Anders,
Max. 30 Days to Understanding the Bible
in 15 Minutes a Day! Nashville:
Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1998. http://www.amazon.com/Days-Understanding-Bible-Minutes-Day/dp/0785214232/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1381365697&sr=8-2&keywords=max+anders+30+days+to+understanding+the+bible
Briefly, the outline, followed by the preliminary review:
rolling of the eyes, yet.., not so fast either. First, the outline, 30 chapters for 30 days. Second, the preliminary review. It's extremely sophomoric, but it does raise one question: Biblical illiteracy?
Acknowledgements
Section 1: The Story of the Old Testament
1.
The Structure of the Bible
2.
The Geography of the Old Testament
3.
The Historical Benefits
4.
The Creation Era
5.
The Patriarch Era
6.
The Exodus Era
7.
The Conquest Era
8.
The Judges Era
9.
The Kingdom Era
10. The Exile Era
11. The Return Era
12. The Silence Era
13. The Poetical Books
14. The Prophetical Books
Section
2: The Story of the New Testament
15. The
Geography and Structure of the New Testament
16. The Gospel Era
17. The Church Era
18. The Missions Era
19. The Epistles
Section
3: General Overview of the Bible
20. A Comparison of the Four Gospels
21. The Parables of Jesus
22. Miracles in the Bible
23. Messianic Prophecies
24. Passover and the Lord’s Supper
25. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
26. Distinctiveness of Christianity
27. Different Literary Forms in the Bible
28. How to be Properly Related to God
29. How to be Properly Related to Self
30. How to be Properly Related to Others
Appendix
1.
Story of the Bible (overview)
2.
Arc of Bible History
3.
Arc of Bible Introduction
4.
The Story of the Bible in 1000 Words
5.
Teaching Plan
6.
Transparency Masters
Mr. Anders offers us a proposition, a “bargain.” Give him 15 minutes a day over 30 days and
you’ll “understand” all the major persons, major events, and major points of
geography. He claims it’s been “field
tested” and helped to “clarify his fuzzy thinking.”
We don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It has the flavor of a gimmick. Initially, it induced a serious “roll of the
eyes” a few times. But, why review it
then? One reason only: it goes to the
issue of Biblical literacy. What Mr.
Ander’s offers is so elementary, basic, and near-wise childlike that it invokes
a second reaction: how serious is Biblical illiteracy?
Here’s Mr. Anders’ offering in chapter one.
·
66 books in the Bible, 39 in the Old Testament
and 27 in the New Testament. He gives a
list.
·
Genesis to Malachi is about the “Story of God”
and the “Hebrew people, poets and prophets”
·
The New Testament is about Jesus, the Church
and the Apostles
·
A timeline is offered, for example, pointing to
which Old Testament prophets go where in the history of Israel
·
Whala! A
“Self-Test” at the end of 3-4 questions with “fill in the blank.”
We’ll see what the rest of the volume offers.
But, to whom is he writing?
We’ll hope it is a “primer” for children. However, frighteningly, this chap may think
this is suitable for adults? Could that
be so?
OK, it’s really sophomoric.
Elemental. It’s suitable for
children, e.g. memorizing the Books of the Bible, the kings of Israel and
Judah, relevant dates in the chronology, etc.
Basic stuff.
But adults? Could they be just as ignorant as Mr. Anders assumes? Or, as the publishers assume?
Again, we’ll look "this thing" over with one larger question:
Biblical literacy? We’re almost afraid
to go further.
Don’t spend 2 cents for this volume.
3 comments:
I'm going to withold judgment on this 30 Days book. I was raised in a household in which the Bible was present, but hardly ever read. I was in my late teens before I even cracked it out of cultural interest.
When I was in college, I picked up an Inter-Varsity book _Search the Scriptures_. It was a 3-year Bible course with daily readings and study questions through which I worked in much less than the planned time, all while pursuing a full load of college courses, including getting a grounding in spoken and written Chinese, which served me well when I later went to Taiwan.
Well, a book which would not be much use to me now (I generally read a portion of Scripture daily) was what God in His mercy used to get me into His Word when I was a young Christian. Perhaps the habits of thought reinforced by the study-guide format helped me as I went along reading widely in a number of fields, too.
We have a lot of people out there who have little or no famailiarity with the Bible, and anything that gets them started gets at least a little sympathy from me.
I share some of your perspective, Cepha.
But, the unexpected reaction upon an intitial review was probably the opposite intended by the author, Mr. Anders.
Mr. Anders assumed vast illiteracy rather cheerfully. As the publishers apparently did.
Mr. Anders proceeded cheerfully to address the issues.
I stood to the side scratching my head. Is it that bad? Are things this low? That brought serious sadness.
Yet, it may be just that sad (and bad). Churchmen must face it.
Thanks for you note.
Well just in case you are not 'spiritual giants' like the people that so openly criticized this book, this is a great resource for you start on. I have led this study multiple times with numerous new believers and it has really helped them with the beginnings of understanding the make-up of the Bible...what seems to be very overwhelming to even some more mature Christians. I highly recommend this book! WELL worth the money!
Post a Comment