Book Review: MAKING SENSE OF THE BIBLE by David Whitehead.

This book is a mixed bag. While it has a good purpose of making the Biblical understanding accessible to the beginning or average layman, it seems to me to fall short of its purpose.

Chapter 1 – Deals with the differences of translation. It is a survey of the three main methods of translation. He adequately defines these methods—Literal, Paraphrase, and Dynamic Equivalent. To my mind he does not adequately do the job or explain the difference. One major ingredient that lacks in this chapter is its relationship to Truth. And he favors the more loose translations.

Chapter 2 – Deals with the reader. He rightly indicates that the reader’s heart is a vital part of reading the Bible. That the heart must be open to the exposure of sin; to change of heart; and the strengthening of the heart is necessary. He correctly stresses that we must read the Bible to understand the Bible. It is one of the most vital duties we have as believers. This may well be his best chapter in the book.

Chapter 3 –Deals with the writing styles in the Bible. The Bible is literature written in different styles. He points out that God uses the same creativity in his Word as he did in his creation. This is seen in the number of authors (44) as well as the number of books (66). Within these you can find styles of every type.

Chapters 4 though 12 are a survey of areas of the Bible. It is somewhat disjointed for it jumps from place to place and back again (example: Chapter 4 deals with Abraham, Chapter 5 the Gospels, Chapter 6 the Epistles, Chapter 7 back to Old Testament Narratives) that I personally find it confusing. I do not think it will be an aid to understanding the Bible, especially for new believers. I am uneasy with him giving the impression that the book of Revelation is to be read even if it is not understandable. For a book to make sense of this Bible, it is not satisfactory.   

In the whole I am disappointed in the work. The book is very basic, but has factual problems (when did Canaan get moved to Turkey? p. 46). It is easy to read which is aided by numerous use of summaries. However, it misses the mark.

I received this book free from Bethany House, a division of Baker Publishing Group, as part of their Book Review Blogger Program. I was not required to write a positive review.