The Bible tells the story of God meeting real people in a real time and place, yet we rarely take the time to wonder, Why there? Maybe we have a hard time even picturing where there is. To begin to fully understand the Bible, we must understand the geographical settings of Scripture and how each place participates in the biblical story. With its colorful maps, The Basic Bible Atlas helps us link geography to Bible study so we can understand how place impacted events in the Bible. From Eden to Egypt, from the promised land to Persia, from Bethlehem to the New Jerusalem, The Basic Bible Atlas is a fascinating guide to the land of the Bible.
★★★★☆
Dr. John Beck, a theology professor for over twenty-five years, inspired by not only his studies but also his many treks across the Middle East, developed the Basic Bible Atlas as a tool to enhance bible studies for readers around the world. Beck explores and maps out major geographical settings described in Scripture, giving a concrete visual to the stories. To be completely honest, calling this work an atlas in the traditional sense feels a bit generous, when in actuality it's laid out more like a historical review examining the relevance of geography within biblical events... with some maps thrown in here and there for emphasis. That said, the maps themselves are wonderfully colorful and eye-catching!
"Like people throughout history, we are shaped by place. Who we are, how we think, and how we communicate are intimately bound to where we are from.
No one fully understands our story unless they understand where we are from."
*John Beck
While this work is the perfect tool for those new to biblical studies, it offers a fun format for the information that old salts can enjoy revisiting as well! Beck presents everything in enjoyable to read, easy to follow, clearcut history lessons that are enhanced by colorful maps and bold, bullet-pointed sections similar in style to something you'd find in a school textbook. Also included are cutaway illustrations of residences / temples of biblical figures.
Another bonus for newbie theology students --- the entire book is under 200 pages, so you won't have to worry about being overwhelmed with too much information at once.
Just some of the topics explored within these pages:
* Where exactly is The Promised Land located? How big was it?
* What was the Fertile Crescent and why was it so vital in the development of the powerhouse empires of Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon?
* The geographical shock Abraham experienced, moving his family from Harran to Canaan
* The role geography played with Joshua and the Battle of Jericho (and the aftermath)
* The pivotal change that came from Jesus moving from Nazareth to Galilee (specifically, the lakeside village of Capernaum)
In one particularly thought-provoking section, Beck gets into the reality of just how scarce fresh water is in Israel, even today. It had me thinking --- all these biblical stories that have water somewhere present in them: Woman at the Well, Jesus turning water into wine, Jesus walking on water, Moses parting the sea, descriptions of foot bathing... but after reading Beck's notes... the lengths that modern day Israel still has to go to to tap into those wells and aquifers, even with modern technology.... I wonder, yeah --- where WAS all the clean drinking water, and how was it accessed back in the day?!
I like that in the end Beck brings readers back to the Garden of Eden --- where it all began for us, so to speak --- to close with the message that historically, yes, things will get worse... but then they will get better. We just have to remember, as he puts it, who is "at the front of the charge."
FTC DISCLAIMER: Baker Books kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
Comments
Post a Comment