Customer Reviews

The 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible: A Devotional Study

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The 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible is a devotional study that will teach us that the twists and turns and bends in life are not random. Nothing happens to us pointlessly. God will use each and every circumstance to shape us and form us into the kind of image we were designed to be.

The authors started in the Old Testament, and had a hard time determining which stories to include in this book. After some discussion they decided on the fifty-two stories included. John Alan Turner wrote the devotions for Monday through Thursday and Kenneth Boa wrote the devotional for Friday. They are divided up as such:

Monday - a conversational retelling of the story, including historical context
Tuesday - a discussion of the orthodoxy of the story and how it shapes our beliefs
Wednesday - a study of how it shapes our values
Thursday - exploration of how it should shape our actions
Friday - the conclusion of the study that will guide you through a prayerful response

The 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible was a true pleasure to use as a devotional. I enjoyed delving into the stories at the depth that was included in this book. My pastor husband was very excited to see this book and he wanted to go through it as soon as I finished it.

If you are looking for an in-depth Bible study devotional, then the 396-page The 52 Greatest Stories of the Bible is definitely a book to consider.

Armchair Interviews says: It is highly recommended. Don't miss this book!

Kenneth Boa and John Alan Turner offer a very distinct and useful approach to a daily devotional. Selecting one major narrative of the Bible each week they explore the story itself and how it impacts our life and and faith in different ways each day of the week. The tone is conversational, the stories are retold in an engaging way and the application is excellent. It is rare to find this many biblical narratives examined with this quality in as few pages as Boa and Turner manage.

This is a unique approach to devotional reading through the year and I would highly suggest picking up a copy. It would also be a good book to recommend to people looking for a daily devotional.

OK, so this isn't a ground breaking theological wonder. But to be honest, how many of us even want to read ground breaking theology? I know I don't & the folks in my church don't. This is a FIRST CLASS resource for youth or adults who want a GREAT Bible study. Factually on the mark, entertaining and best of all soooooooooooooooooo practical. If you want to understand the Bible better, this is your book. If you want to live a better life, more like God wants, this is your book. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't benefit from reading this book. In our adult Sunday School class it has been a real hit with our new converts AND our well seasoned believers. That's hard to do. Check it out. God bless. Mike

The book is divided into Monday through Friday readings. Each week is devoted to a different biblical story (e.g., creation in Genesis 1-2 for the first week). Monday retells the narrative, Tuesday summarizes theology (Orthodoxy), Wednesday guides our affections/emotions (Orthopathy), Thursday guides our actions (Orthodpraxy), and Friday suggests four prayers related to each of the previous four days. My wife and I utilize the book like this: we read a section of the biblical text containing the story, then we read the appropriate section for the day, and then pray the prayer tied to that section. Each day we read a portion or all of the biblical text that contains the story for the week. So, we use the book Monday-Thursday. We use other resources for Friday-Sunday.

The daily readings are brief (a page or two) which is managable for a daily meditation in conjunction with reading the Biblical text. They are well-written, thoughtful, and generate discussion. The theology is basic (which is good) and stated in a way that offers a helpful perspective in an interesting way. Sometimes the theological language may assume some background but it is generally explained in a way that most anyone can grasp. My wife and l look forward to working through these readings in conjunction with reading the Biblical text. It is basic, refreshing, and thought-provoking.

John Alan Turner and Ken Boa have provided a unique, enjoyable daily reader. Though their work focuses on the "greatest" (and - thus - most familiar) stories of the Bible, they provide a refreshing perspective (in a cool weekly format) on each one.

The summaries of the stories (Monday) are interesting and fun re-tellings, the observations of the following days (orthodoxy/beliefs on Tuesday; orthoprathy/values on Wednesday; and orthopraxy/actions on Thursday) are insightful and helpful, and the prayers on Friday are both worshipful as well as excellent summaries of the week's lessons and observations. It's an excellent, effective combination that I've found to be helpful and challenging.

This book is well written, witty, and very insightful; and, you don't have to have a theology degree to understand it.

Those of us who are Christians have learned stories from the Bible from the time we were little children, if we were lucky. John Alan Turner and Ken Boa take our favorite Bible stories and many more to a deeper level.

This weekly devotional study guide will fill our year with cogent, insightful and concise portraits of God's people and of His son from both the Old and New Testament. We will not only read one of those 52 important stories each week, but also be led to make applications of them to our own lives, wherever we are in our own journey through life.

I, myself, have been a baptized believer for more than 50 years, yet found new and previously unexplored corners of my life and world in the stories of this book within which to grow.

I highly recommend it to all who are searching for Biblical answers to some of the sticky problems of this world and to those who which to enrich their lives further.

If you are a home school family looking for a great book for bible time during school this is it. If you are a family looking for a way to initiate bible study in your family or to continue this tradition - this is the book for you!

I absolutely love this book. I am so glad to have it in my library and am enjoying it each week. 52 weeks in the year - 52 bible stories that explore many aspects of life all ultimately pointing to the biblical truth that nothing that happens in without purpose according to the plan God has. I love it because one story is kept all week long Monday - Friday. This makes it excellent for the home school setting as you are studying one story at different levels all week long. So children get the idea of the scriptures securely cemented in their minds. They are divided as such:

Monday - a retelling of the story, adding the historical background to help make the story more understandable and real - even more applicable to the student and present day.
Tuesday - a short discussion about how this story has impacted our present-day beliefs.
Wednesday - A great day of how the story influences and shapes our values. I used this to ask my children how they could change their lives to line up more with what the scripture is teaching.
Thursday - this section talks about how our lives (actions) ought to change. Also a great conversation starter for you and your children to discuss certain behaviors or actions in your own lives that need to be changed to conform to scripture.
Friday - the conclusion and time for serious prayer about the impact of the story on the life of the individual.

A must have!

Thank you Gospel Light for this review copy.

I have been a Christian for many years, but these stories are told in a refreshing way, both the narrative and the practical application. Very nice!

Boa and Turner's unique Orthodoxy/Orthopathy/Orthopraxy approach to these stories forces the reader to look at each story from multiple angles through different lenses. By providing a multi-faceted yet well defined approach for the reader to evaluate their position, the book allows readers an opportunity to look at these great stories in a not just a "new light", but with a whole new paradigm.

How should it make me believe? How should it make me feel? How should it make me act? All three equally important questions, and applicable not only to these 52 stories, but all future considerations within our study if God's word.

Thanks to this book, I now have a completely different, (and I believe much more balanced) way to look at all of my theology!