Customer Reviews

How the Bible was Built

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4 star:		(3)
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2 star:		(1)
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Smith has done a great service in writing this brief, easy to understand overview of the history of our modern Bible. It will satisfy most of the questions people have about translations, versions, and who decided what books to include. I wish he had incuded a list of books for those who want to delve further into this topic, or for those who wonder where he got his information.

Written for teenagers, this very slim book covers the basics on the history of how the Christian's delineated the Old and New Testaments. I would recommend this highly for young adults or even adults who want basic historical questions answered. But that is really it. For any serious or semi-serious discussion this book only primes the pump. Something I found appealing is that the authors didn't aim at making supernatural claims about the process of canonization- they merely report basic facts in a readable manner. Why is this a plus in my view? Because the authority or lack thereof of the scriptures in the Church is the hinge question upon which all other dogma are based. If you say the Bible is self-authenticating (fundamentalist/traditional Protestant) then you have one stream of religious thought, practice and justification. While if you hold that it is the believing/worshipping community (guided by God if you're thinking like a Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox) that deciees which letters are in or out, then the locus of authority shifts away from the book alone to the book of the Church. Do we open the bible and the church pops out? No, not historically. And although this sort of thinking has given us the current Christian "diversity" since the Reformation, this whole question is not addressed in Smith's work, which makes it a nice neutral place to start a discussion.

Great little book which can be read in one setting. Enjoy!

Written by the author of some humorous pieces and now-forgotten mysteries set in the Methodist church, this book was penned in response to his 14 year old granddaughter's inquiries about the origin of the Bible. That fact should not be forgotten when considering the merits of this book. It's really a book for children around tween age. The author does a decent job of telling the basic story of the Bible, but his unfortunate tendency towards oversimplification sometimes leads him into very silly statements. For example, he tells us that the so-called Apocrypha came to be regarded as Scripture because medieval scribes_forgot_to include Jerome's disclaimers relegating them to non-canonical status! A statement like that ruins the whole thing for me. It is possible to write a book like this without sacrificing the complex but necessary aspects of the story, but I don't think the author was able to do that. Read a real book on the subject instead, even if you're 14 years old.

Hey God, I'm Home"How the Bible Was Built" is the most informative colection of information that I have come across since I involved myself in the Bible thirty years ago. This, for me, puts the construction of the Scriptures into an understandable foremat. Smith and Bennett led me down a path that I would never have uncovered had their book not been "put in my path." Although I had some of the information prior to reading the book, I learned new thoughts and it reaffirmed much of what I knew. I would suggest that it be required reading for every Preacher, Priest and anyone else who spreads the Word Of God. They can then let their congregation think for themselves; come to their own conclusions. I would say that this is a book that will help you to stop letting other people do your thinking for you. G. Peter Duffy; Author of "Hey God, I'm Home."

This book is a great overview of the development of the Bible. It is more of a pamphlet since it provides no documentation for the information presented. It answers the basic questions and would be a great tool for both the church and colleges to introduce controversial topics.

In the academic sphere, it could be used as a syllabus for an Introduction to the Bible class and as a first day assignment for both Hebrew Bible/Old Testament and New Testament survey courses.

Since the book is directed to high-school-aged people, the writing flows well and simply without being pedantic. It is a quick read, but packed with good information that could be the foundation for more in-depth analysis of Redaction Criticism, Source Criticism, the canonization process, "heretical" movements, the Synoptic Problem, and most other major biblical studies topics.

As a professor who has taught both OT/HB and NT surveys and courses, I find this book a great, non-threatening way to introduce controversial topics and open the door to great discussions and research assignments.

It's interesting that this book is entitled "How the bible was built" because this book itself was stitched together from a series of versions of a book that Charles Merrill Smith was working on before he died. His friend James Bennett then tried to put them all together. In some senses, this book is built just as the bible they describe is also built.

The analogy to building the bible starts off fine, but soon disappears into a more general discussion, aimed at the young adult audience. It's well written, but hardly scholarly. There are few gross errors, but then it doesn't pretend to go very deeply into some of the major controversies about scriptural origins.

At the end of the book there is a brief chronology that highlights some of the seminal dates in the history of the bible up to 1611 (e.g., Jerome's Latin Vulgate, John Wycliff's english translation, Gutenberg, Martin Luther, Tyndale's first english printing, etc.) It's a good list, but it does leave out some important dates (e.g., 1551 - 4th edition of Greek New Testament divides text into verses for first time; 393 - Church council at Hippo affirms 27 canonical books).

This book would certainly be appropriate for any young adult who was interested in the topic, but it's hardly food for the hungry scholar.

Smith does a fine job with a innovative way in presenting the way the Bible was built. He even aids those who know little about construction to grasp the images he is using to uncover the varied processes which the early church used to put together the Scriptures which were considered as authoritative for the Christian faith.

The brevity of this book proves to be its downfall. It is obvious this was not written by a scholar as several points in the work seem questionable. It proports to be an unbiased presentation but there appears to be a slight chip on the shoulder against protestants. The timeline and terms in the back appendices are helpful. i think this book would create more questions than seems necessary for such a low level introductory piece. The absence of a bibliography also makes it difficult for readers to pursue specific issues in more detail. I think its a nice attempt but there are other works out there that do a much better job.

This book is excellent as a first venture into the history of the bible. If you've already read a few things, this will be quite remedial. gives just enough information to intrigue, and makes you want to investigate further. Easy to read in one sitting. Excellent for scholarly kids/teens, and adults who know nothing about the subject.

The bible didn't just fall out of the sky in its present form, all ready to go,--this book is for those who thought it did or have never thought about it at all.

Knowledgeably co-written by the late United Methodist Minister Charles Merrill Smith (1919-1985) and is long time friend and award winning author of several young adult novels, James W. Bennett How The Bible Was Built is a superb introduction to just how the Bible did come to be as we know it today. As an in-depth exploration of what influences, ideas, concepts, people, and visions were inspiration for the gathering and writing of the Bible, How The Bible Was Built offers readers a greater understanding and premise to work from when viewing the unfathomable records of such a holy and influential scripture. How The Bible Was Built is very strongly recommended to all students of the Holy Bible (be they clergy, laymen, or theology students) for its casual and easy-to-read formatting, filled with educated and invaluable understandings from first page to last.