Don’t be insulted,’ said the SC staffer as he handed me this book to review. In fact, I was delighted to get my hands on The Bible for Dummies.
I was certainly aware of many other books ‘for Dummies’, particularly those for mastering various Microsoft software. Readers may be familiar with the brief chapters, the cute, humorous titles, cartoons and breezy style. But would it work with a book like the Bible?
I think it does. The Bible for Dummies is exactly the kind of book appropriate for someone wanting to be introduced to the Bible, and to make sense of what for many unbelievers and even new Christians is an intimidating and difficult volume.
There are three reasons why The Bible for Dummies works:
1. Its authors.
Although the book is intended for beginners, the two authors are significant, published Bible scholars. Jeffrey Geoghegan is Associate Professor of Biblical Theology at Boston College and Michael Homan is Associate Professor of Biblical Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana. It takes real scholars who know their subject well to make a subject understandable and simple. These two fit the bill.
2. Its approach to Scripture
The Bible for Dummies does not in any way attempt to debunk, explain away or undermine the Bible’s story and authority. It adopts what you might call a conservative critical stance on most issues. And it tells the biblical story in a straightforward and entertaining way. Where there are matters of controversy about book authorship – for example, the date of Daniel or how many Isaiahs there are – The Bible for Dummies is content to say some scholars say this and some scholars say that. In the New Testament, there is no problem with Paul’s authorship of all the Pauline epistles. And it presents a conservative and confident view that the gospels, though differing, are telling the same story reliably.
3. Its style of presentation
The Bible for Dummies has a genuinely interesting and bright style making it very accessible. For example, take some of the titles of the summary of Bible narratives,‘The Fallout from “The Fall” (Genesis 4-11)’, ‘The Babylonian Hillbillies: The Adventures of Abraham and His Family’, ‘Rockin’ the Temple: Music in Ancient Israel (Psalms)’, ‘Wait a Minute, Mr Postman: The New Testament’s General Letters’.
The secret of a good production in this genre, is the very large production group behind such a book. It is not just something done by authors and an editor.
What is in it?
The Bible for Dummies basically covers the whole Old Testament, New Testament and Apocrypha, being more at home in biblical narrative which is easier to summarise than in prophetic literature and letters although it is not inadequate there. Illustrations, maps, paragraph titles all add to the ease of reading. There are some interesting additions to the basic biblical story in the last part in an effort to show the role of the Bible in what is called the Abrahamic faiths (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) which reflects something of the attempt of the book to work for a more inclusive audience than Christians. However, the content of the Bible as explained by the authors is entirely Christian. There is a section or so on the Bible, movies and art and so forth.
Not that this is a book without limitations. The Bible for Dummies is not a book that can simply be sat down and read through from cover to cover. There is a place at which its cheery, somewhat smart titles and approach does wear. However, if used as a guide and taken in relatively small doses, I cannot think of a better handbook. It certainly shows a standard of thoughtful presentation of Christian truth of biblical material that is certainly user friendly. I recommend it for church bookstalls and for new Christians and those interested in overcoming some of the appalling biblical illiteracy of our contemporary society.
Robert C Forsyth
Bishop of South Sydney
