Nova D. Holme

Imaginative story narrated by a talented cast

Revisado: 09-03-21

Absolutely loved the book. I was worried that it would be creepy, but it wasn't. it was incredibly imaginative and animated to life by a talented troupe of actors. I was sad to reach its end.

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Disturbingly Marcionite and anti-Old Testament

Revisado: 06-20-21

Despite repeated and heavy protests from the author about recognizing the Old Testament (OT) as part of Scripture, the author repeatedly describes the OT as completely obsolete. Is it really? God did not have a lobotomy between the old and new covenants. The God of grace in the OT is the same God who shows up in Jesus Christ. While he claims that he values the OT (because Jesus did), he gives a strong impression that it's really optional reading—more like an appendix for Christians who are into extra credit. For example, he seems to assert that the reason why the disciples stayed in Jerusalem is because they were too ingrained in the OT. Huh? The OT does in fact have a lot of passages indicating that God's plan from the beginning encompasses all the nations. Had the disciples been reading AND understanding the OT, they would know that the Gospel is for the nations. It's not the OT that was desolate of God's grace, but our impoverished understanding (and his) of the OT that leads us to conclude that. Jesus and the New Testament authors after all, were extensively quoting the OT, which was the only Scripture they had! Matthew, Paul, the anonymous author of Hebrews, just for examples, explicitly and implicitly quote or allude to Scriptures (OT). Clearly, the OT continues to have relevance to our church life today.


His view of the Law is not nuanced, and I wish he would read Paul more thoroughly. The book starts out well with some good exegesis, until he starts really dismissing the OT as more of a curiosity than part of Christian Scripture.

I would have returned the book had my 1-year limit not expired.

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Good straightforward reading with no distractions

Revisado: 07-03-20

I prefer this straightforward reading compared to the dramatized version with sound effects, as though the Bible need help to be exciting (no amount of dramatic music can make the genealogical lists more interesting anyway). The narrator does not have an exaggerated nor monotonous reading, which lets you focus on the words and and contemplate on the meaning. The book does list the books by name (Genesis, Exodus, etc), which is better than the other versions, which has only chapter numbers (Word of Promise NKJV). You can't go chapter by chapter, unfortunately, so there is an assumption that you are reading the whole book, not a specific chapter. With short books, that is fine, but for the book of Psalms, it makes you rail at the malnourished table of content....

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esto le resultó útil a 9 personas

Loved it so much I read it twice

Revisado: 08-04-19

The author does a great job of organizing the Old Testament around key theological frameworks (eg, the covenants) and contextualizing the stories for modern western Christians. Highly recommended! A friend who bought the book based on my recommendation devoured it in two days. We both thought it was hard to put down

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esto le resultó útil a 5 personas

Academic perspective of a non-Christian

Revisado: 05-26-19

The professor in the beginning stated that his goal to be neutral, but it is clear he does not read the Bible as a Christian. It is nonetheless an interesting read that improves one's understanding of the New Testament. He does make some debatable and misleading statements, however. So, one does need to listen critically. For example, he mentions the large number of mistakes in the manuscripts (which is true), which leads those who are unfamiliar with Biblical Studies to think that we have only a shady idea of the original text. But in fact, the number of manuscripts we have of the New Testament dwarf (by orders of magnitude) the number of extant text of any other ancient manuscript. We actually have greater confidence in the preservation of text of the New Testament than any other ancient text. There are many other examples of data and comparative facts that he neglects to tell you, misleading you to conclusions that are not borne out of data. He makes strong assertions over things that are still being debated by scholars. So it's best to listen to this lecture as a supplement to another lecture or book with a different perspective.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Funny in the beginning, but jokes get old

Revisado: 05-08-19

Generally amusing with good clean fun, but some of the chapters or stories are so bizarre, one wonders why the editor didn't cut them out.

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Well organized, comprehensive intro to the OT

Revisado: 03-26-19

Good book for people who are familiar and not familiar with the Old Testament alike

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