Hard Sayings of the Bible

by Walter C. Kaiser Jr., Peter H. Davids, F.F. Bruce

Replaces Hard Sayings of the Old Testament , which received a 1990 Christianity Today Critics' Choice Award! Are you grappling with a difficult verse in the Bible? And are you looking for a short, easy-to-read answer that really makes sense without explaining away the verse? Hard Sayings of the Bible is the handy reference book you need. Here you will find explanations of over 500 of the most troubling verses to test the minds and hearts of Bible readers. Four seasoned scholars, all with a notable gift for communicating with people in the pew, take you behind the scenes to find succinct solutions to a wide variety of Bible difficulties, ranging from discrepancies about numbers to questions about God's justice. Historical, cultural and linguistic backgrounds shed light on these passages and not only help explain what they meant in biblical times but also show how they are relevant today. Now carefully cross-referenced with over 100 new verses explained, as well as a dozen new introductory articles on chronology, miracles, archaeology, prophecy and more, Hard Sayings of the Bible offers the combined resources of five previous volumes that have over 250,000 copies in print. If you find yourself tied up in scriptural knots, here's the book that will help you cut through them.

Genres: Reference, Theology, Christian, Christianity, Biblical Studies, Faith, Religion

811 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1996

About the author

Walter C. Kaiser Jr. (PhD, Brandeis University) is president emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts. He previously taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and at Wheaton College. Kaiser is active as a preacher, speaker, researcher, and writer and is the author of more than forty books, including Preaching and Teaching from the Old Testament and The Majesty of God in the Old Testament.

Reviews

[Steve Miyamoto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Indispensible if you are learning to read the Bible and struggling through what seems like contradictions and confusion. It takes the most commonly misunderstood verses and hardest questions about the Bible and explains the issues well.

[Jordan Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of responses to tough questions about the Bible. The Old Testament section was more interesting than the New Testament. Many of the New Testament “Hard Sayings” didn’t really seem hard or worthy of the (very) long responses given. It’s an older book so some things are a little bit dated, but all in all it was an enjoyable, even if long, read.

[Dave Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall there are some great essays on the more difficult passages of scripture. There were a couple that I disagreed with but that would probably happen regardless of the group of authors.

[Fred Kohn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended by an evangelical friend of mine. Mostly it was theological discussion which did not interest me. I was amused by the story of a certain James Bartley, said to be swallowed by a whale and surviving for several hours. Nonsense, of course. I was happy to see the authors admit that Leviathan and Behemoth are mythological, rather than saying nonsensically that they are dinosaurs. I was quite disappointed that nothing was said concerning Exodus 21.22-23.

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a great resource but it is not bad either. It did answer some questions for me and gave me some insight in other areas but there were also many areas that it did not and many not addressed

[Royce Ratterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Most books are rated related to their usefulness and contributions to my research.
Overall, a good book for the researcher and enthusiast.
Read for personal research
- found this book's contents helpful and inspiring - number rating relates to the book's contribution to my needs.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been using this book for 6 months and there is great wealth of information in here. Its quite particular on what information it contains, but its got a lot on those subjects it does contain.

[Chris Bundy]

Mainly as a resource when I happen upon that bit of Scripture that trips me up.

[Kingsley Layton · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent collection of these books which goes further than just hard sayings, but a great introduction to some hard to decipher passages. I've made notes aplenty for further use.

[Pc Nghaklianmawia · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful book! Its very interesting and formative. Thanks for the authors.

[Shane Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant read to answer those silly lists of alledged contradictions that we see posted on the Internet...in depth and well thought out!!!