God's Story in 66 Verses: Understand the Entire Bible by Focusing on Just One Verse in Each Book

by Stan Guthrie

Grasp God’s Word in sixty-six easy verses

The Bible can seem like a big, intimidating book—mysterious, archaic, and often hard to understand. Written over a span of fifteen hundred years, and completed nearly two millennia ago, God’s Word sometimes feels like a mishmash of stories and literary styles. How can twenty-first-century readers—like you—make sense of it all?

Author Stan Guthrie’s begin by zooming in on one key verse for each of the Bible’s sixty-six books. Seeking to bring clarity and simplicity to the study of God’s Word, Guthrie has written a concise, easy-to-digest collection of wisdom anchored by one verse for each book, from Genesis to Revelation—a verse that summarizes or lays the foundation for that book, placing it in context with the rest of the Scriptures.

Read this book, and you’ll feel as if you’ve read the entire Bible—but you’ll also yearn to continue exploring its depths and mining its riches on your own.

Genres: Christian Living, Christian

236 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Stan Guthrie is an editor at large for Christianity Today magazine and hosts a weekly podcast with John Wilson of Books & Culture. Stan writes for BreakPoint.org and ChristianHeadlines.com and is author of All That Jesus Asks, A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy, and Missions in the Third Millennium. He is coauthor of The Sacrament of Evangelism. He lives near Chicago.

Reviews

[Michael Schmid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent idea for a book - choosing one Bible verse for each book of the Bible that encapsulates the main message of the book, and then elaborating a little on the main message of each book of the Bible. The verses make for good memory verses which, when learned, will also provide one with a good knowledge of the content of the whole Bible. I want to memorise these verses now!

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

Will use as a reference.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the introduction: HOW DO YOU, AS THE OLD SAYING GOES, EAT AN ELEPHANT? ONE bite at a time. How do you digest the Bible? One verse at a time. The Bible can be a difficult book for the average person to understand. Written over the span of a millennium and a half, and completed nearly two thousand years ago, the Book of books sometimes seems like a mishmash of stories and literary styles. We can get so caught up in the Bible’s details that we lose sight of its big picture. So how are we to get a handle on Scripture as a whole and on these sixty-six unique books without becoming Bible scholars? This book, God’s Story in 66 Verses, is my answer. It will offer you quick, lay-level access into Scripture via one key verse for each of the Bible’s books, from Genesis to Revelation.

Premise/plot: Guthrie seeks to provide a 'big-picture' guide for reading, understanding, appreciating the Bible as a whole. He has selected one verse from each book of the Bible to represent the book. "They are highlighted because I believe they most accurately represent the books in which they reside and Scripture as a whole." Each chapter is essentially an introduction to the book and its main theme(s). He writes, "God has given each Bible book to his people for good reason, and this volume will help you get something out of each one. As you read through, absorb, and refer to this volume, you will learn how the key verses (and the books they represent) fit together in a unified message, what the main thrust of Scripture is, and what difference it should make in your daily life."

My thoughts: God's Story in 66 Verses is the exact opposite of The Good Book which I reviewed last week. Guthrie provides concise commentary--an overview--of each book of the Bible. He provides an outline of the book, explains how the key verse represents the main theme(s) of the book, connects that book to other books in the Bible. Often--almost always--he tells how that book relates to Jesus Christ.

What you won't find in God's Story in 66 Verses are stories and anecdotes. This isn't meant to be a light, devotional, fluffy read. The goal isn't entertainment, in other words. He assumes that you're reading the book because you want to know God better, because you want more out of your Bible reading experience.

I found it interesting to see which verses he selected as key verses. Some were obvious choices. (For example, Ruth 1:16, Lamentations 3:22, Micah 6:8, Ephesians 2:8, Philippians 4:4) Some were not.

In case you're curious:
Genesis 15:6
Psalm 16:11
Proverbs 1:7
Isaiah 40:9
Jeremiah 31:33
Ezekiel 36:22
Matthew 16:15
Mark 10:45
Luke 4:18
John 1:14
Revelation 1:19
Quotes:

THE OLD TESTAMENT SURELY IS ONE OF THE MOST TRAGIC BOOKS in all of literature. It begins with a majestic Creator who graciously sets a man and a woman in a garden. They rebel against his loving, kingly rule, however, and are expelled from his presence, setting in motion a devastating series of events that culminates in a global deluge. God begins again, with Abraham, seeking to establish a righteous people who will draw the nations to himself, under the royal line of David. But despite nearly countless displays of the holy Lord’s patient faithfulness, the people of Israel rebel and face his judgment—expulsion from the promised land. By his grace, a chastened remnant eventually returns, looking for God to fulfill his promises of a coming King and kingdom. The glory days are past, however. Israel is now subject to one pagan empire after another, its pivotal role in the divine plan seemingly over. Matthew tells the story of how God intervenes personally, continuing the divine plan in a way that his people never expected. Matthew, one of four ancient biographies in the New Testament called the Gospels, begins with “Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (1:1).

If love for the truth characterizes the Christian, however, then so does its flip side: hatred for falsehood. That is because lies, especially those that deny Christ and his teaching, come from the devil, “the father of lies” (John 8:44). Those who promulgate these deceptions wage war against Christ and his church, threatening men’s souls and our heavenly rewards.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciated God's Story in 66 Verses for different reasons than expected, because what it does best is provide concise, readable summaries/outlines (and some commentary) of individual books of the Bible, as well as make connections between the Old and New Testaments (albeit as to be expected, I had a few minor disagreements), whereas it fell short for me in succeeding at its stated purpose ("you will learn how the key verses [...] fit together in a unified message, what the main thrust of Scripture is") without always explaining how the key verse "lays the foundation for that book" and without clarifying the overarching premise of what should be considered the "main thrust of Scripture" in the first place.

[Julia Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before you blow off this book because it is sacrilegious or heretical (due to “condensing” the Bible into 66 verses) know that it was never meant to replace the Bible. It is meant to be a resource, a supplemental reading if you will. It can also be used successfully for daily, weekly, monthly or when the mood strikes, meditation. The author, Stan Guthrie, has taken each book (all 66) of the Bible and picked out the verse that best represents that book. In addition to that one special verse, the book presents other verses that support and back up this choice as well as the author's input. If reading the entire Bible seems daunting, this is an easy way to get the highlights of each book. This is also a good gift for anyone beginning to get interested in what the Bible has to say.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each chapter focuses on one book of the Bible and summarizes that book and highlights a key very from it. I initially expected that the chapters would spend much more time actually discussing why the specific verse was chosen as the key verse, but they don't. I think because of that this book felt lacking for me.

[Joann]

Class study project for nearly 2 years. We took a more in depth approach with class discussions that also involved additional resources.

[Bob Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great idea and execution. Guthrie makes a rather outrageous and bodacious claim in the subtitle, Understand the Entire Bible by Focusing on Just One Verse in Each Book, but has succeeded in his goal by choosing a key verse from each book of the Bible, one that captures the core message of the book. Then he gives a 2-3 page overview of each book. He has managed to capture the message of the Bible clearly.

This is an excellent overview and would be a good introduction for a new believer or for anyone who is not familiar with the Bible. It's also a good reminder for mature believers and helpful in pointing out the key themes — something that can be difficult if one gets caught up in the details of each book. Mind you, the details are important, but this book helps one to step back and see the whole of each book before digging into the details. For my first time through the book, I read 2-4 chapters per day as a part of my personal devotions and it was helpful. However, I think a better us of the book is to use this as one reads through the Bible — getting an overview and then memorizing each key verse while reading that particular book of the Bible.

[DISCLAIMER: I received a free review copy from the publisher as a part of their blogger review programme, BookLook Bloggers. I was free to write the review I thought the book deserved. My only compensation is continued participation in the programme.]

[Jason Kanz · Rating 3 out of 5]

God's Story in 66 Verses (2015) by Stan Guthrie is a useful little book. When I first read the subtitle, "understanding the entire Bible by focusing on just one verse in each book", it seemed like an ambitious, or perhaps misguided goal. How could someone take a book as expansive as Genesis and boil it down to a single verse? Thankfully, at the outset Guthrie acknowledges this potential hiccup. Rather, he identifies a verse that seems to capture the main theme and then expands on the general themes from there.

In essence, 66 Verses is a great Bible primer. Each book of the Bible is given a 3-4 page overview. Beyond that, there is little supplementary material (apart from a 3 page introduction), which is not unwelcome. The way that Guthrie presents each book allows one to follow the biblical narrative of God pursuing sinners through all 66 books.

I can envision this as a great introduction to the Bible for those who may be unfamiliar. However, I think it has utility beyond beginners. The book also has relevance to those who have too long focused on scriptural trees while missing the divine forest.

I received a free copy of this book from Thomas Nelson publishers and Book Look Bloggers book review in exchange for my review. I was not required to submit a positive review; the impressions here are my own.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fascinating concept by author Stan Guthrie: understanding the entire bible by focusing on just one verse. Well, I had to delve into this one to see if he could do it!

God's Story in 66 Verses Understand the Entire Bible by Focusing on Just One Verse in Each Book By Stan Guthrie was published on January 6th, 2015. While I do not think this should the only book that someone has as reference for biblical study and understanding, I think it can be an excellent addition to a biblical reference library. It also is a good book to give to someone who is a new Christian who finds tackling the entire bible to be overwhelming.

It is very interesting to see which verse Guthrie has chosen from the each of the 66 books of the Bible. Guthrie also provides a good recap of each book of the Bible. This provides a good refresher for anyone studying the bible.

I do recommend God's Story in 66 Verses. It is very informative and an interesting perspective for biblical study.

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of Bible study reference and resource material. Of course, it goes without saying that the Bible is the only true sourcebook needed to guide our lives, but having helpful aids to assist in making a text or even an event or character clearer can be a wonderful thing. This book, I must say, was quite the little jewel. I was not disappointed.

Though the title may promise so much more than seems possible, I can assure you that you will find that the content speaks well to what the author established as his initial thought and goal. I found this book to be very informative, definitely engaging and extremely clear. I loved how the author emphasized key movements and points made in each book. I also loved the Scriptural cross referencing.

Rating: 5/5 *****

[Costen Warner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great way to get a glimpse of each book of the bible and achieve further understanding of the canon.