This book is a useful tool for study of the Bible. And it makes "The Story" seem like a betrayal of The Bible. Others might applaud the removal of the book of James with its insistence that faith must be lived out in righteous action (also cut is the call to bear fruit in John 15). Some would commend the near absence of calls for social justice. Of course some people would celebrate the cuts. One wouldn't see the chaos that made the Israelite tribes long for a king. One would never guess from "The Story" that the prophets denounced anything other than idolatry or that anyone but Paul wrote letters to early Christians. No call from Jesus to love one another (though most of John 13 is included) or to love our enemies (most of the ethical content of the Sermon on the Mount is cut). No prophetic denunciation of oppression of the weak by the powerful or of the poor by the rich. No call in the Law to be mindful of widows, orphans, and strangers in the land. Also gone are almost all calls for God's people to take care of one another. And so I was more struck by what was left out than what was kept. I've led groups through "The Bible in 90 Days" (also by Zondervan). I've read the entire bible in various translations several times. Of course a lot would have to be cut, but even a third of the bible is a lot of material and an amazing chronicle of God's interaction with people over a couple thousand years. Make an abridged Bible that emphasized the main story from creation to end of time and could be read as a novel. Each story in these 31 chapters reveals the God of grace-the God who speaks the God who acts the God who listens the God whose love for his people culminated in his sacrifice of Jesus, his only Son, to atone for the sins of humanity.” “This book tells the grandest, most compelling story of all time: the story of a true God who loves his children, who established for them a way of salvation and provided a route to eternity. And like any good story, The Story is filled with intrigue, drama, conflict, romance, and redemption and this story’s true! Using the clear, accessible text of the NIV Bible, it allows the stories, poems, and teachings of the Bible to read like a novel. Condensed into 31 accessible chapters, The Story sweeps you into the unfolding progression of Bible characters and events from Genesis to Revelation. That is what The Story is all about: the story of the Bible, God’s great love affair with humanity. God goes to great lengths to rescue lost and hurting people. People of all ages will be swept up in the story of God’s love and God’s plan for their lives. As The Story brings the Bible to life, the broad scope of God’s message will penetrate hearts. Simple, accessible, and easy to use, churches are finding The Story a powerful way to engage their people in Bible reading like never before. For those intimidated or overwhelmed by the unabridged Bible, The Story helps people understand God’s Word more fully and engage with it more easily. There are no verse references, and Scripture segments are seamlessly woven together with transition text into a single grand narrative. The Story is an abridged, chronological Bible that reads like a novel.
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