Fee, Gordon D. and Douglas Stuart.  How to Read the Bible Book by Book:  A Guided Tour.  Grand Rapids:  Zondervan, 2002.  ISBN:  0-310-21118-2 (Paperback).  444 pages.

 

This volume is in many ways a companion to Fee & Stuart’s How to Read the Bible for All its Worth [or see my review], but it can be used separately.  It provides some of the information that would be included in introductory remarks and outline notes in a study Bible or in a Bible handbook.  It tends to lack the detail of notes in a study Bible, and it does not include many of the pictures, maps and other study aids of a Bible handbook, but it makes up for this in greater detail in the introduction, special notes on reading particular books based on the literature they contain and their background, and general tours of books and sections of the canon.

 

Each book includes the following sections:

 

1.  Orienting Data

2.  Overview

3.  Specific Advice

4.  A Walk through _______

 

Those who have read and appreciated “How to Read the Bible for All its Worth” will certainly appreciate the formatting and the type of information provided as it is based on the approach to study taught in that work.  I would recommend using the two books together if you plan to begin a systematic study of the Bible.  The introductions are sufficiently detailed for their purpose and the walkthroughs will certainly help follow the emphases and the arguments of each book.

 

Where I would criticize this book is that it does not reference or interact with many of the critical issues with the various books.  Often even conservative introductions deal with the arguments pro and con for the Deutero-Isaiah hypothesis, or mention source theories in the Pentateuch.  I would imagine that the authors consider this a feature, reducing the complexity of a book that could become excessively complex.  My concern would be that people are unprepared to step from this book to a work such as the Oxford Study Bible (REB) or something similar which does take these into account, and may even take such critical concerns for granted.  I think it would be extremely valuable if, especially in books intended for a popular audience, the extremes in this controversy would acknowledge one another’s positions just enough to facilitate conversation.

 

Since there are relatively few options for getting a balanced picture in a single handbook, I would recommend using this work alongside a study Bible such as those I’ve noted above.  I think it would be a particularly good match to the Learning Bible (CEV) from the American Bible Society.  The articles, pictures and maps there would complement this guide very effectively.