheen made the material more concise. They did a good job, in my opinion.
The text still reads like a textbook, just with more "us" and "we" etc. I don't mind, but I'm sure Brazos Press was hoping for something a little more engaging.
In general, however, the authors summarize the biblical metanarrative well, and The True Story of the Whole World is a useful book for walking a congregation through the biblical story, considering how to participate with consistency and innovation.
The text still reads like a textbook, just with more "us" and "we" etc. I don't mind, but I'm sure Brazos Press was hoping for something a little more engaging.
In general, however, the authors summarize the biblical metanarrative well, and The True Story of the Whole World is a useful book for walking a congregation through the biblical story, considering how to participate with consistency and innovation.
December 30, 2022
I really enjoyed this book! It's essentially an abridged version of the Bible, so that the reader may get a deeper understanding of all of the big events of the Bible as they happened. It allowed me to have a deeper understanding of the OT Jews and feel their hurt more, which made the news of the coming of Christ taste even sweeter! Definitely recommend this for my Christian friends, and honestly even for my non-Christian friends who'd like to get to know an easier-to-understand summary of the events in the OT&NT!
March 8, 2025
In all fairness, this book did what it set out to do and it did it well. Personal downside is that I read The Drama of Scripture a few weeks ago and The True Story of the Whole World is a condensed version of the same book. I think this pace and content I actually enjoyed more since I felt The Drama of Scripture was dense and felt repetitive to a lot of scriptural movements that are not new to me, so if you want a book that is a quicker overview this is the one. I do think this is a great introduction to the story of God and would recommend it to anyone looking to dive into that topic.
November 28, 2023
dnf at 37%. Thank you to my dgroup leader who agreed we should probably pick a different book for next semester because this is literally a rehash of the Bible. This is a reference book. This is for when you can't remember what happened in Kings and need to check. This is not for group discussions and real life applications. A helpful book if you don't know anything to begin with but as someone who has gone through the Bible before, this was a drag
May 10, 2025
Even though this is a simpler version of The Drama of Scripture, I actually found it more helpful. If you're someone who wants to know how to read your Bible well but has a hard time placing what you're reading in the overall story of Scripture, this book is immensely helpful- essentially an introduction to Biblical Theology. Had a blast reading this with a student and watching his love for the story of Scripture grow!
June 5, 2025
the preface and first few "acts" of this novel are poorly presented in my opinion and many of the human perspectives and interpretations of biblical history feel contradictory to the point proposed and I found myself highlighting contrasting ideas on the same page. however, I will say that the after the second half of the novel it picked up and i felt more engaged with the information being presented.
April 26, 2023
This is a good book, but I was underwhelmed. The authors make solid observations and new Christians or those who have only studied the Bible in snippets can gain a lot from this book’s depiction of the continuity of God’s Story. For those familiar with the overarching story presented in the Bible, this book only offers confirmation of what you already know and occasional insights.
April 16, 2022
Outstanding!!
This book is truly life changing and will help the reader understand he Bible and how it reveals God's plan for the restoration of all creation to the glory it had when He first created it. You will never be the same after reading this work!
This book is truly life changing and will help the reader understand he Bible and how it reveals God's plan for the restoration of all creation to the glory it had when He first created it. You will never be the same after reading this work!
November 14, 2022
Read this along with our weekly Discipleship Institute class at church— very helpful in unpacking storylines of the entire Bible rather than looking at the OT as “back then stories” and NT as “Jesus”.
January 14, 2024
It was okay. Not what I was expecting. It was informative (too much at times) and a ton of reading at times. Not great for a Bible study. It should really be organized better if it's meant for Bible studies.
February 8, 2024
It gives a clear and comprehensive overview of the whole Bible. It is a smooth read. You don't get bogged down in long explanations or unfamiliar terms. The authors did a great job in showing the continuity of the whole story of the Bible
October 13, 2025
I read the updated version. Highly recommend for anyone in the Christian faith. Easy to understand, foundational, and helpful to better understand a biblical worldview. Very introspective and contemplative, though readable.
November 21, 2025
Worked very well as a book to read through with someone I'm mentoring. It easily breaks into chunks we can read between meetings and the questions after each chapter were helpful for our discussions. It's a good summary of the Bible and makes some excellent points. At times I wished it went a little deeper, but given the scope they're covering, it's pretty impressive.
October 2, 2017
Good book on giving you the whole story of the Bible. If you don't know much about the Bible, this is sort of the cliff notes of what is most important about it.
May 8, 2018
Very good an awesome read to learn about our lord and savior
December 13, 2018
A good book on the grand narrative of Scripture, if not a little too focused on the Creation mandate and not enough on Christ...
December 10, 2019
This is a great retelling of the story of the Bible, but I have to say there is no substitute for reading the real deal. Just read the Bible!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews