We, at HBU, use a common textbook across our separate OT and NT survey classes and are thinking about updating our texts. One common issue with these textbooks is their length, which often distracts from reading the biblical text itself. As a result, we are thinking about going with a one-volume textbook that covers the whole Bible. There are a few options, and I thought I’d see what others use or would recommend.
One format criterion is that it cover the text canonically and not from a chronological perspective. For instance, John Drane has a one-volume textbook, but in the OT he places the discussion of the Pentateuch in the same chapter as Ezekiel. There are pro’s and con’s to each method, but we’d prefer to treat the sections canonically especially since we have many students who have never read the Bible.
I’ve got a couple of options in mind, and I’ll plan on doing a follow-up post to compile other ideas you offer up. Thanks in advance.
Monday, 30 January 2012 at 5:11 pm
Reblogged this on misadventuresinlamosquitia and commented:
Looks like a “must-look-into” for me.
Monday, 30 January 2012 at 7:26 pm
I’ve been using Steven Harris’ Exploring the Bible. It seems to do a good job of conveying the gist of all the major components of the Bible, without overdoing it. But as an alternative approach, something I’ve used in the past is Marcus Borg’s Reading the Bible Again for the First Time, which would just be several readings over the course of the semester introducing each genre.
I look forward to your further discussion of this, since finding a good one-volume one-semester textbook on the whole Bible is indeed a challenge!
Friday, 3 February 2012 at 1:35 pm
I’m interested in this question too, as I might be teaching an Intro to the Bible course next year. The person who currently teaches it uses separate books for OT and NT. However, he also recommends the bigger version of the book James recommends: Understanding the Bible (7th edn, 2006), by Stephen Harris. I haven’t seen a copy yet, and it seems to have a mixed response amongst reviewers. My feeling is that the problem lies with OT textbooks. Good NT ones are pretty common, but asking around, I haven’t heard any really positive recommendations for any OT textbooks, and I suspect this is carried over to whole Bible books too.
Look forward to any other comments.
Sunday, 5 February 2012 at 12:58 pm
Thanks for the comments. I’ll pull together some of the thoughts for our context soon and post them.
Monday, 6 February 2012 at 4:53 am
As Far as the Curse is Found is excellent depending on some of your theological presuppositions
Saturday, 11 February 2012 at 12:59 pm
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