Customer Reviews

Holman QuickSource Guide to Understanding Jesus (Holman Quicksource Guides)

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The question "Who is Jesus" is of paramount importance. While certainly the Bible is the first and best source of information about the Lord, many Christians find that they need additional resources to understand biblical truths particularly when they are beginning to study the Bible. In addition, there are those who do not know Christ as Savior who find the Bible to be intimidating. I have read a book titled "The Holman QuickSource Guide to Understanding Jesus" that I believe would be a fantastic resource for anyone who wishes to have a more solid grasp of who Jesus is and what impact His life, death, and resurrection has had and is having in the world we live in. The book was written by Dr. Jeremy Royal Howard who obtained a doctorate in Christian Apologetics and Worldview Studies from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jeremy lives with his family near Nashville, Tennessee and works as a editor of Bibles and Reference books for Broadman and Holman Publishing.

First of all, the book is attractively formatted. The text is interspersed with pictures, diagrams, and charts which highlight key concepts from the book. They tend to reinforce what the author has to say rather than detracting or distracting from it. As noted on Amazon.com, the Holman QuickSource Guide series is intended to be "visually-driven, yet content rich". I would certainly agree with that assessment.

Furthermore, the author is a skilled writer who communicates biblical concepts clearly. The book is easy to read but is anything but "light". Jeremy gives a solid overview of the person, nature, and work of Christ covering His Old Testament background, His life on earth, the cross, His teaching, and His followers. The book does not follow the current trend of some Christian publications in writing to the lowest common denominator but rather communicates the truth of who Jesus is effectively in a manner most people will be able to understand. This becomes particularly evident as the author tackles such tough topics as the reliability of the New Testament manuscripts and the social/religious/political climate of the period between the Old and New Testaments.

However, these are not the only tough topics the author tackles. His discusses issues such as the writing of the Pentateuch by Moses. Now, if you freak out easily (cue disco music---"Ahhh, freak out") you could possibly get a little spooked reading the section dealing with this topic. However, because of the easy to understand manner in which the writer explains the issues, most readers will find that they are given information they can use to evaluate the validity of the argument he proposes and come to their own conclusions while being challenged to think through issues they may have never considered. Further, the reader is encouraged with information they can use to defend their faith or for that matter place their faith in Christ if they are not yet a Christian. In fact, I would recommend this book not only as a resource for Christians beginning in their faith or a mature Christian wanting to get a solid overview of biblical truth related to Jesus (perhaps as a resource to teach a bible study), but also for folks who don't know Christ as their Savior who are looking for answers as to who Jesus is. In fact, I can see this being something a Christian might buy for someone they know to introduce that person to Jesus.

Finally, the book doesn't just give a great overview about Jesus' life and ministry, but in fact provides information a Christian could use in defending their faith by answering key questions such as possible discrepancies in biblical accounts to the transmission and translation of the New Testament text, the primary source of information we have about Jesus. Further, the author concludes with a modern day parable placing a person at a crossroads of having to choose how to respond to the truth of what the Bible reveals about Jesus. In the end, that is the most important decision a person will ever make.

In summary, I wholeheartedly recommend this book to Christians of all levels of maturity as well as non-Christians seeking information about Christ. I believe the reader will be encouraged and challenged with this fabulous book.

Understanding Jesus is engaging, enlightening, inspirational and informative. I have read a lot of Christian study material and literature, but in reading this book I found myself understanding concepts that had eluded me previously. The big picture is presented in an understandable manner that is suitable for readers of all levels who desire to learn about Jesus. The book paints a picture that draws you into the depths of the painting as you see the divine and humanity come together as as the culmination of God's rescue plan for man. And like a great painting, you can come back to it and see things you missed because the detail is presented for those who want to dig deeper. The scholarship and research are obvious, but the engaging style in which it is written is the treat! I recommend it to anyone who personally desires to learn more about Jesus or for your friends or family who may have little or no background in the Bible.

This is a wonderful book. It is a concise explanation of who Jesus was, how he fulfilled the prophesies about him and the significance of the social context of what went on during his life. Details you've heard forever come to life in this book. The social norms of the times and how Jesus broke those norms (many times) becomes so relevant in this book! It is an excellent book for those who haven't studied the bible extensively from this context, and perhaps for those who have.

The description of the crucifixion brought me to tears. It was the most real picture of how he suffered for us that I have ever seen (I didn't watch Mel Gibson's movie.) I was so moved. He truly felt like MY savior.

They say you can't judge a book by the cover, but in this case it worked out pretty good. I came across this book in the Christian book section of the store I was in and was instantly drawn to it. The cover was attractive, and the title "Understanding Jesus" peaked my interest. I flipped through the book and was even more impressed with the information, graphics, and other tidbits that it contained.

The writer is very well versed in his knowledge of the subject. There were a couple of times that I though the writer was taking liberties with the scripture, but when I compared it with the scriptures, I found that he was absolutely correct.

This is an excellent book for every Christian, no matter where you are in your faith. It is also a good book for the doubter who is searching for the truth.

This book contained a lot of interesting information; however, it is not only about Jesus. There is a lot of background info about the Jews, the Bible, etc. While I find these topics interesting also, it is not really what I expected from the title of this book. Based on the format, I also expected it to be based more on history and fact. While there is a lot of that, this book was written by a minister, and tells the story from his perspective and includes a lot of "faith-based" ideas. This book would be informative to someone new to the subject, but was not the kind of evidence and "witness-based" biography I was hoping for.

Michael Travis Jasper, author of the novel "To Be Chosen"