This book is excellent reading and research material for anyone searching for solid answers to questions about how everything fits together in the Bible. It covers the different people, trades, lifestyle, geography with maps, etc. It is tabbed for fast research. My daughter said that just reading the first 20 pages explained more to her than she had ever understood about Biblical times and customs. This book is great to just read from cover to cover and then refer to as you study the Bible, both old and new testament. It enlightens the study to a more understandable text for the common person.

This book has everything you could want from a bible encyclopedia. It focuses mainly on religion and history. It has a book by book discription of each book in the Bible. It talks about ancient cultures and civilizations. There are color markers on the upper right hand corner to help you to find what you need to find on other pages in the book. It has large lifelike pictures and illustrations. The questions and answers in the book are interesting. It is just a good all around book. I defenately would recommend this book for anybody who want to understand the background of the Bible as much as possible.

I love this book. For a general overview of the Bible, this is the best! Lots of 4-color pictures and super interesting commentary. I read it cover to cover. Another great book is THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE BOOK OF PROVERBS by Cody Jones. The comments are interesting and put things into a historical setting. Many Biblical characters are pointed out who illustrate King Solomon's witty observations on human nature. Many of the riddles and mysteries of Proverbs are explored with surprising new answers.

Now completely revised, updated, and expanded from its initial publication in 1987, John Drane's Introducing The Old Testament is a highly accessible text meant for both students and general readers who wish to better understand the Biblical stories that form the core of Judeo-Christian belief. The revisions have sizeably increased the length of Introducing The Old Testament, adding the most recent scholarship, particularly as regards historical queries such as the origins of the nation of Israel. Filled with black-and-white illustrations of maps, artwork, and photographs, Introducing The Old Testament is a singularly impressive body of work and an excellent way for one to familiarize oneself with the intense discussions and debates over scripture that continue to this day. Introducing The Old Testament is very highly recommended for any personal or seminary biblical studies program or reference shelf.

This is great. It's intelligent, makes-sense stuff. While most academics handle this kind of content in a verbose, scholarly, i've-got-a-big-vocabulary-and-fiddly-style way, Drane's language is clear and simple.

I read an earlier edition, and the layout of the book was great too. It's in that magazine-style with big pictures, interesting insets, good headings. You can pick and choose what to read if you're keen for a browse, or eat it all up. I was surprised with the quality of the content, upon first glance at the layout you think it must be quite elementary - but it's not. It's good stuff.

The copy I read was from the library - now it's on my wish-list (mom).

John Drane has impeccable credentials as a conservative theologian and an evangelical Christian, and yet (unlike some other "evo" authors) he can write in an honest and even-handed way about more liberal opinions than his own.

This makes Drane a particularly valuable resource for theologically conservative students who need to know about controversial modern views in Bible scholarship, but do not want to feel that their text book is necessarily endorsing them or taking a condescending approach to the divine inspiration and historical authenticity of Holy Scripture.

This book is not primarily about doctrine - it is first and foremost a book about the Bible, designed to help a Christian reader understand what the Bible is really saying. In doing so it takes for granted the basic principle of Bible exegesis that you cannot work out what the Bible is saying to the Church today without understanding what it was saying (and why) to the Church of the 1st and 2nd centuries.

This would thus be an invaluable book for any first-year theology student or for the general reader wishing to know more about the historical and cultural roots of the New Testament and the early church. Although other writers have produced more stylish and attractive prose, Drane is wonderfully clear, interesting and easy to follow. More intricate explanations are in self-contained sections carefully boxed beside the main narrative, so that they can be skipped by the more casual reader without interrupting the book's flow.

The book's monochrome illustrations and diagrams are not of outstanding originality or beauty, but they are invariably well chosen and helpful. Moreover the physical binding of the paperback edition I am using is robust and has a nice feel to it.

Strongly recommended.

This book gives a good historical perspective for studying the Old Testament Israelite kingdoms. It includes descriptions of other nations/cultures of the time period and provides insight into daily life. It's excellent as a companion for studying history as well as the Bible. Although the recommended age for independent reading is 9 and above, younger children can gain much knowledge by having the information read to them by a parent/teacher. We have used this resource in our home school and return to it again and again.

This short book (under 100 pages) tackles oneof the more enigmatic books in the New Testament. After a brief intro which outlines the chapter, the book is divided into 2 sections. The first covers key themes and images of Revelation in literature, from Alpha and Omega to Michael to Millenium. The 2nd part is the unabridged version of Revelation (from the New Jerusalem Bible).

While its not the last word on translations, "Revelation: The Apocalypse of St. John (The Classic Bible Series)" is a nie introduction to deeper understanding and also shows its influence on our culture.