The Unfolding Drama of the Bible: Fourth Edition

It is a great book. I would recommend this book to everyone who is preaching God’s word. It is a great help.

I first read the 1957 edition of this book after it was handed to me by a Presbyterian campus pastor. After reading Anderson's book, the disorganized hodgepodge of biblical passages absorbed from years of Sunday school and vacation Bible school suddenly snapped into place as an organized and coherent whole. Half a century later (and after reading many biblical theology books), the new edition still seems as fresh, clear, and helpful as my first experience with the book. N. T. Wright would, I think, agree with Anderson about the over-arching biblical narrative. However, James Kugel ("How to Read the Bible"--an excellent book in my opinion) in an online appendix explicitly disagrees with Anderson's approach. This probably reflects irreconcilable differences in Jewish and Christian approaches to the Bible.The fourth edition of this book has an updated bibliography (references as late as 2003) although most seem to be 1 to 3 decades older. The short chapter "Reading the Bible in the Twenty-first Century" is very helpful.This book would be useful to persons new to Christianity, to high-school youth, or to persons from conservative Christian backgrounds who are joining more moderate churches after a long period away from the church. Persons who subscribe to the Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy will probably be uncomfortable with portions of this book. The book is written for persons whose educational background ranges from high-school juniors to college graduates.

This book was part of a course I took and it’s a quality reference. It isn’t meaty by any means (you can read it in a weekend) and heavily focuses on the Old Testament. The author hits a lot of fundamental points and remains objective throughout.I bought this brand new and it was packed in a way that it wasn’t damaged.

This Bible study guide has been out for quite awhile with updated edition. I have used it with several groups over the years and have found Anderson's approach to understanding the Bible very enlightening and useful in helping people to explore a complex book. I suggest that if leading a study group you take more time than just eight sessions.

Super service. The book is in excellent condition.Thanks

I just taught a class for lay people who are in leadership positions in their churches. Their experience was that the book was overly dry and hard to read. My concern is that it doesn't separate Wisdom literature, Law books, Psalms, Gospels and Epistles, for example. You don't get a through overview of the "unfolding drama" of the Bible really, thus 2 stars. As far as books that make this attempt, it is a starting place and I would recommend Bible teachers at least read it to see if they find it useful.

Very deep. The questions took too much reasearch for the average Bible Study student and looked way beyong our late age interests and capabilities. We all were rather numb by the time we finished the study, but we did finish it and gained some insight of the Bible as a complete unending story. Just ignored most of the written questions.

good book

とてもよい本だと思います。旧約聖書学の教科書として英語圏で最も広く使われてきたといわれる本"Understanding the Old Testament"の著者であったAnderson教授による聖書入門です。とかく読み方が断片的になりがちだったり、聖書の「木を見て森を見ない」という人のために、聖書を８つの「幕」からなるドラマとして味わいながらその主な内容を深くほりさげ、21世紀を生きる私たちにとっての意味を示しています。英語学習者や全くの初心者には英語や設問がやや難しいかもしれませんが、それでも短いページ数で聖書全体の骨組みを簡潔にとらえており、しかも信頼できる内容だと思います。なお、本文に引用されている英語聖書には、New Revised Standard Version(NRSV)が使われています。1958年に『永遠のドラマ　新しい聖書の学び方』という題でこの本（当時の版）の日本語訳が出たことがありました。それから50年以上を経た今、この本の日本語訳が新たに出てほしいと思います。違う著者(Craig Bartholomew & Michael Goheen)による類書で、The Drama of Scripture:Finding our place in the biblical storyという本があります。この本と比較して読んでみると面白いかもしれません。