The Short Bible Blog

#7 Main Themes of the Bible

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 02:07:47 GMT

#7 Main Themes Of The Bible

Whenever an author plans to summarize a vast amount of complicated material, the first step is to identify the common themes and messages. Once these are identified, the themes and messages need to be woven together into a narrative that flows naturally from a beginning to the end. A story that is filled with unnecessary details and not organized properly strains a reader to understand and retain the content, and it limits a reader’s ability to understand what the author means to convey.

The 66 documents that were combined into one book, the Bible, has a beginning that moves progressively to a conclusion. None of the documents tell the entire story, but collectively, they build on many common themes. Despite their diversity, the documents all contribute to a plot that centers on the nature of God and the invisible and enduring conflict between the spiritual forces of good and evil in the world.

Besides this central plot, the Bible contains a number of unifying themes that run from the beginning to the end. Here is a list of the themes.

The world has two planes of reality — one that is physical and can be seen and measured, and another that is invisible, supernatural, and spiritual that cannot be measured empirically.

Invisible forces have unusual powers. Some forces have good and loving motives, but others have evil motives that destroy what is good.

There is only one true and supreme force (God) that has different forms. Some people believe there are other gods, but these don’t have the characteristics or power of the true God.

There is life after physical death, and the quality of one’s life after death depends on God’s decision regarding the life a person leads when they are alive. God’s forgiving and gracious nature gives hope that everyone has the possibility of entering some form of a heavenly afterlife.

God is good, just, merciful, forgiving, loving, and gracious. God wants people to live life abundantly and gives people far more than what they deserve (grace). God’s mind can change from judgment to forgiveness and healing when hearing people’s earnest appeals (prayers).

God chooses people to show the world how life and relationships should look on earth. At first, God worked through individuals and families, then through a special tribe of people (the Jews of Israel) that was chosen in one area of the world. An assortment of people provided special messages to this tribe to remind them how they should live. Eventually, people throughout the entire world were adopted to be God’s people. These people are to exhibit specific qualities that distinguish them from others — they are to be known by their love for others and by their provision of and advocacy for justice.

God wants to maintain relationships with all people without regard to their actions, beliefs, gender, tribe, race, age, or birthplace, even when they don’t obey. The gradual increase in the revelation of God’s character and desires for the world reveals a movement from exclusiveness to inclusion.

There are right and wrong ways to live, things to do and things to avoid. Obedience to God’s principles and guidance helps us through life’s struggles in a world filled with evil. Not following these principles may result in more severe struggles and separation from God. Great effort is needed for good to overcome evil, but with God’s help, personal transformation and change are possible, and good can prevail.

God’s people often fall away from living the right way. As a result, they suffer the consequences of their disobedience, including a refining process that reduces their numbers and brings them much pain. But a remnant of God’s people always remains to continue the mission to communicate the loving nature of God and how we should live in harmony with God and each other.

Some form of offering or sacrifice is needed to restore a broken relationship. Blood symbolizing life were sometimes used in offerings and sacrifices to acknowledge that we have fallen short of expectations and that we must forego our interests to make matters right. However, these symbolic gestures are only outward expressions and don’t automatically communicate a changed heart. God looks for a changed heart that is shown by obeying God’s commands and treating others with justice, mercy, and love.

Life is complicated and often unfair. In a world that has both good and evil, everyone suffers. While many people get what they deserve, good people may suffer and evil people may thrive. Faithfulness to God and our response to our circumstances are what matter the most, especially during times of trial and when tempted by evil. God’s unlimited love, forgiveness, and grace are wonderful gifts to all people, even though we don’t deserve them.

God is very concerned about justice and helping those who are disadvantaged. God is especially passionate about helping foreigners and the sick, poor, abandoned, despondent, and disenfranchised. Acts of service, compassion, and sacrifice for these groups provide evidence of a God-like disposition.

A tension exists in how we live our lives on earth. We are not to conform to the ways of an ungodly world, but we are asked to serve others in that world. Some choose to separate themselves physically from anything that is ungodly while others live and work alongside those with other value systems while practicing godly principles. Each of these two forms of resistance and approaches to bring “salt and light” to the world has its own benefits and dangers.

God’s principles and guidance often contradict prevailing earthly values and priorities. The paradoxes and counterintuitive nature of biblical teachings are at the heart of some of the more difficult actions God wants people to follow. For example, loving your enemy may not make sense, but it is required of those who follow God. Dependence on God and the faith community is more important than personal independence and self-sufficiency. Allegiance to God is more important than national patriotism and following cultural norms. Being a humble servant is more important than attaining power. The pursuit of happiness by any means other than being centered in God’s ways will not satisfy humans’ deepest needs.

The Nature of God

An analysis of the Bible’s content reveals that the noun used most often is “God.” The Hebrew term God is a plural noun that is defined as a powerful force that has different forms, similar to how elements and compounds have different forms (solid, liquid, gas). The term Lord is used in the biblical writings as another word for God. The different terms for God were typically masculine pronouns (he, his, him) or the term Father. However, God is not a masculine deity and is neither male nor female. As a multidimensional force, God created both male and female humans in God’s own “image,” which means people are able to distinguish between right and wrong, possess a soul, have self-consciousness and awareness of our surroundings, are able to have meaningful relationships with God and others, and are willing to love others in a sacrificial way. This sets humans apart from other living things.

God’s Communication Methods

God communicates with humans in many different ways. Although the events described in the Bible took place many centuries ago, there is ample evidence that God communicated with people in all these ways throughout history and does so even today.

1. The awesome beauty of the universe and its predictable cycles and “laws of nature” have inspired humans to see the planet and the worlds beyond as an orderly and beautiful creation that is not randomly designed.

2. God communicates by way of God’s “Spirit” form, which influences the human mind and emotions and provides direction to humans about their moral choices related to right and wrong.

3. When humans take time to listen and seek direction, communication can occur through divinely inspired insights and an inaudible “small voice” in the mind.

4. Sometimes communications are more direct — through dreams, visions, or messages from angels or “holy strangers.”

5. On rare occasions, God disrupts the normal laws of nature to intervene directly in human activities, and God sometimes intervenes using rare natural events at strategic times. These obvious deviations in how the world normally works as well as the timely coincidences are called “miracles.”

6. Sometimes humans themselves are inspired or “possessed” by the Spirit to speak the words of God to others in extraordinary and convincing ways.

7. Other believers can provide godly advice and rebuke others by using their “spiritual gifts.” There are many such gifts. For example, a prophet is somebody who is gifted to speak God’s thoughts and teachings to others. (A false prophet is somebody who speaks with authority but misrepresents the truth and God’s messages to others.)

8. The Bible itself is available to study so we can learn about God’s ways long after the events occurred. In most cases, the biblical documents were written long after the events occurred but were based on eyewitness accounts or were passed on by word of mouth from generation to generation using the oral traditions of the time. The messages of the Bible are reliable and still relevant.

9. Finally, God took on a human form and lived on earth, giving us the most concrete example of how we are to live and love one another.

God Can Be Unpredictable

God uses many different strategies and tactics to meet the overall goal of showing the world how to live and how God intervenes in human history. Many characters in the Bible speak for God, and some of them act and speak in unusual and bizarre ways. Punishment comes in different forms, sometimes in unexpected ways, including letting evil forces administer the punishment. Different types of miracles occur. While the intrinsic nature of God does not change, God’s methods are unpredictable and often changing.

This makes life itself unpredictable. We often don’t understand why things happen — God’s ways are not our ways, God’s timing is not our timing. When good and evil forces coexist and God gives people freedom to choose their own way, crises will occur. But the crises of life can be used for good — they test and deepen our character, build our stamina and grit, focus our priorities, and help us empathize with others who suffer. Darkness is followed by light for those who endure. As dark shadows provide depth in beautiful paintings and diamonds are created under prolonged pressure and then carefully chiseled and polished by a master jeweler, humans are developed and shaped in difficult times. But for those who love God, all things work out for good, either in this life or the next. Death is a comma, not a period, in a life that has no end.

#6 Read The Bible In One Year

Tue, 28 Dec 2021 01:50:04 GMT

# 6 Read The Bible In A Year

#5 – Interpreting The Bible

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 02:27:46 GMT

#5 – Interprerting The Bible

Interpreting the Bible can sometimes be a challenge. In some cases, the author or character in the story tells the audience the meaning of a story. At other times, the author just tells a story without describing its significance, usually because the audience understood the point being made. Sometimes a verse can be quite obscure because it relates to local customs we don’t understand. The historical context also provides insights to understand for the full meaning of some stories, but we often do not know that context.

The field of study related to the interpretation of the Bible is called hermeneutics. In general, the correct interpretation of a story or verse will be consistent with the main themes that run through all the Biblical documents. Since the local context influenced what was written, specific guidance provided to people in one location at a particular time may not be appropriate to those living in other areas or times — the guidance may be cultural or situational instructions rather than universal truths for all to always follow.

For example, Timothy said women should not wear braided hair or wear gold or pearls (I Timothy 2:9). Paul said women should not talk in church — they were less educated and were interrupting the speaker by asking questions during the service (I Corinthians 14:34–35). But earlier he wrote about women who spoke and taught in church with their head uncovered (I Corinthians 11: 5). He rebuked women who didn’t cover their head but said nothing about them speaking in church. (Covering their head was a local custom at the time.) Paul simply was giving practical advice to ensure an orderly gathering. Peter also quoted the prophet Joel when he spoke about women teaching (Acts 2:17–18). Thus, specific instructions must be viewed in light of the local customs and situation.

Understanding the specific meaning of the words is also important. Some of the original words in Greek or Hebrew may might not be translated accurately into other languages. For example, the Greeks had three different words for love: agape involves action and sacrifice for others and is not an emotional feeling, philia relates to friendship, and eros relates to physical love. When Paul writes about love in I Corinthian 13 (the “love” chapter), he uses the word agápē. Thus, in-depth study is important to get the best interpretation of the writings.

Finally, not everything that was written in the Bible is literally true. The various authors used different literary devices and symbolism to convey essential meanings: allegories and metaphors, irony and hyperbole, satire and similes, parodies and parables. The authors used these devices to convey their messages, and their audiences knew they were meant to make a point rather than to be taken literally or report historical facts. For example, Jesus told his followers that if their eye caused them to sin, they should tear it out, and if their hand caused them to sin, they should cut it off (Matthew 5:29–30). His words were exaggerations and his audience knew he was talking about how awful sin was, and he didn’t want them to cut out their eye or cut off their hand.

Confusing Verses

Some of the stories and symbolism can be confusing to the modern reader. The authors assumed their readers knew what they were talking about and could “read between the lines” to understand the meanings of the message. But modern readers don’t have the benefit of understanding the context and subtle meanings.

Verses About Burning Coals

For example, in both the Old and New Testaments, there is a reference to helping your neighbor that used the following statement: “If your enemy is hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them water to drink. This will heap burning coals on their heads, and the Lord will reward you” (Proverbs 25:21, Romans 12:20). These sentences could have two meanings, both of which have a positive intent.

The phrase can be taken literally within the context of that culture, alluding to somebody who gives a large amount of charcoal to rescue a neighbor’s dwindling fire. In ancient times, people sometimes carried their loads on their heads.

The phrase also has a deeper meaning, in which a person’s extravagant generosity toward the enemy stirs their conscience about how to treat others. The practical result of such a gesture is to increase the likelihood of a more peaceful relationship between the two parties.

The phrase does not mean hurting your enemy by burning their head in some way, but a modern reader might take the instructions literally and think this was a way to punish the enemy. The point was to love your enemy in excessive ways.

Verses About Crooked and Rough Roads

The prophet Isaiah used another obscure reference when he predicted the coming of the Messiah. He wrote, “A voice calls in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make his paths straight and the rough places smooth’” (Isaiah 40:3–5). The part about making “paths straight and rough places smooth” refers to a king who sends his workers ahead to ensure the road he will travel on is direct and smooth, thus making the king’s trip faster and more comfortable. Jesus said John the Baptist was the voice that was getting people ready to meet the Messiah (Luke 3:4, 7:27; Matthew 11:10).

While the Bible can be confusing at times, it’s possible to figure out what is being taught most of the time. However, sometimes just the events are reported, and it’s left to the reader to ponder it’s significance. Some events in the Bible are quite horrific, and this does not mean that they are what God intended.

#4 Important Information Missing From The Bible

Mon, 20 Dec 2021 01:58:07 GMT

#4 Important Information Missing From The Bible

The amount of detail that the Bible includes ranges from a great deal to very little. Since the Bible is a collection of 66 different books that were written over a 2,000-year period, there are major differences among the authors. Some wrote poetry, others recorded historical facts; some wrote letters that both encouraged admonished others, and some wrote letters to explain or clarify the meanings of the scriptures and events from the past.

But some important historical facts were not written about at all. There is nothing included in the Bible that covers the 400 years between the last book in the Old Testament (Malachi wrote his prophecies in 420 BC) and the events related to the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus. Historical records that discussed events during that time were not included in the Bible. As a result, when a person moves from reading the Old Testament to the New Testament, there is no explanation about the political and religious events and society that must be understood in order to make sense of the stories in the New Testament. The authors of the New Testament books didn’t realize their works would be read for thousands of years, so they did not think about including basic facts about their recent history. They focused on important events during their lifetime and assumed everybody already understood the current context—there was no need to write about such things.

400 Years of Missing History

Many important events took place in that part of the world at that time, and major political changes continued to influence the Jews, wherever they lived.

Over a 10-year period (336–326 BC) the Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, conquered Asia Minor and then the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians to create an empire reaching all the way to India. The Greeks brought new ways of thinking about the world through their religious and political philosophies. They also influenced the architecture and arts throughout the empire, and the Greek language became widely spoken and written (Hebrew and Aramaic were also used by the Jews). Jewish communities enjoyed relative peace during Alexander’s reign.

When Alexander died in 323 BC, he was replaced by two of his generals, who created their own dynasties. The followers of one general banned Judaism in Palestine, and a few devout Jews started a rebellion against the rulers who had required Jews to make pagan sacrifices. This Maccabean revolt spread throughout Palestine, and after 25 years of fighting, the Greeks were expelled in 142 The Romans later conquered Palestine and took control of Jerusalem in 63 BC. They had no tolerance for rebellion and ruthlessly executed many priests and Jewish leaders. In 37 BC Herod the Great got Rome to declare him the king of the Jews and started constructing many buildings, including a larger Temple in Jerusalem. When he died in 4 BC, Rome put other leaders in his place.

The People of Palestine

Because of the immigration of non-Jews into Palestine and the emigration of Jews out of Palestine, most of the people living in Palestine 2,000 years ago were not Jews, and most Jews were living elsewhere. Of the estimated four million Jews in the Roman Empire, only about 700,000 lived in Palestine. There were more Jews living in Alexandria, Egypt, than in Jerusalem and more living in Syria than in Palestine. Although the Romans established a good infrastructure of roads throughout the empire, the transportation system in Palestine was not well developed. People usually walked from place to place or traveled by donkey or mule. Some inns existed along the roads, but they were generally dirty, so better-off travelers relied on their network of friends and family for housing as they traveled.

During those four centuries, many Jews continued living outside of Palestine, mainly in Babylonia and Egypt, and their communities became quite large. To maintain their faith in God, these communities set up places of worship (synagogues) that were led by a religious scholar (rabbi) who read and explained the books (Tanakh) written about God’s covenant with the Israelites. [ Tanakh is an acronym of the Hebrew initials of each of the three traditional divisions: Torah (“Teaching,” also known as the five books of Moses), Nevi'im (“Prophets”), and Ketuvim (“Writings”).]

During the 400-year period, Greek (Hellenistic) ways of thinking became attractive to many of the Jews, and differences emerged among the Jews about how they should interact with the Hellenistic world while preserving their faith.

The Pharisees were a small but influential group who focused on strict obedience to God’s commands. They also wanted to be separate from the world rather than “mingle” with nonbelievers. They stressed maintaining personal piety and held a legalistic view of right and wrong. Independence from foreign influence was very important to the Pharisees, and they followed additional rules (the Talmud) that were made to ensure Jews did not come close to breaking any of God’s essential commands. They were proud and expressed their religious beliefs to others in very visible ways.

The Sadducees were another small but influential group, but they focused on morality and rejected the notion of supernatural powers. They were more accepting of foreign influences, especially the ideas of the Greeks and the principles of ethical philosophy. The Sadducees were typically wealthy and well-educated, and they did not accept the additional rules followed by the Pharisees.

The Essenes focused on self-control and withdrawing from the world. This small group of mystics retreated to remote parts of the region, mainly into the desert west of the Salt (Dead) Sea.

Zealots wanted to use physical force to ensure no foreign power controlled the lives of God’s people. They were willing to die for their cause.

There were other subgroups of people within Palestine who were distinct. Some were labeled based on where they lived.

The Samaritans and Galileans were viewed with contempt because they had often intermarried with non-Jews or were not Jewish at all. (Galilee was the northern part of Palestine, Samaria was the central part, and Judea was the southern part that was previously known as Judah.) Galileans were also known for being rebellious against foreign authority.

Some groups were distinct based on their profession, such as the scribes, who wrote important documents (often religious in nature) and were experts in the Law, and members of the Sanhedrin, a large and diverse group of leaders who watched over the religious life of the Jews and had the power to punish Jews. Some were known for their allegiance: Herodians were Jews who followed Roman traditions and beliefs, Hellenists were Jews who followed Greek traditions and beliefs, and Nazarites still existed (those taking a vow to dedicate themselves to God).

Many of the prophets had written about a Servant-King who would come and bring the nation back to glory. The Jews wondered when God would send the person and why it was taking so long. Events in the region were certainly ripe to have the Jews think that somebody would deliver them from the grip of powerful nations. Roman oppression reminded them of when their ancestors had been oppressed in Egypt and when they were conquered by the Assyrians and Babylonians. It had been 400 years since they last heard from a prophet about somebody who would suddenly appear. They were watching closely for the coming Messiah (Christ in Greek), the Anointed One who would come and save them as Rome crushed Jewish rebel leaders and executed them slowly by nailing them alive to crosses that dotted the region.

#3 Basic Facts About The Bible

Fri, 17 Dec 2021 02:50:07 GMT

#3 Basic Facts About The Bible

The Holy Bible is a collection of ancient documents written by many authors over nearly 2,000 years. When combined together, the 66 “books” in this small library would total about 2,000 pages in a typical 21st-century book. In this context, the Bible means “the authoritative set of little books,” and its content is called scripture, which means “something written.” Some of the books are quite long; others are only a few paragraphs. Centuries after the documents were written, they were divided into chapters and verses so readers could find specific texts more easily. Unlike modern books, chapters are rarely more than one page long, and sometimes these divisions do not occur in logical places (there are more than 1,100 chapters in the entire Bible).

Almost all the authors were Jewish, and nearly all the books were written in Hebrew or Aramaic, then translated into Greek. All the known authors were men (although it is possible women wrote boos that were written anonymously), and some books had more than one author. The authors had their own styles, which reflected various literary genres.

The Bible has two parts. The Old Testament has 39 books and spans about 1,500 years of history of God’s people (the Israelites). The New Testament has 27 books and were all written during a 50-year period in the first century (AD 45–95) and covers events in the first century AD in Palestine and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean region (mainly Greece and Turkey). These 27 books describe the main events and teachings related to Jesus and his initial followers. The two parts are also called the Old Covenant and New Covenant. A period of 400 years separates the events described in the Old and New Testaments. The Jewish Bible has additional books and no New Testament, and the Catholic and Orthodox Bibles have additional books. (The Short Bible does not provide a summary of these books.)

The Bible’s authors usually described the events and ideas to a writing secretary who was sometimes given freedom to put the author’s ideas into their own words. The words were initially recorded on papyrus, and more durable materials like sheepskin were used later. The original documents were copied by others so more people could read them. As demand for the documents grew, many copies were made, and sometimes the people creating the copies made minor errors and clarifications along the way, which were then copied by others. Some authors read the original books and corrected misunderstandings that had been recorded earlier. Thus, there are slightly different accounts of some events. None of the original documents have been recovered.

Other documents were written about the life of Jesus and his followers in the next few centuries. Some people wrote using false names in order to create an air of legitimacy for their documents. In the late fourth century, all the available documents were reviewed and discussed by church leaders at the Council of Carthage. There were disagreements about which documents should be considered divinely inspired and authoritative. The church leaders decided on a final list based on certain criteria, and the final set of documents was known as the canon. The books were then organized in their present order and translated into Latin.

Development of the Modern Bible

Various versions of all the books have been written over the centuries. The earliest translations did not reflect insights learned from later discoveries about the meanings of the original Greek and Hebrew words. The earliest English version was created in the early 1600s by religious scholars working for King James of England. That initiated efforts to create translations of the Bible into other languages. Archeological findings in the past 150 years have added further insights into the meaning of the books, and many more translations and versions of the Bible have emerged based on these insights.

Paraphrased Bibles

In the past 60 years, a number of paraphrased versions have been written to make the text more easily understood by those living in modern times and in different cultures. Here is information on the best paraphrases.

The New Testament in Modern English was written by J. B. Phillips, an Anglican clergyman. He translated the New Testament by referring to the original Greek text. This translation was first published in 1958 using British spellings, and some editions do not include verse numbers. Phillips did not translate the Old Testament into more readable text.

The Good News Bible is a translation of the Bible by the American Bible Society. The New Testament was originally published in 1966 using the name Good News for Modern Man. The complete Bible was finished in 1976. It uses simplified language that children can read. This paraphrase is also known as the Good News Translation and is used in many countries and by many denominations.

The Living Bible was created in English by Kenneth Taylor in 1971 and has been translated into many languages. Taylor wrote it so his children would understand the biblical text when his family conducted their devotions. An updated version (New Living Translation) was published in 1996 based on recommendations by a team of scholars who were experts in understanding the original Hebrew and Greek texts.

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language was written by Eugene Peterson, an American Presbyterian pastor and author. This translation relies heavily on American idioms and slang to a more modern understand of the original text. Experts in the Old and New Testaments reviewed the translation to make sure its text stayed true to the meaning of the original text. This translation of the entire Bible was finished in 2002.

Writing Styles of the Bible

The books of the Bible reflect various types of literature. These include heroic and embellished narratives, historical accounts, legal presentations, biographies, poetry and songs, genealogies and census information , wisdom literature and proverbs, collections of short stories, parables, inspirational letters, and highly symbolic predictions about the future.

The Bible’s content often lacks details that the reader might want to know, which makes the stories subject to much interpretation and can create doubt about their authenticity. In contrast, some sections include many details. The various books of the Bible are not presented in sequential order, which makes it difficult to get a comprehensive view of the main events and ideas. Since most of the writings occurred in an agrarian culture, there are many references and metaphors using common items at that time (e.g., sheep, goats, soil, seeds, water, wheat, fish, vineyards, the desert, and wilderness). The stories are often rich in symbolism, and dialogue is mixed in with a narration provided by the authors.

The overall tone is somewhat somber and serious. There is little humor, romance, or fiction (some fictional stories were written to convey important messages). All the complexities of life appear in the writings: life and death, good and evil, guilt and forgiveness, justice and judgment, grace and mercy, love and hate, reason and emotions, individualism and community life, sibling rivalry, reflections of the past and visions of the future, patience and expediency, discipline and impulsiveness, power and servant-hood, selfishness and sacrifice, health and sickness, trust and deception, sequential logic and paradox, idealism and realism. There are many tragedies and heroes, many disappointments and victories.

Some of the stories and symbolism can be confusing to the modern reader. The authors assumed their readers knew what they were talking about and could “read between the lines” to understand the meanings of the message. But we don’t have the benefit of understanding the context and subtle meanings.

#2 How I Wrote The Short Bible

Tue, 14 Dec 2021 02:36:17 GMT

#2 How I Wrote The Short Bible

Before writing a book, one first needs to understand its main purpose and major themes. A good story has a beginning, a plot and subplots that build on each other, major and minor characters, conflicts and drama, and a clear ending. These all had to be presented in the right order to create a cohesive and logical story. The book also needs the right amount of detail—not too much and not too little.

A summary needs to be accurate and true to the complete works. Many others were much more qualified than I was to write a summary. Some can read the original texts in Hebrew and Greek, and many have devoted their entire careers to conveying its teaching to others. I wondered if I would omit an essential story or theme and if I would be able to capture the events accurately. As a confident optimist, I decided to try summarizing the first book (Genesis) and see how the writing process would unfold. I knew I could stop at any time if it became obvious it would be too difficult or time-consuming.

I first sought input from others about the major themes. My father had been in Christian ministry for 65 years, and I talked to him for several hours about what he thought were its main messages. I talked with people from my church about what they thought were the Bible’s essential themes. Using their input, I created a list of main themes that I would use to focus my summary. Then I surrounded myself with my college textbooks and various commentaries and study Bibles that I had collected over the years to begin the writing process.

I soon faced a number of challenges.

I had to decide how to handle accounts for which there were no possible eyewitness accounts but that described events as if the author was present. In some cases, the accounts were not meant to be taken literally. The seven days of creation is an example.

Some famous events were described very briefly and were somewhat peripheral to the main messages (e.g., the Tower of Babel). What should I do with these passages?

Key details were missing from some of the stories. For example, Abram lived in Ur, but where was it and how far did he travel on his way to Canaan? Those who lived 3,000 years ago in that area knew the answer, but today’s readers don’t know these details. I felt the reader needed to understand the geography and context of the stories, especially when the places mentioned no longer exist or use different names in modern times.

I found conflicting accounts about the same event, and I had to find a way to describe an event accurately. For example, two different descriptions were given about how Judas Iscariot died. (I decided to write that he committed suicide; how it occurred was not a crucial detail.) The gospels also have different accounts of Jesus’s encounter with a demon-possessed man in the Gerasene region: was it one man or were there two men?

I had to determine which translation from the original Hebrew and Greek to use. On one website, I found 60 versions available in English, and each was slightly different. I accessed the text online and examined various translations, and then I simplified and paraphrased the text so the book would be shorter and easier to understand. I used several study Bibles but relied mainly on the New International Version (NIV) as the initial version from which my summary started. (Appendix E of The Short Bible lists the 2,000+ paraphrased scripture verses I quote in the book.)

After writing a few chapters, I invited others to read the draft to get their reaction. I wanted to know if I was on the right track, if my writing was clear and logically sequenced as well as accurate and easy to read, and if I had left out anything that was important. This made the writing process iterative in nature as I added and changed words and explained the context to add important details to the narrative.

The only resistance I experienced was something that proved to me that I was doing something good. As I researched and wrote, I was often distracted by what I believe were evil forces that seemed determined to slow my progress. My computer would periodically crash or act strangely. My mouse would move around randomly to other areas of the page, even after I changed its battery. All types of distractions would take my attention away from my work. Later, the processes for completing the book with the publisher included many unusual delays and miscommunications. But I felt God’s encouragement and protection as I wrote. In fact, my state of mind was like a continual prayer as good ideas entered my mind about what I should include or change as I quietly meditated alone while performing routine chores. I became convinced that this book was going to be very important because it was God’s book, not mine.

As I summarized the entire Bible, I had to decide what to include and what to exclude. Some parts are totally excluded because they are redundant or are peripheral to the main themes, and some parts are replicated entirely as they were written because they contribute to our understanding of the main themes. In order to make the events and ideas clear, the story does not always follow the sequence in which they are revealed in the original documents, and nearly all the quoted sections are paraphrased or shortened. I also augmented the summary with archeological findings, historical and geographical facts, and other clarifications to explain the contexts and meanings of the stories.

I had to make hard choices about what to include and what to leave out. When it came to the 150 Psalms, I decided to include 13 of them in their entirety rather than summarize all 150. (Some will not like the paraphrased versions because they aren’t the same as the way they were memorized.) There were many stories I left out of the Old Testament because they related to minor historical events or characters, and I simply summarized what happened. In some cases, high-profile stories were omitted entirely because they were not central to the story of the entire Bible (for example, the short story of the Tower of Babel was omitted). I could not include every story and topic, and some readers will think some exclusions were unnecessary. However, I had to make judgments about how to make the book a reasonable length—it was just not possible to include everything. But all the important stories and messages are included.

I read, researched, wrote, and revised over an eight-month period while keeping multiple audiences in mind. I wanted Christians who have never read the entire Bible to read this summary to help them understand how all the main messages tie together. Those who had already read the Bible would also benefit from reading a shorter version; I gained new insights and learned new things while “connecting the pieces of the puzzle.” I also wrote for those who simply want to read an interesting book that has important messages about life. I kept the text free of religious jargon and excessive wording, similar to how a journalist would report events and relevant quotes along the way. I hoped educated atheists and agnostics, the curious, and those who have never heard or read any of the Bible stories would read the book.

After many delays, the book was first published by WestBow Press in August 2021. But it did not serve all readers. My writing style (vocabulary and sentence structure) was geared for older readers, those who were at least 16 years old. Moreover, some of the stories in the Bible had disturbing and gruesome, and they were not fit for younger readers. And although the book was a summary, it was still very long (the Bible summary covered about 300 pages, and the book’s introduction, concluding sections, and appendixes add another 100 pages). As a result, I decided to write a simplified version of the book that is even shorter, easier to read, and more appropriate for those with minimal education and children (minor characters and gruesome events were removed or sanitized).

I also created other forms of the book. The Student Version contains study and reflection questions and tasks that would help readers wrestle with the text. This version is appropriate for use in public schools and does not include my perspective about the merits of Christianity. And since I want The Short Bible to be available in other languages, a Spanish version was created by Author Reputation Press and published in December 2021 (WestBow Press does not publish books in other languages). As funds become available, the book will be published in other languages, including French, German, Chinese, Korean, Bengali, Japanese, Indonesian, and Tagalog. Finally, audio versions are being created in both English and Spanish and will be available in Winter 2022. A guide to help readers pronounce many unusual words will be added as another appendix in the first edition of The Short Bible. (Resources that are available to help people say the unusual words in the Bible sometimes give different pronunciations.)

#1 Why I Wrote The Short Bible

Mon, 13 Dec 2021 02:32:07 GMT

#1 Why I Wrote The Short Bible

In February 2020 I was getting ready to retire and was starting to shelter in place for an unknown amount of time until the chaos caused by the COVID-19 pandemic subsided. I still wanted to be active after retiring, and I didn’t want to waste a crisis. I had lived an unusual life and wondered how I could use my life experiences and skills in the next chapter of my life for good purposes while we all waited for life to become somewhat normal again.

I had been a student of the Bible for more than 50 years but still felt I didn’t understand how parts of it fit into the overall story. It was as if the Bible stories I heard as a child were random pieces of a puzzle that couldn’t be put into their proper places until I could see the picture on the box. As a Christian, I had focused my studies on the New Testament and had spent 10 years working in different types of Christian ministries. I had heard thousands of sermons and had taken Bible classes at Wheaton College.

I had spent more than 30 years working in various nonpartisan public service organizations at the international, national, state, and local levels. Much of that work involved researching complex organizational and societal problems and summarizing the issues and possible solutions in reports written in a linear and logical manner and using language that was easy to understand.

Through training in graduate school and at work, I had learned to write concisely and objectively using a style geared for busy people who needed to grasp the issues quickly and make decisions about what to do next based on available evidence.

I was a world citizen and aware of many different cultures, languages, and religions. I lived in many states growing up, and I lived in four other countries as an adult. Two of them had large populations that were Buddhist, Muslim, or Hindu. My work had taken me to 20 countries, including Israel and Turkey. I served the government overseas with diplomatic status and several top-secret clearances, taught world geography and world history at the secondary level, and took courses about international affairs and economic development in graduate school.

With all these experiences in mind, a thought popped into my head: Maybe I should summarize the Bible. If nothing else, I will understand it better. The Bible is a very long and complicated collection of books that was not organized in chronological order. Understanding it is a challenge, and I thought a shorter version that summarizes the key events and characters in historical order might help me and others understand it better (less is more). I would need to decide what parts were essential and what could be omitted. Although it was all important in some way, certain parts were more central to the messages than others. Every word would need to count, and I had the time.

I then wondered if we really needed another book about the Bible. There are already thousands of books written about its parts and implications, and there are many translations and paraphrases of its contents. But this was a symptom of the problem: the Bible is so long and complicated that many books are written to explain all its intricate meanings and contexts.

To my surprise, I found no summary existed that laid out all 66 of books in a logical sequence while explaining all the key messages. Some books came close but left out major parts of the content, and these books were still quite long and written for a Christian audience. I wanted my book to be relatively short but still include the essential messages. I also wanted to write in a way that non-Christians would find appealing — more like a novel that could be read in a few days. After all, the Bible is widely considered to be the most profound collection of books in all of history, and it includes messages and stories that are still referenced today in the secular world. While there are more Bibles in print than any other book in history, many who own a copy have not read it because it’s very long and confusing. Many others have not read any part of the Bible because they aren’t interested in religious issues, and many have only read parts of it. I’ve been surprised at how many people have never heard the timeless stories of David and Goliath, the Prodigal Son, and the Good Samaritan or know little about some of the Bible’s key characters. And if they know about the stories, they often don’t know the context or central message. I figured any educated person should at least know the basic stories and messages of the Bible, and a shorter book would help accomplish that purpose.

Another reason I wrote The Short Bible is because the length and organization of the Bible makes it vulnerable to misinterpretation and “selection bias.” People with little knowledge of the Bible assume their limited perspective is enough to reject its teachings. An atheist friend of mine said he rejects any book that approves of pedophilia and slavery. When I said the Bible does not teach that these are acceptable, he said the Bible includes the story of Lot getting both his daughters pregnant and that there was nothing written that showed God was against slavery. He assumed that if a story was in the Bible, then religion considers what happened as acceptable behavior. Such thinking illustrates a fundamental misunderstanding of how and why the Bible was written.

But atheists aren’t the only ones who misunderstand the Bible. Many Christians ignore the teachings of the Old Testament and don’t see them in the context of the entire story. Lately, many Christians emphasize perspectives that are antithetical to New Testament teachings — a person can find scripture verses to justify many different political, social, and economic perspectives. A shorter book that makes the basic teachings of Christianity clear has the potential to guide both atheists and Christians onto the right path.

Finally, I did not intend The Short Bible to be read by or to one group of people: children. The readability of its content (e.g., vocabulary, sentence structure, concepts) is appropriate for people who are at least 16 years old. Moreover, the concepts of the Bible are deep, and many of the events require emotional maturity. If the Bible were condensed into a movie or television series, it would be R-rated. I did not want to sanitize the gruesome details that were described in the Bible. Instead, I have written The Simplified Short Bible that is shorter and more appropriate for children and those who have less formal education.

When I mentioned my idea of writing a summary of the Bible to others, everybody was enthusiastic and wanted to read it when I was finished. Many who wanted to read the entire Bible had not been able to finish it because it was so long and complicated in places and they didn’t have the time. Friends who had spent many years sharing the Bible’s stories in other countries said a summary with the essential events and messages in chronological order would be helpful in their work.

Two Issues to Consider

One friend questioned the title of the book. The friend noted that there are verses that say nothing should be added or removed from the Bible, and book’s title violated this admonition because it used the word “Bible.” I considered this view and did more research on the verses. The first time it is mentioned is in Deuteronomy 4:2, and it clearly does not apply to my book. There were many other books of the Bible that were written later, so this verse had a context that was limited in time. Revelation 22:18–19, written in John’s prophecies about the end of time, also contains the verse. But again, this verse is specific to only this part of the scriptures—it was written when others were writing their own prophecies related to the persecutions of the Christians. I concluded that these verses did not apply to my book, and I clearly state The Short Bible is not the Bible and is a reorganized summary. In addition, if these verses applied to all scriptures, then any person who read or wrote about the Bible and explained its meanings would be guilty of violating these admonitions.

When considering this issue, I also thought about The Living Bible, a paraphrased version of the entire Bible. It was created by Kenneth Taylor in 1971 so his children would understand the Bible when his family had their devotions. When it was first published, many Christians condemned the book for the same reason (as well as other reasons). But by 1997, more than 40 million copies had been sold in North America, and The Living Bible has now been translated into 100 other languages. In my view, understanding the Bible is more important than just reading it, so I support whatever is done to have people read and understand it. (The Living Bible was updated in 1996 based on recommendations by a team of scholars who were experts in understanding the original Hebrew and Greek texts. It now is called the New Living Translation, was published in 1996.)

I also considered what would happen if the book generated substantial royalties. I didn’t want the hassle of handling a lot of money and dealing with the tax implications of the income. I didn’t need the money, so I decided to create the non-profit Bylsma Foundation where the profits from the sale of the book would be placed (see www.bylsmafoundation.org ). No taxes would be withheld from the royalties, and the Foundation would distribute the funds to charitable causes around the world to “help people in need, promote justice in the world, seek and spread the truth, help others understand the stories and meanings of the Bible, and encourage those who need good news.”

Having dealt with these two issues, I got excited about starting the process of writing the book.