Sample chapter
FOREWORD
Because of the sheer volume of material in this book, three vital questions need to be answered concerning the why, who, and what of its contents.
I. The why of the book. The roots of this volume can be traced back to my days at Dallas Theological Seminary in the late fifties. During that time God placed in my heart a love for his Word that I had never known before. It was then I began building my library in earnest, always looking for that book, or books which would give me the most Bible information in the least amount of time. In fact, I sought for a book that might in itself provide me with a basic overall scriptural summary. Finding none, I entertained the possibility of someday attempting to author such a book. In brief, this book is my best effort to supply that need. My goal has been to publish an all-inclusive one-volume concise summary of basic Bible information. The two key words to be noted here are concise and summary. Thus, my supreme objective is to make available in abbreviated form to our "Now Generation" a complete Bible education in a single book. The reader alone will determine whether I have accomplished this.
II. The who of the book. I have kept in mind four special groups of individuals while preparing this book. It is intended for:
A. Pastors, attempting to provide for their preaching purposes a rapid, accurate, and workable outline analysis of those great scriptural facts they learned in college and seminary. In some cases this book may be a substitute for the formal education a pastor did not receive.
B. Sunday school teachers, offering to them quick fingertip scriptural facts geared for effective teaching purposes.
C. High school and college groups, presenting a "no-nonsense" historical, scientific, and theological summary of God's timeless Book for their uncertain age.
D. Bible lovers everywhere, supporting their already-held convictions that the Bible is still the most exciting, practical, and inspirational Book ever written!
III. The what of the book. How does one go about this task? What methods are employed in the manuscript? It will be noted that this book consists of two general divisions. The first division is entitled Main Curriculum, and the second division is called Supporting Curriculum.
I. MAIN CURRICULUM
There are two basic methods of Bible study absolutely vital if one is to truly acquire and apply the great truths within God's Word. The first of these is the chronological method, and the second is the theological approach.
A. The chronological method. This consists of informative and inspirational paragraph outlines of the twelve main chronological stages of Bible history from Genesis through
Revelation. These stages are:
1. The Creation Stage: Genesis 1-11
2. The Patriarchal Stage: Genesis 12-50; Job
3. The Exodus Stage: Exodus; Leviticus; Numbers; Deuteronomy
4. The Conquest Stage: Joshua
5. The Judges Stage; Judges; Ruth; 1 Samuel 1-7
6. The United Kingdom Stage: 1 Samuel 8-31; 2 Samuel; 1 Kings 1-11; 1 Chronicles; 2 Chronicles 1-9; Psalms; Song of Solomon; Proverbs; Ecclesiastes
7. The Chaotic Kingdom Stage: 1 Kings 12-22; 2 Kings 1-25; 2 Chronicles 10-36; Jonah; Amos; Hosea; Joel; Obadiah; Nahum; Isaiah; Micah; Habakkuk; Zephaniah; Jeremiah; Lamentations
8. The Captivity Stage: Ezekiel; Daniel
9. The Return Stage: Ezra; Esther; Nehemiah; Haggai; Zechariah; Malachi
10. The Gospel Stage: Matthew; Mark; Luke; John
11. The Early Church Stage: Acts
12. The Epistle Stage: Remaining books in the New Testament
These then are the twelve basic stages in the Book of Ages. The Old Testament has nine stages and the New Testament has three. The reader will find many helpful charts throughout the Old Testament and New Testament sections.
B. The theological method. This includes an analytical study of twelve major doctrinal themes. These are:
1. The doctrine of the Trinity
2. The doctrine of the Father
3. The doctrine of the Son
4. The doctrine of the Holy Spirit
5. The doctrine of man
6. The doctrine of the Church
7. The doctrine of sin
8. The doctrine of salvation
9. The doctrine of Satan
10. The doctrine of angels
11. The doctrine of the Bible
12. The doctrine of prophecy
II. SUPPORTING CURRICULUM
To undergird and amplify the two above methods in the main curriculum, the following supporting phases of Bible study are offered.
A. A topical summary of the Bible. This includes a summary list of approximately 135 biblical topics. A sample of these topics would feature:
1. All the cities mentioned in the Bible
2. All the recorded conversions in the Bible
3. All the miracles in the Bible
4. All the occupations in the Bible
5. All the parables in the Bible
6. All the prophecies in the Bible, etc.
B. Historical study summaries:
1. A historical summary of the nine most important Old and New Testament peoples. These are:
a. The Canaanites
b. The Sumerians
c. The Philistines
d. The Egyptians
e. The Babylonians
f. The Assyrians
g. The Persians h. The Greeks
i. The Romans
2. A listing*in related categories of the 613 Old Testament commands.
3. A historical summary of the most important archaeological discoveries.
4. A summary of the nation Israel's history from the destruction of the second Temple in September A.D. 70, to the Yom Kippur War in October 1973. These nineteen centuries can be historically divided into ten main periods. These are:
a. The Roman Period (A.D. 70-325)
b. The Byzantine Period (325-614)
c. The Persian Period (614-634)
d. The Arab Period (634-1072)
e. The Seljuk Period (1072-1099)
f. The Crusaders Period (1099-1291)
g. The Mamluk Period (1291-1517)
h. The Turkish (Ottoman) Period (1517-1917) i. The British Period (1917-1948) j. The Independent Period (1948-present day)
5. A listing in related categories of the 300 most important Old Testament and New Testament individuals.
6. A complete cross reference of every single Old Testament verse quoted in the New Testament.
7. Holy Land Statistics.