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On the Old Testament (A Book You'll Actually Read)
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Average Rating:  out of 3 Reviews
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Price: $9.99
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Sale: $5.92
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Manufacturer: Crossway Books
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EAN (European Article Number): 9781433501357
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Number of Items: 1
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Binding: Paperback
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Author: Mark Driscoll
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Publisher: Crossway Books
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Dewey Decimal Number: 221.61
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Publication Date: 2008-06-30
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Reading Level: 96
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Description: Packed with big truth, this little book on the Old Testament can be read in roughly one hour, making it a book you’ll actually read. Mark Driscoll, one of America’s most influential pastors, answers the nine most common questions about the Old Testament—questions about authorship, what Jesus says about the Old Testament, how the Old Testament books were chosen as Scripture, and more—and gives an overview of the various kinds of Old Testament literature. Two appendices include a comprehensive list of further resources and a checklist for reading through the entire Old Testament. On the Old Testament is part of a series of inexpensive and accessible books that give clear, biblical answers to difficult theological questions and controversies. Through this series readers will get a solid and simple introduction to the Bible by investing just a little time. Praise for the A Book You’ll Actually Read series: “Mark has a gift of taking weighty ideas and expressing them in clear and lively language.”
Bruce A. Ware, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary “Serious, informed, reverent, but not technical discussions of great themes.”
D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School “Simply and superbly written! Mark Driscoll has given us tools that can be placed in the hands of a skeptic or seeker, a new believer or mature saint.”
Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary “These accessible books will encourage believers to see that theology is not an afterthought in the mission of God and the life of his church.”
Ed Stetzer, Director of LifeWay Research “These books are well worth an hour of your time.”
Craig Groeschel, Founding Pastor of LifeChurch.tv and author of Confessions of a Pastor
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Customer Reviews
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Review Summary: Great short starter... |
Date: 2008-09-26 |
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Details: This is the first book in the series of small books from Mark Driscoll titled, "A book you'll actually read..." This book is for the purpose of a beginner trying to understand the Old Testament and to do it in roughly an hour of reading. This is obviously just a starter book to get a quick understanding of some important topics that discuss the background of the Old Testament.
The book is broken up in three parts and actually covers a lot of material, not exhaustively, but still provides a Reformed understanding of the Old Testament. The three parts are:
I. Answers to Nine Common Questions about the Old Testament
Who wrote the Old Testament?
What does the Old Testament say about the Old Testament?
What does the New Testament say about the Old Testament?
What does Jesus say about the Old Testament?
How were the Old Testament books chosen as Scripture?
What is the central message of the Old Testament?
How did we get the Old Testament in English?
Why are there different Bible translations?
II. How to Read the Old Testament
In this section Pastor Driscoll gives a quick, like two or three sentence quick, synopsis of every book in the Old Testament. He spends a little more time on discussing the Pentateuch overall and the overall understanding of Prophets and what they were used for. My only "gripe" would be that he leaned more on the "Inward testimony of the Holy Spirit" to discern false prophets. I think this can be very dangerous if this is the way that we test them. He did give other ways, but by ending as this being the way we can do this today, left me scratching my head how this would transfer to a new Christian.
III. Appendix 1: Building a Theological Library
This is a great resource. Driscoll gives a clear and distinct way to build a library for the student of Scripture. He gives the book, the title, and usually why it is an outstanding resource. This is actually worth getting the book alone.
Buy the book, read it, and then give it to a new Christian or someone looking into reading the Bible. Well worth it and they will, as the title suggests, actually read it. Highly Recommended. |
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Review Summary: Embarrassingly bad errors in canon section |
Date: 2008-09-14 |
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Details: I only read one chapter of this book -- and was so put off by the embarrassingly bad errors in it that I didn't care to read any more.
In the chapter that addresses the question "How were the Old Testament books chosen as Scripture?" author Mark Driscoll says that up until the Council of Trent in 1546, Christians and Jews largely agreed on the books that comprise the Old Testament -- and that at Trent, the Catholic Church added books to the canon to support its doctrines. Driscoll says quite matter-of-factly that prior to Trent, the "added" books were never considered canonical.
This is a common and persistent myth among Protestant Christians, but one would think that someone who's writing a book on the Old Testament would know better, or at least make an attempt to confirm the facts.
The simple fact is, those "added" books had been previously affirmed as canonical at the councils of Rome (382), Hippo (393), Carthage (397 and 419), II Nicea (787) and Florence (1442). So it is just dead wrong to say that the Council of Trent "added" the books to the canon: The Church had recognized and asserted the canonicity of these books for more than a millennium prior to Trent.
(If you'd like to confirm these facts on your own, there are plenty of online resources out there that discuss the debate about these books, which Protestants call "apocryphal" and which Catholics and Orthodox Christians call "deuterocanonical.")
As I said above, the errors Driscoll makes in this chapter are just so bad that I would strongly encourage someone interested in the Old Testament to seek out better researched works ... which is too bad, because I like how the book is packaged as sort of an anti-textbook, intended to appeal to people who think this type of material is usually too dry and boring. |
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Review Summary: Great Intorduction to the Old Testament |
Date: 2008-08-23 |
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Details: The pace of modern life leaves many of us feeling that we don't have very much available time. When it comes to learning more about the Bible and in this case the Old Testament, many people have good intentions, but often feel intimidated by the subject matter or bound by their lack of available time. If this sounds like you, then I'd highly recommend this small book. At only 96 pages, you will be able to finish reading it (minus the appendixes) in little more than an hour.
Mark's focus in this book is to provide the reader with a succinct introduction to the entire Old Testament that will both encourage and inspire you to read it for yourself. Many readers will relate to the stories Mark recounts in the introduction about his early experiences with reading the Old Testament and how this book grew out of the many questions he has answered on the subject during his time in ministry. In chapter 1, following a brief introduction to the Bible as a whole, Mark focuses on 9 common questions he has been asked about the Old Testament. They are as follows:
1. Who wrote the Old Testament?
2. What does the Old Testament say about the Old Testament?
3. What does the New Testament say about the Old Testament?
4. What does Jesus say about the Old Testament?
5. How were the Old Testament books chosen as scripture?
6. What is the central message of the Old Testament?
7. How did we get the Old Testament in English?
8. Why are there different Bible translations?
9. How can I get the most out of the Old Testament?
Chapter 2 is concerned with how somebody might go about reading the Old Testament. In this chapter, Mark breaks down the various kinds of literature found in the Old Testament. He also gives a short overview of the theme and purpose of each Old Testament book.
The book closes with 2 appendixes. Appendix 1 talks about the importance of in-depth Bible study and makes many great resource suggestions for building your own theological library. Appendix 2 has a Bible reading checklist that the reader can use to keep track of their progress in reading through the Old Testament.
Let me conclude by saying that this great little book covers a lot of ground in less than 100 pages. Non-believers, new Christians, and even seasoned Christians will benefit from reading this book. Mark's writing style is engaging and clear, making this topic accessible for any reader of any experience level with the Old Testament. The price point also makes this a reasonable resource to share your friends and family.
Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill church [www.marshillchurch.org] in Seattle. He is also co-founder and president of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network [www.acts29network.org]. Mark has penned an ever-growing list of books including: A book you'll actually read series, Vintage Jesus, Death by Love (Sept. 30, 2008), and others. Mark is married to his high school sweetheart Grace. They have been blessed with 5 children.
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