1001 Surprising Things You Should Know about the Bible

by Jerry MacGregor, Marie Prys

According to this fascinating new collection by Jerry MacGregor and Marie Prys, the Bible is not only the world's best-selling book-it's also the world's most shoplifted book! Nine out of ten Americans own a Bible, and worldwide sales are uncountable. Yet, for its astonishing sales, how much do most people know about the history and contents of the Bible? 1001 Surprising Things You Should Know about the Bible illuminates the many characters, events, and exciting facts about this profoundly influential book. The information is unique, unfamiliar, true, and, best of all, fun! Readers will uncover intriguing tidbits about such things -how the Bible came to be -the Apocrypha -famous quotes about the Bible -New Testament writings -miracles of amazing proportions -festivals and holidays -angels in the Bible -music in the Bible With explanations brief enough even for busy readers, this resource is for everyone who enjoys history, theology, and interesting facts about the faith. 1001 Surprising Things You Should Know about the Bible will also come in handy for pastors looking for interesting illustration material.

Genres: Christianity, Nonfiction

224 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Jenn Scott Pickett]

Though the book was somewhat informative and interesting, it didn't exactly come across as unbiased as I'd hoped. In a lot of ways it read more as a summary of the bible instead of facts about the bible. Also, it was kind of redundant. Oh, and it repeated itself several times. Ha!

[Reagan Faith Waggoner]

Interesting read.. didn’t focus a ton on it, but keyed in on the facts that were interesting.

Papyrus for scrolls came from a port in Lebanon called Byblos, which is where the Greek word biblia came from, which is what the Bible is named after.

Youngest boy in a family the shepherd
Gall-juice of a poisonous and bitter plant; best guess is hemlock, the poison Socrates died of

Apocrypha- Greek word that means hidden
Refers to small group of controversial books

Divided into chapters and verses in 16th century
Wycliffe made Bible more accessible

Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines

Jonah got swallowed by a “great fish” perhaps great white?

Women never ate with men in Old Testament, and men always ate first.

Levitate marriage was emphasized and failure to follow through with it was looked down upon.

KJV uses “candle” a lot, but the people of the Bible never used candles; they would’ve used lights or lanterns

Typical for women to lead in early church unlike synagogues of the day

[Mary Ellin]

Perhaps more correctly titled “1001 Surprising Things You Should Know About the Bible and the Judeo-Christian Faith,” as not every one of the 1001 things are actually in the Bible. Some tidbits aren’t surprises, either, such as the chapter outlining well-known parables of Jesus, which is hardly a surprise to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of the Gospels. Still, there are some interesting gems (the Bible is the most stolen book) and amusements (a listing of Bibles with unfortunate errors, such as the Wicked Bible with a commandment that you “shall commit adultery”) that make this book worth the read. It’s a quick 200-some pages and should inspire those with limited Bible knowledge to give the Holy Book (actually, books; the Bible is an anthology) a closer look.

[Dmack]

Loads of good info

[Linda]

Brief factlets about all phases of the Bible, written from a Christian perspective, and relying heavily on the King James version of the Bible. Covers mores and practices of biblical times and explains many obscure things. Gave to the church library.