How We Got the Bible

by John H. Sailhamer

When busy people want to know more about the Bible and the Christian faith, the Zondervan Quick-Reference Library offers an instant information alternative. Covering the basics of the faith and Bible knowledge in an easy-to-use format, this series helps new Christians and seasoned believers find answers to their questions about Christianity and the Bible.The information is presented in units of one or two pages, so that each section can be read in a few minutes. The Zondervan Quick-Reference Library makes important knowledge affordable, accessible, and easy to understand for busy people who don’t have a lot of time to read or study.

Genres: Christianity, Biblical Studies

91 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Dr. Sailhamer has been teaching since 1975, most recently at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary. He was President of The Evangelical Theological Society in 2000 and has published a number of books, including An Introduction to Old Testament Theology, The Pentateuch as Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentary, and Genesis: The Expositor's Bible Commentary, all from Zondervan. He has contributed a number of articles and book reviews in various biblical journals and has delivered several scholarly papers and particpated in several Old Testament Bible translation committees

Reviews

[Adam Nesmith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent and concise introduction to a very important topic. If you have never thought or considered how a collection of ancient texts ended up in an English volume called the Bible, this 80 page introduction will introduce you to a broad range of topics. Your thinking about Biblical inspiration and textual criticism will go from 2D to 3D. The book is very readable with each topic only occupying about a page. The only complaint is if you haven’t investigated this topic before, the book may leave you with more questions than answers due to how intentionally concise it is. As an introduction to the topic, it is excellent but it pushes the reader to further study.

Truth: 4/5
I found myself agreeing with most of what was said, but there were areas I wish he included more exposition.

Structure: 5/5
Loved the brevity while still covering a broad range of topics. The book is easy to pick up and read a few pages then put down, so great for busy readers.

Utility: 3/5
This is a hard one to rate. While I think everyone especially Christians should have general knowledge of how the Bible came to be, one might not have a direct “use” for the knowledge. However, having the knows contained in the book will, I trust, prove eventually useful for most western citizens

[Matt Quintana · Rating 5 out of 5]

An extremely helpful and wonderfully concise introduction to the topic of the text and canon of Scripture. Sailhamer provides an accessible, yet well researched and defensible, answer to the question of "How did we get the Bible?" Any Christian could read and benefit from this book. Buy a bunch of copies and hand them out to your congregation.

[Lucas Page · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1998, the book is dated in the sense that everything Dr. Sailhamer has written in this short book is pretty easily accessible online by platforms such as Bible Project, GotQuestions, Blue Letter Bible, etc.

However, 5 stars because it is a great resource that covers a bunch of technical and slightly complicated questions in less than 500 words for each topic. Definitely a good resource to have on a bookshelf, especially for those looking to get away from relying on the internet 24/7

[Joey Coons · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short book, and nothing exhaustive. But nonetheless Sailhammer gives a great introduction to help readers understand better the history of the Bible, how the Hebrew and Greek text took shape, and how the Bible as we know it got to where it is today.

[Kyle "Bapo" Roque · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a simple read and gives one-pagers on certain topics of the Bible's origins, and it is good for those who like Readers Digest. You cover the History of the Biblical Text, the Hebrew Old Testament, and the Greek New Testament.

[Aaron Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some helpful stuff here.

[Demetrius Rogers]

A basic treatment with a unique (Sailhamerian) perspective.