General Introduction to the Bible [Hardcover]

Norman Geisler (Author), William Nix (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 8, 1986

An updated version of the popular original. It satisfies the exacting demands placed on any good Bible introduction. Excellent scholarship. Clearly written.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

NORMAN GEISLER (Th.B., William Tyndale College; A.B., Wheaton College; M.A., Wheaton College Graduate School; Ph.D., Loyola University) holds a position at the newly formed Veritas Evangelical Seminary in Southern California. Norman is the author or co-author of more than 65 books including A General Introduction to the Bible, Christ: The Theme of the Bible, and From God To Us: How We Got the Bible. He has also written hundreds of articles. He and his wife of 53 years, Barbara, have six children, thirteen grandchildren, and one great grandchild. They live in North Carolina.

WILLIAM E. NIX (A.B., Wayne State University; A.M., University of Michigan; Ph.D., University of Oklahoma) is an editorial and educational consultant based in Dallas, Texas. He is author of Transforming Your Workplace for Christ and co-author of From God to Us and A General Introduction to the Bible with Dr. Norman Geisler. He has also written several articles. Dr. Nix resides in Texas.

 

 

Product Details

• Hardcover: 728 pages
• Publisher: Moody Publishers; Rev Exp Su edition (August 8, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802429165
• ISBN-13: 978-0802429162
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #255,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Norman Geisler (PhD, Loyola University) is president of Southern Evangelical Seminary and author or coauthor of over fifty books including Decide for Yourself, Baker's Encyclopedia of Apologetics, and When Skeptics Ask.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Should be a part of every Christians library., October 24, 1999

By 

Jon C Miner - See all my reviews

This review is from: General Introduction to the Bible (Hardcover)

This book contains an amazing amount of background information on the Bible and how it came to be in it's present form. It covers such topics as the way men were able to determine which books belonged in the Bible and which ones did not, how the books were preserved down through the centuries, how scholars are able to determine and correct mistakes that were made by well-meaning or not so well-meaning scribes, the history of our English translations of the Bible and much much more. If you want a well written book by two highly recognized Bible scholars that will be an excellent supplement to your study and understanding of the Bible plus provide an excellent reference to use whenever you need to find a quick and accurate answer to a historical Bible question, this is the book for you.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instructive reference text, July 23, 2001

By 

Dr. J. Sarfati (Brisbane, Queensland Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: General Introduction to the Bible (Hardcover)

A great one volume work on the inspiration, canonization, transmission and translation of the Bible. There are also good B&W photos, e.g. the Habakkuk Commentary, one of the Dead Sea Scrolls, so one of the earliest extant manuscripts of the OT; and P52, the oldest NT fragment.

There are good refutations of a number of false views, e.g. that an inspired Bible can contain error. The authors demonstrate that Biblical errantists confuse several concepts:

Adaptation to human finitude vs accommodation to human error: the former does not entail the latter. A mother might tell her four-year-old `you grew inside my tummy' - this is not false, but language simplified to the child's level. Conversely, `the stork brought you' is an outright error. Similarly, God, the author of truth, used some simplified descriptions (e.g. using the earth as a reference frame, as modern scientists do today) and anthropomorphisms, but never error.

Limitation vs misunderstanding: while the Second Person of the Trinity was incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, He voluntarily limited His omniscience (Phil. 2:5-11). I.e., in His humanity, He did not know all things. But this does *not* entail that He was mistaken about anything He said. All human understanding is finite, but this doesn't entail that every human understanding is errant. Also, what Jesus *did* preach, He proclaimed with absolute authority (Mt. 24:35, 28:18), because He was speaking with the full authority of God the Father (John 5:30, 8:28), who is always omniscient. So if errantists wish to maintain his charge that Christ was mistaken because of His humanity, they must logically charge God the Father with error as well.

Geisler and Nix also show that canonicity was *not* determined by men (e.g. the Church), but determined by God and *recognized* by men.

The sections on the accuracy of transmission and translation should help Christians have confidence that when they read a Bible accurately translated into their own language today, they *are* reading the very Word of God.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Useful Reference Tool for all Christians, February 20, 2008

By 

Erik Raymond "IrishCalvinist.com" (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: General Introduction to the Bible (Hardcover)

Christians should have a good reference book at arm's length on the subject of bibliology (the study of the nature, origin and reliability of the Bible). A General Introduction to the Bible by Geisler and Nix does a great job in filling this need.

The book is not a small book (it weighs in at a healthy 724 pages). However, it is a great resource. In addition to the chapters themselves, there are plenty of charts, photographs, indexes, a glossary, and a well annotated bibliography.

The book is divided up into four major parts,

Part one: Inspiration of the Bible

Part two: Canonization of the Bible

Part three: Transmission of the Bible

Part four: Translation of the Bible

You will find the authors articulating the traditional evangelical view of verbal plenary inspiration. Their chapters on the claims of inspiration in the Old and New Testaments are particularly helpful. They also interact in some detail with the divergent views on revelation and inspiration.

Canonization tends to be a bit of a blind spot for evangelicals. The authors do a terrific job in articulating a God-centered and historically consistent view of canonization. This is obviously quite helpful in light of the contemporary fascination with Gnostic writings. One quote that is particularly helpful:

"Canonicity is determined by God. A book is not inspired because men made it canonical; it is canonical because God inspired it. It is not the antiquity, authenticity, or religious community that makes a book canonical or authoritative. On the contrary, a book is valuable because it is canonical, and not canonical because it is or was considered valuable. Inspiration determines canonization, and confusion at the point not only dulls the edge of authority but it mistakes the effect (a canonical book) for the cause (inspiration of God). Canonicity is determined or established authoritatively by God; it is merely discovered by man." (p. 221)

A General Introduction to the Bible is a great resource to further equip and encourage you as to the ways and means by which God has given us his world.