Customer Reviews

The DK Illustrated Family Bible

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Noting with horror that "Teen Witch" is number 1 in the "teen - spirituality" category on amazon.com, I am at least pleased to see this book to be sitting currently at number 2.

This is a great book, we have it as part of our christian family library that we keep out in the open for everyone to use. I often just end up opening the book to any page and reading, every page is absolutely FASCINATING and gives a deep historical perspective to the bible. Lots of pictures to break up the text and give dimension to the topics.

Help bring the bible alive in your home with this companion book!

This book provides an excellent presentation because it smoothes out the Bible and provides a coherent, easily comprehensible, linear framework of understanding. The most helpful aspect of this arrangement of material is that in the section covering the Gospel books, it presents selected chapters in chronological order (Sunday School materials might have set a precedent here).

It's like an ideally arranged compendium of Sunday School booklets, with helpful background sections introducing major parts of the Bible. It uses a classic style of graphics, combined with various types of art as DK Publishing excels in.

Everyone who is studying Christianity should read this first, to set up a basic framework of understanding. This book portrays clearly and efficiently a point of reference to answer "What is the orthodox conventional reading of the Bible?"

This book reveals the anti-Semitism that builds up in the book of Acts; the Jews who supposedly persecuted the Christians are always shown in a two-dimensional, cardboard way, with mean expressions on their faces. This book clearly portrays the conventional Christian reading of this material. It's a good, clear portrayal of the standard orthodox way of reading the Bible.

There is an appendix of people's names in the back. The book lacks, most of all, a set of genealogy diagrams. It has a fairly good map in front, but could use more maps or at least a guide to the little maps that are dispersed throughout.

It has a great index. After reading the book cover-to-cover, I highlighted the 50% of the index entries that are least clear to me, to do a 2nd, review pass. I played a Bible trivia game and was inspired to read this book because I lacked too many of the standard Bible stories. I can tell that I'll do much better in that Bible trivia game, and will do even better after reviewing more of the unfamiliar entries I found in this book's index.

I felt that getting through this book required the most perseverance when wading through the section about the kings who did or didn't worship God, and the section about Jesus' parables -- these are covered well, but these weren't the sections of the Bible I was most interested in. My favorite sections of the book -- the subjects I was already most curious about -- were the stories between Eden and the later kings, and the stories between the Crucifixion and Revelation. The book has a nice treatment of Revelation and explains its political context. In the middle of the book, the parables and wisdom literature is covered.

I treasure this book and am glad to have read the Bible in this clear and understandable form. Next, I may read the Bible Handbook by DK Publishing (John Bowker). I'm reading Bowker's 2002 book from DK Publishing, God: A Brief History. I've also read the pocket-size Bible handbook from DK Publishing, which isn't very enlightening -- it's a tiny, somewhat random subset of the Illustrated Family Bible. I also recommend the books by DK Publishing, which I have read, covering Christianity, Myth, World Religions, and Philosophy.

Understanding the cultural and political environments of Biblical times may help your family better understand the Bible. Dorling-Kindersley blends illustration, historical perspective, and the political reality of the day to present an informative and scholarly look at the life and times of the Bible.

An example is the story of the Magi visiting the baby Jesus. Historical and political references point out that the Magi did not visit the Christ Child on the day of His birth, but rather later, at His "house". This insight, along with the information about the shepherds and why they were told the "Glad Tidings" first, help bring the Joyous Christmas Story to life. This title is highly recommended as a supplement to a family's Bible Study hour. Use it to answer questions and to encourage further study into our Father's Word.

I found the illustrated bible easy to understand, interesting and precise. In today's busy world the ability to quickly get an overview of both testaments was wonderful. I would recommend to anyone wanting to "get started" with the bible. If you can only read one "bible" this should be it.

This book is great because it gives a very readable overview of the main Biblical stories. The illustrations are a plus and make the stories easy to absorb and remember. The sidebars provide very useful information. There appears to be a high degree of scholarship in the analyses. Of course, because this is a "family" bible, perhaps a few of the more sordid elements may not be covered. Still, this is a wonderful way to get an overall feel for the Old and New Testaments

Not up to the quality of most DK books - beware! Only a few small photographs here and there. Mostly drawn illustrations that look very dated. The artwork spoils what otherwise would be an OK book overviewing the Bible. Also weighs about 20 lbs! Hard to hold.

Beautiful illustrations. Archeological findings, cultural and scientific comments on the side give flesh to the places, people and events happened in the Bible. Stories are succinct and to-the-point, but still keeps the integrity of the original Words of God. Highly recommended! Amen!

Enjoy reading this Bible to my 3 young boys as they get the scriptural verses along with the real story behind the Bible. We enjoy the pictures and the historical context/view of the story/verses. Bought the used version and it was in fantastic shape at a fraction of the cost!

The DK Illustrated Family Bible makes for a wonderful time while reading to my children. Children always seem to have questions and this bible helps tremendously with its wonderful illustrations. If christian values are something you wish to instill into your kids then you need one of these to read to them.

My family loves the Bible. It is interesting to read for adults and children. It has many pictures, explanations, and interesting facts related to a story.