Customer Reviews

Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian Survey (Encountering Biblical Studies)

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This summer I read several Old Testament books for possible use in the Seminary course I would teach for the fall and spring semesters. I found that "Encountering the Old Testament" Christian Survey 2nd Edition, more than met the reqirements for our Freshman and Sophomore Classes. The reading material is most informative and held my interest during my research. As an instructor, the layout, text, chapter outlines and source materials listed proved most accurate and helpful when preparing my syllabus and additional course assignments. This book will be an excellent reference book and a book for any biblical library. I would recommend this book as a source of study for students in Bible College, Seminary and persons interested in Biblical Studies.

I use this as a text book in my OT intro course. It provides a solid conservative evangelical approach to the Old Testament. Each chapter does a pretty good job of discussing some key issues, and usually deals with other views fairly.

The biggest problem with this textbook is the author's proclivity to move from a discussion of the text to a larger discussion of theology. In doing so, New Testament views and a Christian focus gets put on texts that originated centuries beforehand. The result is a reading which leaves students with good evangelical theology of the Old Testament, but lacking in the presentation of the theology held by those discussed in the OT.

If seeking this as a text book for a course, plan your lectures to deal with the text itself and the surrounding issues of the textual interpretation. This focus will round out the book.

Note: The CD is invaluable. A simple click allows the students to read the definitions of many words that would be new to them in a Intro class.

A good survey book. Intended as a survey, but still a good reference tool and a quick way to understand the context, author, dating, culture, etc. of a particular section of the Word.

This was a textbook for a university class I took. Our reading assignments were pretty heavy but this book made the homework a joy and pleasure. I have a better grasp on the Old Testament now and have benefited immensely from it. The CD that comes with the book is a good study aid, but does not really add content to the book itself. The content is very conservative and helps refute some critical and liberal ideas about the Bible.
Highly Recommended for a survey.

I used this book in my Old Testament survey class through Liberty University and found it to be a solid overview of the Old Testament books and history. Relatively easy to read for a textbook, it was quite informative and yet not dry which allows it to be very approachable. I found that I have a much better grasp on the times and places throughout the Old Testament and particularly enjoyed the sections on the prophetic books. Each chapter contains a helpful outline of the book being covered and includes clear references to the scripture passages being discussed. I felt that this book found a healthy balance of information, maps, and pictures. The images and maps give the reader a good sense for the locations and movements of different people and people groups which helps to portray the cultures and situations faced by biblical characters. Overall, a very informative and helpful survey that will stay on my shelf as useful reference.

This is a great book if you have time to actually sit and read it. In accelerated classes that I take, we were in too much of hurry to learn on the go. But, it was affordable, on time and great condition.

The book arrived very quickly and in perfect condition. the packaging, quality and price was all amazing. i would definitely do business with person again

I had to order this book for an OT survey course that I took over the past 2 weeks (fast but great!). I think this textbook is helpful to understand the overall framework of the OT and I especially enjoyed the diagrams and maps which brings a lot of perspective to the history unfolding at that time (and truth that it communicates). Also, the author(s) bring the information to heart-level with thought provoking questions interspersed, helping to engage our hearts, not only our heads which is the end-goal anyway!

This book follows the same structure and format as Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey (Encountering Biblical Studies), its companion volume in the Encountering Biblical Studies series. And like the other volumes in this series, this book serves as a helpful primer on the subject covered. Arnold and Beyer have provided students and teachers with a well organized, colorful, accessible, engaging, and detailed introduction to Old Testament history, theology, and culture.

The authors note in the preface, "Illustrative materials such as charts, maps, and graphs comprise approximately 20 percent of the volume. The color format makes the book more 'user-friendly' to a generation that has experienced much in the way of technological improvement. We want to give students the feeling that 'they are there' as much as possible, to help them see the images the Bible so carefully paints." This aspect is especially helpful in a volume on the Old Testament since many readers are so removed the world of the Ancient Near East.

POSITIVES:
- Well written and well organized
- Lots of helpful "focus boxes" and other in-text tools (e.g., the classic formulation of the Documentary Hypothesis, Leviticus on sexuality, the chiastic structure of Psalm 8, etc.)
- Thoughtful "Review" and "Study" questions at the end of each chapter
- Suggested further reading at the end of each chapter
- Detailed glossary of OT people, places, doctrines, etc.
- Robust multimedia interactive CD-ROM that includes study questions, reviews, audio/video clips, interviews with the authors, maps, images, and more.

NEGATIVES:
- CD-ROM is PC only (not Mac friendly)

Overall this book is great; there are very few negatives with this volume. It is more detailed than its New Testament companion, and its arguments are more fully defended. Like Encountering New Testament, this volume is accessible and interesting for the novice, and is detailed and engaging for the experienced student.

This book is very easy to understand, breaks down each book of the Old Testament from authorship, out line and theological meaning. Shows maps of there travels, great study questions, summary, etc. To help you study. The cd.rom it comes with it a extra help of this book with add ons, fun quizes and mini videos to help in your studies. Great book for college, for students as well as professors.