Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understanding and Living God's Word

by George H. Guthrie

The Bible may be the most-purchased book in the world, but it is often the least read and least applied due to a basic lack of understanding and motivation on the part of readers. Read the Bible for Life aims to improve biblical literacy in the culture and the church by simultaneously moving readers toward greater skill in reading the Bible well and toward a deeper commitment to applying Scripture to everyday life.

Through a series of down-to-earth conversations with some of today’s brightest scholars, author George Guthrie discusses the basic tools and attitudes needed to read the Bible more effectively. Chapters focus on the various types of literature in Scripture and how to read them well. For instance, how should we read a psalm differently than we read a parable?

How should we read a story of the Old Testament differently than we read a letter from Paul? How can we engage these various parts of Scripture in a way that is truly life-changing? The book also discusses issues such as reading the Bible in context, choosing and reading a Bible translation, reading in times of sorrow or suffering, and reading the Bible with your family. As we better understand how to read the Bible skillfully, we begin to see how every person of the Bible, every psalm, and every teaching fits into the Bible’s powerful, overarching story, and we begin to realize our place in the story God is still writing in the world.

Endorsements

"In the church's dry desert of biblical illiteracy, this book is a drink of cold, refreshing water. With pastoral sensitivity and practical skill, George Guthrie is equipping us to know, understand, and apply the treasures of God's Word in a way that will transform our lives and our communities for the glory of our God. I wholeheartedly recommend Read the Bible For Life for every Christian and every leader in the church." 

—David Platt, New York Times best-selling author of Radical 

"In a culture where biblical illiteracy continues to spread like the proverbial plague, George Guthrie has introduced a healing medicine in the form of Read the Bible for Life. This overview of the Bible's nature and content will be welcomed in churches intent on developing biblically grounded followers of Christ. The book's conversational approach provides an easy entry for a generation that tends to read only headlines. With fresh insights for the long time student of God's Word and accessible material for the new student, it is a resource I recommend for all believers."

—Ed Stetzer, coauthor, Transformational Church 

"The genuine give and take of conversation is key to the Christian community's deeper grasp of the Scriptures. Read the Bible for Life is a celebration of biblical conversation between friends who really love the Word. Hopefully, lots of people will join in." 

—Michael Card, award-winning musician and author

George H. Guthrie is the Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He helped establish and is now a Senior Fellow at Union’s Ryan Center for Biblical Studies, which is committed to promoting sound Bible reading, study, and interpretation at the grassroots level of the church. Guthrie has also participated in developing or revising several popular Bible translations including the HCSB, English Standard Version, and New Living Translation.

Genres: Christian, Nonfiction, Christian Living, Theology, Christianity, Spirituality, Religion

338 pages, Paperback

First published December 19, 2010

About the author

Dr. George Guthrie serves as the Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union University in Jackson, TN. As a student of the New Testament and Koine Greek, he is the author of numerous articles and seven books, including, The Structure of Hebrews: A Textlinguistic Analysis (Supplements to Novum Testamentum, 73. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1994; republished by Baker Books in 1998), Biblical Greek Exegesis (Co-authored with J. Scott Duvall, Zondervan), the NIV Application Commentary: Hebrews, and Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: Hebrews. Dr. Guthrie has participated in translation projects, such as the revision of The New Living Translation, and has served as a consultant on the Holman Christian Standard Bible, the New Century Version, and the English Standard Version. He has also served for five years as a co-chair of the Biblical Greek Language and Linguistics Section of SBL, has served on the Executive Committee of the Institute for Biblical Research, and has served on the editorial board for Sheffield's JSNTS monograph series. At Union University he has led in the establishment of, and serves as Senior Fellow in, the Ryan Center for Biblical Studies, which is committed to promoting sound Bible reading, study, and interpretation at the grassroots level of the church. Dr. Guthrie holds both the Ph.D. and the M.Div. degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Th.M. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of a kind! A great book for learning how to read the bible for life transformation. Simple, Clear, Conversational; no overly technicals terms.

Dr. Gunthrie conducts 16 interviews with top bible scholars to expose the fundamentals of bible reading. Highlights are: heart space/life space, genre's, and translations. Currently, teaching a class with this as our primary text book and have received very positive feedback.

I would highly recommend this to anyone desiring to draw more from scripture.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll be co-leading a Bible study using this book this summer. I'm interested to dive into it and see what it's got.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite good, but not what I was expecting. I think I was expecting something deeper. I would consider this is a good introduction to personal Bible reading for someone who wants to read the Bible better. I think a more in-depth treatment of the same subject matter is Gordon Fee's "How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth", which I was more impressed with. However, this is certainly not bad, and might be preferable for someone looking for a more accessible version of Gordon Fee's book.
The conversation aspect of the book was an unorthodox approach, and it had some advantages, but also felt a little awkward and contrived to me. However, it did allow him to bring in a wealth of subject matter experts in to pinch-hit in a natural-feeling manner, so it was good for that purpose.

[Stella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Throughout reading the book, I was tempted to stop reading it entirely because though I really liked the insights offered by the various interviewees, I almost fell in the depths of despair. Reading the book, I was devastated and feeling so guilty for never taking the Scripture / the Word of God seriously for the past 20 years ++ of my life. I was born in a Christian family, and I called myself to be a Christian, but how come I never felt that the Bible has ever transformed my life? “If it hadn’t transformed me, then maybe it would have never transformed my life. Maybe the Bible worked for other people, but maybe it’s just me. And so, why continue reading the book?” I thought to myself.

But I couldn’t stop reading it as I had an accountability partner. And thankfully as I progressed through the chapters, especially the latter chapters about reading the Bible in Modern Contexts, I learned about the some of the most accurate reasons (and explanations) of why I never succeeded in reading the whole Bible with my whole heart.

One explanation that stood out to me is this excerpt below taken from the “Information Overload and Bible Reading” part:

“We’re maxed out in terms of our time, our ability to focus and our desires.. Spiritual stomach are full from all kinds of stuff offered by this world; and you can’t fill something that is already full... We have no rooms left in the spiritual and emotional space of our lives.”

That’s it. Information overload was the reason why I was never really hungry for the Word of God.

After finishing this part, I decided to free up my thoughts, desires and energies that I usually used up to make more space for the Word of God by doing an Social Media fast for a week. It’s been a week since I started the fast, and from tomorrow, Monday, 28th June, 2021, to mark the 7th day of my Social Media fasting as well as the day where I finished this book, I will start reading the Bible Chronologically (also with the same friend) for a year.

I hope and I pray I can stick to this one-year Bible reading plan and really experience how the Bible transform me at the deepest levels in the way I think and live. I hope the Bible will really mold me into the image of Christ daily, showing me my place in the grand story of the Scripture and God’s plan.

[Barbara Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first discovered George Guthrie through links to his blog from others. The posts I read there were so helpful that I got his book, Read the Bible for Life: Your Guide to Understanding and Living God’s Word.

After an introduction detailing reasons for reading the Bible, lamenting a lack of Biblical literacy among Christians, and posting several reasons why Christians don’t read, Guthrie launches into the four parts of his book.

The first part covers “Foundational Issues,” like how to read it, reading it in context and for transformation. etc.

Part 2 discusses reading the various genres in the Old Testament: stories, laws, psalms and proverbs, and prophets.

Part 3 covers the different types of literature in the New Testament: stories, Jesus’ teachings, epistles (letters), and Revelation.

Part 4 contains four chapters concerning “Reading the Bible in Modern Contexts,” like personal and family devotions, as a church, and in times of sorrow.

At the end, Guthrie includes a couple of reading plans, including a chronological one.

Most of the chapters are the result of interviews Guthrie conducted with experts in various fields of Bible study. I appreciated that the interview format kept the book informal and accessible rather than academic. But because of the interview setting, sometimes extraneous details were included, like scenes from where the interview took place, the interviewee’s posture, etc. But I think the benefits of this process probably outweighed the extra unnecessary details.

All I know about Guthrie is from some of his blog posts and this book, and I didn’t know any of the people he interviewed except that I had heard of a few of them. But don’t remember seeing any theological problems or concerning issues or statements.

This is a book I wish I had kept running notes or outlines of. But Guthrie does include a summary of the principles discussed at the end of each chapter, which helps for a quick review.

The general helps to reading and understanding as well as the specific advice and tips for the different genres were greatly helpful. I thought this book was an excellent resource for anyone who would like to understand and apply more of the Bible.

[Mandi Ehman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t love the format of this book and the way each conversation was described in detail. But I did really appreciate the systematic approach to the ways to read the Bible, and I found both the theology and practical tools very helpful.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good application. The hybrid narrative/interview format is weird.

[Rebecca Cawley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing book filled with tools and guides on reading the Bible better. It has changed how I pray, read and set goals for living Gods purpose.

[Tina Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to adore this book. I am an alumnus of Union University, so I saw Dr. Gutherie on a regular basis, and he always struck me as a genuine Christ lover. I regret never taking a class with him.
This book can be summed up like this: in order to study the Bible well you need:
1. A good Bible Dictionary
2. A good commentary
3. A good history book about 1st century Palestine, Judaism, Jerusalem, etc.
Unfortunately, there are no recommendations for any of the above necessities. Cosmic fail.
I did appreciate the third section of the book where Dr. Guthrie interviews people about relevancy. The message about praying through the Psalms was great. Michael Card was pretty insightful about Lamentations. Of course, David Platt was very insightful about the need for Bible literacy.
I guess my expectations were too high for this book. I expected it to provide resources for me to use now. Instead, it told me to go find other resources. :(

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

The reading plans are ambitious for daily study, but they are a great way to tackle studying the Bible. I will not get through the entire Bible in a year but I have a plan to read through it and will cover a good portion of the text in time. With regard to this specific book, the text is mostly conversations of the author with other biblical theologists. If you have limited time, which is everyone, just follow the reading plan(s) presented in the back of this book and spend you time actually reading the bible not the discussions written in this book. You can also download the reading plans on the website corresponding to this book.

As I got further into my Bible readings, I found myself reading less of this book; but I think that is the overall message from the author- read the Word for yourself, understand what it says.

[Thomas C Wilson Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book

Well-written and easy to understand, this book is a guide to reading and studying God's Word in a variety of ways and settings, from personal and family devotions to small groups and even corporately reading and studying the Bible as a church.. Guthrie himself is a professor at Union University and the book, as one might expect, is heavy on facts. He interviews scholars, pastors, and, for the chapter on reading the Bible as a family, his wife. Even though he is a professor, he firmly believes that the Bible is a book that can be understood by anyone and the style in which he writes is very personal and down to earth. The only thing missing from the e-book version are the Bible reading plans found in the back of the traditional book. Reading this book is time very well spent and I give it a very good recommendation.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am enjoying this book very much. It is deliberately written in an easy conversational style. When the author interviews scholars ( including Bruce Waltke, Mark Strauss, Clint Arnold, Douglas Moo and even himself) he adopts the style of Lee Strobel in his Case For Christ. It is a little stylised and wooden, but pleasant enough.
There is some great advice here and plenty of useful material, no matter what your previous experience of reading the Bible is.
Dr Guthrie writes in a natural and often humorous way, which doesn't detract from the serious message he is presenting.
I think all people interested in the Bible would find the book useful.

[Jennifer Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. I actually now wish I had gone through this together with a friend or study group. The conversational interview approach was effective (and somewhat humorous when he interviewed himself.) Love the summary bullet points at the end (I am a bullet-point kinda person.) And I did get a lot out of the Transformation activities at the end of each chapter. This is a great book for anyone who is new to reading the Bible or who is experienced.. there are great takeaways for all. Well done!

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

a great, accessible primer on the wonderful yet challenge task of reading scripture well. I think this makes the important ideas clear without having to wade through a lot of scholarship to get there. Be prepared to chuckle at the level at which the author seeks to keep things relational and conversational...but all in all an important book presented in an important way.

[Melissa Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very nicely done. A wonderful help to knowing how to read various parts of the Bible, and why it's important to know the big picture of the Scriptures, and to study and meditate on individual portions of Scripture.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book to help a person understand how the Bible fits together as a story. Dr. Guthrie does an excellent job of making the various genres of the Bible understandable for readers of all skill levels and backgrounds.

[Daniel Rowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to reading the Bible well. Very good at simplifying difficult concepts for young or immature believers. Some of the interviews come off a bit odd (ex: the author interviewing himself) but there overall execution is helpful.

[Todd Coe · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good book on how to read the Bible for meaning and to know God and not as an to do item to check off.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very helpful for reading the Bible with purpose.

[Felicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't like the format (conversational style) of this book. I wanted the information to be more straightforward. I ended up just skimming the book for basic information in each category.

[Debora Buerk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great survey of the Bible reading from the perspective of God's great continuing story.

[Arne Teigland]

Recommended!