I'm super passionate about Bible literacy because I feel like it's often a neglected aspect of Christian education in the home and at church. A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better is exactly what the title says it's going to be. It's a slim reference full of helpful guidance to make your time reading the Bible more fruitful. I've been reading the CSB Day-By-Day Chronological Bible with daily reading notes from the author of this book and they've been insightful, just like this short guide. Very approachable.

"A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better" by George H. Guthrie is a valuable compass for anyone looking to navigate the vast landscape of the Bible with greater understanding and insight. The book's central message is to equip readers with practical tools and strategies to engage with the Bible in a more meaningful way. Guthrie's thesis revolves around the idea that the Bible is a unified story with diverse literary genres, and by understanding its context, structure, and key themes, readers can uncover its rich layers of wisdom and truth.

As I delved into this guide, I was pleasantly surprised by how approachable and helpful it is. Guthrie breaks down complex concepts, like biblical genres and historical context, into easy-to-digest explanations. One of the key takeaways for me was the importance of considering the cultural and historical background of the passages I'm reading. Understanding the context in which the books of the Bible were written greatly enhanced my comprehension and appreciation of their messages. Additionally, the book's emphasis on recognizing the overarching themes and narratives woven throughout the Bible provided a new lens through which to view familiar stories.

This book is a must-read for anyone who wants to get more out of their Bible reading. Whether you're new to studying the Bible or have been doing it for years, Guthrie's insights can help you read with fresh eyes and a deeper understanding. If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the complexity of the Bible or wondered how to connect its various parts, this guide is an excellent resource. It's like having a friendly and knowledgeable companion to journey through the Bible alongside you, offering guidance and illuminating the treasures within its pages. "A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better" has the power to transform your reading experience and draw you into a more intimate encounter with the timeless truths found in the Scriptures.

A Short Guide to Reading the Bible starts with, “THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT WORDS.” This short book has a compelling argument for why reading the Bible is so important and how to go about making it a priority in your life.

This book is only six chapters and less than two hundred pages. It has practice points and discussion questions. Clearly, this is not just a book to be read cover to cover, but a guide to help the reader do what the book title states.

The author makes the case for why studying and knowing the bible is so very important. We all know this, but the author highlights that the Bible is God’s world and should be used as a foundation for life itself.

Various surveys in different cultures love the past half century, have determined that the number one predictor of a person’s spiritual health is the regular practice of personal Bible reading.

George H. Guthrie, A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better
The author points the reader to read the Bible to cultivate a relationship with God and all the ways God’s word can feed the soul. He stresses the importance of hearing the words the Bible is telling us. By focusing on how to hear God’s word considering context, author, and first intended audience.

The author addresses the importance of translations and how we should make use of them as opposed to being confused by them. He points out the tools we have available to us to make understanding the Bible easier.

All of this is to stress that we cannot use church leaders as our only guide to learning from God’s word.

My favorite part of this book was reading “An Overview of the Story” in Chapter 5. In this section, the author spells out the Bible in three grand “acts”. He sums up the Bible and entices the reader with a summary of the Bible.

This book would make a great gift for a new Christian, or someone that is overwhelmed with how to get into the word. This book would also be a great study for small groups.

I want to thank the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this advance copy. This is a good basic primer of why to read the Bible and how to get started. It would be a good place to a new believer to begin this discipline. It was less helpful for longer believers and the authors constant self-promotion (Buy my other books...) was off-putting. It was ok, but not stellar.

The fact is that there are a lot of professing Christians in the world today that are biblically illiterate. Many, if not most, Christians just aren’t reading their Bibles. I believe one of the reasons this is the case is because the Bible can feel like a beast to tackle. George S. Guthrie’s book is a wonderful tool to help those who need guidance and encouragement to delve into the Word, whether personally or in a group setting.

Understanding God’s Word

"Dear Bibliophilos, words are more powerful than a nuclear bomb, for words move the world!"

In the above sentence, George Guthrie uses the word "Bibliophilos", which means, “Friend of the Book.” I pray that you, as myself, are friends of the Word seeking to obtain more understanding of God's Word. In this book, the author states that no one knows how to wield words for good like God!

We are continually seeking answers, fellowshiping with others, and praying for miracles on our journey to fully understand God’s Word. George states that in Hebrew 11:3 that "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made from things that are not visible". He demonstrates God’s spoken Word throughout the bible.

He further states that there is no more important task in life than hearing from God and trusting him on the basis of his Word, and below are the six things he discussed in this book:
1. Motivation and spiritual condition as foundational for reading Scripture
2. How to understand the messages of Scripture
3. How to read the Bible in community with others
4. How to read for personal transformation
5. How to enter the grand story of Scripture
6. How to access great tools for better Bible reading

By reading this book, I personally, enjoyed all the scriptures and practice exercises. This book is great, when read in a group or with someone else. I plan on finishing it with members of my bible study group.

Christians believe in the Bible. They declare it in their creeds. They study it in small groups. Many would spend their devotional time with an open Bible. Some would also be inspired to go to Bible School. For the layperson, while the spirit is willing, the know-how is weak. Many of us can read but not many know how to appreciate the different genres, interpretive methods, or basic reading skills. God's Word is life-giving but do we know how to receive this life-giving Word? Whatever it is, all if not most of us would agree on one thing: Whatever our stage of expertise, we all need to take our Bible reading to the next level. This short book helps us to do just that. Author and professor George Guthrie is a well-known teacher of the Bible. Having been involved in several Bible translations, he knows the nuances and skills necessary to read the Bible well. He starts off the book with an invitation to consider and ponder the power of words. Subtly, he hints at the following: If words can be such powerful tools to move the human heart, what about God's Word? Surely, that would move not only human hearts but inspire them to do greater things that no ordinary mortal being could do. Guthrie focuses on:

1) Spiritual Foundations for Reading Scripture
2) Learning how to read the Word with understanding
3) Reading the Bible in the community
4) Reading the Bible for Personal Transformation
5) Learning the grand story of Scripture
6) Learning to use the various tools to improve Bible reading

Guthrie reminds readers that the way to understanding the Bible begins not with the brain but with the heart. What are our motivations? Why do we want to read the Word of God? Are we prepared to be shaped by the Word? If our motivation is positive, the Word of God becomes a lamp of guidance, a sword of correction, a rock of stability, a delightful treat like honey, etc. In fact, the Word can do spiritual open-heart surgery on us. From the heart, we go to the ears to be trained the hear the Word. Learning to listen well is the art of understanding. We are warned of the dangers of having eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Spiritual listening requires us to practice contextual reading as well as getting a good translation. Guthrie gives us a list of different contexts and how to choose from the different kinds of translations available to us. Next, we read with eyes of awareness to the different genres. Guthrie shows us the uniqueness of different genres in both the Old and New Testaments. The type of literature we read determines the way we interpret them. Guthrie then shows us the importance to enter the story of the Bible and how it informs our stories at a personal level. He shows us three grand acts of Scripture that we can participate in God's Plan, Covenant, and Will. The final chapters of the book list some valuable tools we can use to further study the Bible.

My Thoughts
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This is one of the most readable primers on how to read the Bible. The instructions are clear and easily understood. As a guide, there are several things readers can benefit from. For the Community, this book is a resource for teachers, preachers, and facilitators to use in basic Bible learning and understanding. Sometimes, when we ask people to simply "read the Bible," we can get stumped by the amount of material to cover. From the 66 books, where do we start? This might discourage some readers from even starting to read the Bible. With this primer, we can start reading systematically and more importantly, intentionally. First things first, Guthrie is right in beginning with the heart. Attitude determines the altitude of understanding. Motivation drives the determination to read the Word, no matter how complex or difficult the Word might be to us. If the heart is not in the right place, understanding would be limited. If the heart is open and humble, the Holy Spirit illuminates our understanding.

If I have any critique, it would be the lack of references to online material. With the pervasiveness of the Internet and the rise of online resources, we need help in discerning the use of such online materials. Questions remain with regard to what kinds of websites we can trust. Perhaps, the author could include an appendix that lists down some web resources, complete with their history, background, strengths and weaknesses. This need I believe will continue to grow exponentially.

Finally, let this book be a call for us to actually read the Bible. Learning techniques and reading strategies alone do not necessarily lead to people reading the Bible. The danger in learning the techniques and methods is that these things can sometimes become an end in themselves. That is why reading the Bible well begins with the heart. A heart that loves to read and study the Word will not easily fall prey to the tools and devices. Use this book in community settings as well as for personal devotion.

George H. Guthrie, author of Read the Bible for Life, is the Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union University in Jackson, Tennessee. He helped establish and is now a Senior Fellow at Union’s Ryan Center for Biblical Studies, which is committed to promoting sound Bible reading, study, and interpretation at the grassroots level of the church. Guthrie has also participated in developing or revising several popular Bible translations including the HCSB, English Standard Version, and New Living Translation.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade
This book has been provided courtesy of B and H Publishing and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

First sentence: This is a book about words. Words have already shaped your life a great deal, putting things in motion, setting trajectories for your relationships, work, interests, commitments, and hopes. Words have hurt or healed you, delighted or devastated you, instructed and informed you. In short, words have played a large role in defining who you are today.

George H. Guthrie has written a handful of books about the Bible--namely how to read the Bible. This one strives to be short(er) and (more) concise. His mission (obviously) is to get his readers to read the Bible (the VERY WORD OF GOD) better. Guthrie writes, "If our purpose in life is to live for him and to his glory, and the Scriptures shape us for his mission, then God's Word provides us with a means to that very desirable end...The Scriptures play a vital role in us fulfilling our purpose in the world. Consequently, there is no more important task in life than hearing from God and trusting him on the basis of his Word... Everything else in our lives is shaped by whether or not we are living out of a life grounded in the Word of God, the Bible. We need to read it and read it better than we ever have before, so that we can live it well."

Each chapter seeks to help believers read the Bible better. It is essential, in Guthrie's opinion (and my own) for believers to live in the Word. His chapters cover a variety of topics all working together to help believers read the Word better. Topics include motivation and spiritual condition, how to better understand the message of Scriptures (including picking a translation), how to read the Bible with others, how to read for personal transformation, the big picture of the Bible, Bible reading plans, and selecting useful tools or resources for study.

I love that first and foremost he makes this a heart issue. I think it is so easy to forget this. Our attitude is not something that we can just shrug off. It doesn't matter if my heart is open or closed--or distracted or engaged--so long as I check Bible reading off my list. That's not how it works. The Word of God is powerful and life-giving. It is food for our souls. Spending time in the Word should strengthen, encourage, convict, transform. It should be a joyous meeting of our souls with God.

I appreciated this one. At times--and I am not saying I could approach this topic any better--it felt a little like product placement. Read these books [a good many but definitely not all seemed to be published by his publisher]. I don't know a way around this. I don't. But overall, I greatly appreciated it and would recommend it.

Well-written and easy to read guide with just six chapters on how to read the Bible better. Some salient points to help someone who wants to dive deeper into the Word of God. I will admit to being somewhat disappointed that there is not more mention of meditating and memorizing.

I loved the recommendations on what study bibles or other resources to buy to help us understand more. Will go back and make a note on those.

4 stars from me.

In a time of so many biblically illiterate Christians, A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better by George Guthrie is a gift to readers. Surely the Bible is what readers should focus on but this guide will help with truths, questions, and practical steps. This book would be an excellent gift for others. You could even use it for a group study/conversation.

*I received a digital ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better by George Guthrie. Book review.

A timely book for a generation of word users. As we write and speak words across social media, into the phone in the palm of our hand, or with a short video clip- do our words look more like the truth of God’s Word? Or do they look like the words of the world? A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better by George Guthrie teaches us to mind our words and steward them as citizens of a holy kingdom.

But to mind our words, we need to know the Word of the Lord. Opening our Bible and reading it for life- is how we steward the Word of God. This should be a regular meal, for spiritual fulness and growth. In my opinion if we feed on the words of the world- news, celebrities, athletes, politicians, social media, and influencers- we are feeding upon food that poisons the soul. When we feed on the Bible, we look to the heart of God, hear His words, learn His values, enter His story, and find the fullness of love.

In each chapter from A Short Guide to Reading the Bible Better by George Guthrie, readers find satisfaction within the truths of Scripture. Discussion questions are included with each chapter. Also included are practice steps for fruitful Bible reading. A very helpful book for new or advanced Bible readers! This book would be excellent for small group Bible study and conversation.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy of this book from Netgalley.