On the Old Testament (Book You'll Actually Read) [Paperback]

Mark Driscoll (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 2008 | Series: Book You'll Actually Read

Packed with big truth, this little book on the Old Testament can be read in roughly one hour, making it a book you'll actually read. Mark Driscoll, one of America's most influential pastors, answers the nine most common questions about the Old Testament-questions about authorship, what Jesus says about the Old Testament, how the Old Testament books were chosen as Scripture, and more-and gives an overview of the various kinds of Old Testament literature. Two appendices include a comprehensive list of further resources and a checklist for reading through the entire Old Testament.

On the Old Testament is part of a series of inexpensive and accessible books that give clear, biblical answers to difficult theological questions and controversies. Through this series readers will get a solid and simple introduction to the Bible by investing just a little time.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Mark has a gift of taking weighty ideas and expressing them in clear and lively language."
—Bruce A. Ware, Professor of Christian Theology, The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"Serious, informed, reverent, but not technical discussions of great themes."
—D. A. Carson, Research Professor of New Testament, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

"Simply and superbly written! Mark Driscoll has given us tools that can be placed in the hands of a skeptic or seeker, a new believer or mature saint."
—Daniel L. Akin, President, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary

"These accessible books will encourage believers to see that theology is not an afterthought in the mission of God and the life of his church."
—Ed Stetzer, President, LifeWay Research; author, Subversive Kingdom

"These books are well worth an hour of your time."
—Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor, LifeChurch.tv; author, WEIRD: Because Normal Isn't Working

About the Author

MARK DRISCOLL is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, one of the fastest-growing churches in America. He leads the Acts 29 Church Planting Network and the Resurgence Missional Theology Cooperative. The Church Report has recognized him as the eighth most influential pastor in America. He is the author of several books, including Crossway's Vintage Jesus.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: Crossway (June 9, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 143350135X
• ISBN-13: 978-1433501357
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 5.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #78,745 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Pastor Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington and is one of the world's most-downloaded and quoted pastors. His audience--fans and critics alike--spans the theological and cultural left and right. He was also named one of the "25 Most Influential Pastors of the Past 25 Years" by Preaching magazine, and his sermons are consistently #1 on iTunes each week for Religion & Spirituality with over 10 million of downloads each year.

Pastor Mark received a B.A. in Speech Communication from the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication at Washington State University, and he holds a masters degree in Exegetical Theology from Western Seminary in Portland, Oregon. He is the author of fifteen books.

In 1996, at the age of twenty-five, Pastor Mark and his wife, Grace, with the vision to make disciples of Jesus and plant churches, started a small Bible study at their home in Seattle, which at the time was the least churched city in America. Since that time, by God's grace, the church has exploded with upwards of nineteen thousand people meeting across thirteen locations in four states (Washington, Oregon, California, and New Mexico). Mars Hill has been recognized as the 54th largest, 30th fastest-growing, and 2nd most-innovative church in America by Outreach magazine.

Pastor Mark is the co-founder of the Acts 29 Network, which has planted over 400 churches in the US, in addition to thirteen other nations. He founded the Resurgence, which receives close to six million visits annually and services Christian leaders through books, blogs, conferences, and classes. And he is co-founder of Churches Helping Churches with Pastor James MacDonald, which raised over $2.7 million to help rebuild churches in Haiti and empower them minister and provide aide to the Haitian community, and helped deliver $1.7 million in medical supplies to the devastated country.

With a skillful mix of bold presentation, clear biblical teaching, and compassion for those who are hurting the most--in particular, women who are victims of sexual and physical abuse and assault--Driscoll has taken biblical Christianity into cultural corners previously unexplored by evangelicals. In the same year that he spoke at a Gospel Coalition conference with notable contemporary theologians like John Piper and Tim Keller, he also discussed biblical sexuality as a guest on Loveline with Dr. Drew, was featured on Nightline, and preached for Rick Warren at Saddleback Community Church.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Intorduction to the Old Testament August 23, 2008

By Shaun Tabatt VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

The pace of modern life leaves many of us feeling that we don't have very much available time. When it comes to learning more about the Bible and in this case the Old Testament, many people have good intentions, but often feel intimidated by the subject matter or bound by their lack of available time. If this sounds like you, then I'd highly recommend this small book. At only 96 pages, you will be able to finish reading it (minus the appendixes) in little more than an hour.

Mark's focus in this book is to provide the reader with a succinct introduction to the entire Old Testament that will both encourage and inspire you to read it for yourself. Many readers will relate to the stories Mark recounts in the introduction about his early experiences with reading the Old Testament and how this book grew out of the many questions he has answered on the subject during his time in ministry. In chapter 1, following a brief introduction to the Bible as a whole, Mark focuses on 9 common questions he has been asked about the Old Testament. They are as follows:

1. Who wrote the Old Testament?
2. What does the Old Testament say about the Old Testament?
3. What does the New Testament say about the Old Testament?
4. What does Jesus say about the Old Testament?
5. How were the Old Testament books chosen as scripture?
6. What is the central message of the Old Testament?
7. How did we get the Old Testament in English?
8. Why are there different Bible translations?
9. How can I get the most out of the Old Testament?

Chapter 2 is concerned with how somebody might go about reading the Old Testament. In this chapter, Mark breaks down the various kinds of literature found in the Old Testament. He also gives a short overview of the theme and purpose of each Old Testament book.

The book closes with 2 appendixes. Appendix 1 talks about the importance of in-depth Bible study and makes many great resource suggestions for building your own theological library. Appendix 2 has a Bible reading checklist that the reader can use to keep track of their progress in reading through the Old Testament.

Let me conclude by saying that this great little book covers a lot of ground in less than 100 pages. Non-believers, new Christians, and even seasoned Christians will benefit from reading this book. Mark's writing style is engaging and clear, making this topic accessible for any reader of any experience level with the Old Testament. The price point also makes this a reasonable resource to share your friends and family.

Mark Driscoll is the founding pastor of Mars Hill church [www.marshillchurch.org] in Seattle. He is also co-founder and president of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network [www.acts29network.org]. Mark has penned an ever-growing list of books including: A book you'll actually read series, Vintage Jesus, Death by Love (Sept. 30, 2008), and others. Mark is married to his high school sweetheart Grace. They have been blessed with 5 children.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Short, introductory, but has a great and useful appendix February 14, 2009

By Brett D. McLaughlin

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an odd book to review. The body is only 75 pages, and consists of answers to 9 commonly asked Old Testament questions, along with a short review of each of the 39 Old Testament books. If I'd never read the Old Testament, this would have probably been more enjoyable and valuable than it was.

What really saved the value of this book for me was the appendix, where Driscoll gives a ton of really helpful advice on building an effective theological library. Driscoll is a hardcore, really deep Bible teacher, and so his recommendations go beyond "Buy every Andy Stanley book there is" and other useful, but simplistic, approaches. You could probably buy every book he lists and be miles ahead of many seminary students, and actually have some practical knowledge, too (scary, I know).

If you want a super-short primer for the Old Testament, this is great. If you're looking for Bible-style notes with verse counts, or in-depth treatments, you may be disappointed.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great short starter... September 26, 2008

By Seth McBee

Format:Paperback

This is the first book in the series of small books from Mark Driscoll titled, "A book you'll actually read..." This book is for the purpose of a beginner trying to understand the Old Testament and to do it in roughly an hour of reading. This is obviously just a starter book to get a quick understanding of some important topics that discuss the background of the Old Testament.

The book is broken up in three parts and actually covers a lot of material, not exhaustively, but still provides a Reformed understanding of the Old Testament. The three parts are:

I. Answers to Nine Common Questions about the Old Testament

Who wrote the Old Testament?
What does the Old Testament say about the Old Testament?
What does the New Testament say about the Old Testament?
What does Jesus say about the Old Testament?
How were the Old Testament books chosen as Scripture?
What is the central message of the Old Testament?
How did we get the Old Testament in English?
Why are there different Bible translations?

II. How to Read the Old Testament

In this section Pastor Driscoll gives a quick, like two or three sentence quick, synopsis of every book in the Old Testament. He spends a little more time on discussing the Pentateuch overall and the overall understanding of Prophets and what they were used for. My only "gripe" would be that he leaned more on the "Inward testimony of the Holy Spirit" to discern false prophets. I think this can be very dangerous if this is the way that we test them. He did give other ways, but by ending as this being the way we can do this today, left me scratching my head how this would transfer to a new Christian.

III. Appendix 1: Building a Theological Library

This is a great resource. Driscoll gives a clear and distinct way to build a library for the student of Scripture. He gives the book, the title, and usually why it is an outstanding resource. This is actually worth getting the book alone.

Buy the book, read it, and then give it to a new Christian or someone looking into reading the Bible. Well worth it and they will, as the title suggests, actually read it. Highly Recommended.