Bible for Blockheads, The
This "user-friendly" introduction to the BibleAlike Larry Richards's The Bible: God's Word for the Biblically Inept (LJ 2/15/99)Ais for those embarking on Bible study for the first time. A brief introduction presents an overview of the Bible, its history, and approaches to studying it; each chapter contains a summary of a biblical book and is sprinkled with historical and archaeological tidbits; five "Tool Time" essays, placed throughout the volume, introduce readers to commentaries, concordances, dictionaries, and atlases. Organized in a pleasing, easy-to-navigate manner, the book is casually pastoral and at times humorousAat one point, for example, Connelly (pastor of Cross Church in Flint, MI) asks of Queen Esther, "What's a nice Jewish girl like you doing in a place like this?" But, although he sometimes mentions a range of competing biblical interpretations, theologically Connelly is firmly conservative. And while this book would be more or less suitable for most academic libraries, its devotional orientation make it most appropriate for church libraries.ACraig W. Beard, Univ. of Alabama, Birmingham Lib.Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.