Sunday, December 30, 2007

Through the Bible, Through the Year

Firstly, I must point out that the title is a misnomer, because the book will give you an overview of the Bible, but there is about one verse per day at the head of each page, with interesting comments by Stott and a Bible passage for further reading cited at the bottom of the page.
Even if you were to read all of the verses cited at the page end, you would have read only a tiny snippet of the Bible's 1189 chapters. But you would have a fair overview of its contents, nonetheless.
Stott's comments are very helpful and nearly always interesting. My wife and I are using the book for daily reading, having read through a good proportion of the New Testament and Psalms over the past few years.
If you follow the author's advice, you will be reading about Christmas and the significiance of the incarnation of Jesus around Christmas time and reading about Christ's trial, suffering, death, burial and resurrection around Easter, and getting an overview of the rest of the Bible at other times.
I think the book will only be worthwhile if you do read the suggested additional reading as the main Bible reading and then read Dr Stott's comments. With this caveat, I am happy to recommend the book as a good daily devotional over the course of a year.
The link reveals that there are shops accessed via Amazon that can sell you this book for $USD4.99 plus postage! My copy was $AUD25!

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