Recently, I received for review Nelson's Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts. I planned to give this book to my high school son as a resource for his Bible studies, but we will be sharing this one. The book covers three time periods: Old Testament, Intertestamental Period (just a brief description with maps), and New Testament. The charts, maps, outlines, and timelines included in this collection help in understanding the settings for each time period.
The Old and New Testament sections are divided according to the types of books and then a brief introduction is given in the beginning of that section of books about what they contain before a detailed outline of each of the individual book is given which includes authorship, dates, themes, an outline, timeline of events, and finally maps that show where all the events of that book took place. For example, as we open to the Old Testament section, there is a chart showing an overview of the Old Testament and afterwards an introduction to the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible). This introduction discusses what is contained in the Pentateuch as far as the books and what events take place and it includes two charts, one tells brief information about each book and the other tells a brief chronology of events. Then comes the detailed story of the book of Genesis. After telling about the author, the date of writing, and the themes, we are given a chart showing events, locations, and topics, as well as a timeline showing the book covers the period of Adam to Joseph. Then comes the outline of Genesis followed by details, details, details, and many charts and maps to assist in understanding where events took place.
It should be understood that these charts are not repetitive. They do not only contain events in the books and time period information. The charts are designed specifically for each book's contents. For example, in Genesis, under the section "Does the Bible Really Say That?", there is a chart showing common phrases or sayings we hear today, what the phrase means, and the original context from the Bible. Here is one from that chart:
Saying or Phrase Meaning Today Original Context
Babel or a Tower of Babel A symbol of confusion Gen. 11:1-9
My description does not contain the full description, but that's the idea.
Overall, this will be a great study guide for our family and I look forward to using it again and again. It contains much more information than can be included in a study Bible so it is a very useful resource.
that sounds like an awesome book! we could use that in Dale's class, he shows a map on the overhead but his writing confuses me. :p
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