Pocket Guide to the Bible

I recently finished reading Jason Boyett’s Pocket Guide to the Bible. I almost feel I should put a disclaimer at the beginning of this review about how my life has been, which has probably affected some of my opinions. All I have to say is that life has been frustrating. Other than that, here’s my review. I was excited to read the book because I had heard how great the other two are. Overall, it’s a fun book that gives you what you’ll find in the Bible at “breakneck speed”. The chapter of definitions is great because, if you haven’t grown up in the church, it’s hard to understand the language we, Christians, use sometimes. I learned the most from chapters six and seven. Six describes how the Bible we know came to be, and seven goes through a bunch of the different English versions we have and the differences in how they were translated.

I really only have two criticisms of the book that will probably make me sound high and mighty, but that’s really not my intention. Lately I’ve been frustrated with how ‘ok’ coarse language and joking has become in some Christian circles. Some of the jokes in the book made me laugh, roll my eyes or just groan. (Going back to my disclaimer: Some jokes just hit me the wrong way.) Also, I know that the King James Version used that word for donkey, but when I read it, it registers as an inappropriate word (It’s kinda like being at a dog show and hearing them talk about a female dog. My brain only registers the negative meaning. Sorry!) The second thing is in the Cast of Characters chapter on pages 33-34. He describes Abimelech (all three of them) and the description of the first one is misleading in my mind (However, my mind could be reading into what you wrote the wrong way.) “Abimelech I is a king who gets it on with Abraham’s wife Sarah.” In the reference of Genesis 20:3-6 it says, “But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation? Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands.” Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did not let you touch her.”

If you want to read a book that helps you understand more of the Bible, read this one. It’s a good little book on the big Good Book. I encourage you to go back the the Bible and read the references that he gives you so you get the full story. Unfortunately, reading this one hasn’t encouraged me to read either of the other Pocket Guides. I almost want to apologize for not loving it because I love what you guys are doing at Relevant Media Group!