Getting the Most from the Bible: A Guide to In-Depth Study

by G. Steve Kinnard

The Bible is a wonderful and amazing book. No matter how deep you go, you can always go deeper still. Whether you are a new Christian, a veteran Christian, or someone who knows nothing about the Bible, this book will help you go deeper into its structure and meaning.

Genres: Spirituality

198 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2000

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

My second book. Many people like his books. I've received great comments about it. Shameless plug.

[James]

I suggest this to Christians who want inspiration for the importance of the bible, advice for biblical interpretation, and a general summary of the bible. The sweeping summary of the Old Testament was good (short), and it has a short overview of each New Testament book. I've been told this book is not as involved as other similar books (for example, How to Read the Bible for All it's Worth), and it was fairly basic. I suggest it to new Christians.

[Philippe Jonquet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. A great tool to study the Bible in depth

[Tatiana Gomez · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book very much and am currently trying to add it to my collection (I initially borrowed it from the library.) It fills a nice niche because it is definitely written from a traditional Christian view, but it still allows room for some historical and academic study. I was raised in a very traditional, fundamentalist and literalist Protestant religion--one where questioning any word in the Bible was simply not allowed--but I now study the Bible from almost a purely academic and historical view. This is a book I think both my friends (who are still in that religion) and I could easily study from together, with each of us having only a few qualms, and that counts for a lot. This is also a book I would feel comfortable giving to someone who is just starting a journey with Christianity and/or the Bible, and that counts for a lot too. I think this sums up its viewpoint nicely: "Translations are uninspired, and there is no English version of Scripture that is free of flaws....[However,] it is unlikely that the worst of translations could obscure the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ from the sincere student" (46.) It is written with the seeking Christian in mind.

However, it isn't written for a particularly liberal or deep seeking Christian. I also didn't find it to be especially in-depth, I thought it was more of a perfectly succint overview, but Kinnard does provide many references for further study. A huge highlight for me were the Appendixes. The first provided more detailed information on different views of the Bible and the author's understanding of brief Biblical history. To be fair, I say his understanding of history because from what I've read in other books his history is off, HOWEVER it closely resembles what I was taught in church growing up, and for demonstrating the traditional viewpoint alone it has value. The other Appendices included a plan for reading the Bible in a year and a nicely sized reference chart of important verses to memorize.

Read this if you'd like a short companion or reference for your Biblical study, or if you are new to studying the Bible and want to begin in a traditional way. Kinnard offers great overviews of every type of book in the Bible, which is useful for someone unfamiliar.

Skip this if you are looking for radical, historical, or academic information. Kinnard does allow some room for this and touches on it as much as his faith allows, but it is certainly not his focus. The content is, and in cases where historical evidence is not undisputed he takes the Bible at its word.