Our Daily Bread Jesus Sourcebook

George Knight has put together a helpful dictionary on the life of Christ. Given its size (272 pages), the book probably is better aimed at the lay audience than the scholar. However, it will have a place on this pastor's bookshelf. Besides having standard dictionary entries, the book also has collected various entries into tables of connected topics. A table on page 190 collects entries related to the "Various Teachings of Jesus". Similarly, entries drawn from "The Sermon On The Mount" are collected together on page 170 (see the example below).

This is in addition to a separate entry on "The Sermon on the Mount" found on page 161. There are approximately 25 of these summaries scattered throughout the book and summed up in the "Introduction" with page numbers (missing from my arc) planned for the completed book. Though not a scholarly edition, it is based on scholarly work done by others. And because of that, this book would make a valuable edition to the layman's, the pastor's, and the church's library.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

A great book for searchers. This book has multiple summaries throughout they not only summarize the teachings but gives a great diving board for more in depth study. Lots of helps for lesson preparation. Enjoy

An excellent addition to your library to aid in Bible study. Easy to use with much helpful information. This book would be great for a person who is just learning to study the Bible, as well as for someone who has studied for many years.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

There are many people who, while they have heard of Jesus, don’t really understand who He is or what He’s done for us. Our Daily Bread Jesus Sourcebook is another place to find more information about our Savior. It’s by no means a replacement for the Bible, it’s simply another source to help you find what you’re looking for, as well as understand the things you read better. Through this book, you’ll learn more about Jesus’s life and ministry through the parables He told, the miracles He performed, the people he encountered and how He touched their lives, the many names and titles that He’s known for—each one describing an aspect of who He is—and the principles He taught.

The author’s goal in writing this was to give those studying the Bible a quick and easy way to locate information about Jesus’s life and ministry. To this end, he included a very extensive cross-referencing system. So, if you are trying to understand what Jesus had to say about being “born again “, you’d start by looking up “born again”, which would give you a brief description of the concept and list the verses you can find it before suggesting that you look up Nicodemus, next. And that’s not the only avenue of research that would lead you to Nicodemus. New birth would also direct you there. I found the entries to be very straight forward and easy to understand. I particularly liked how the entries suggest other topics to look at, to give you an even better understanding. In making things so simple to understand, the author not only makes your Bible studies more efficient, but also encourages you to explore the Gospels even more. Like I said, this is definitely not a replacement for the Bible, as there has never been, nor ever will be a replacement. But, this would make an excellent addition to your Christian resource library.

Last year, I was able to travel to the Holy Lands and see so many of the things in the bible. I found this book to be helpful in some of the descriptions and definitions that I was unsure about. Some of the things were a little different than I learned while touring the Holy Lands, but most was spot on. Everything is left to human translation, so I am not holding it against the author. The one thing that I had hoped for was photos, and in the ebook there were none. Very disappointing.

A worthwhile reference book

Published by Discovery House Publishers, George W. Knight presents a reference book about the life and ministry of Jesus, entitled "Our Daily Bread Jesus Sourcebook". According to him the Our Daily Bread Jesus Sourcebook does not replace the true sourcebook about Jesus which is the four gospels in the New Testament of the Bible. His goal is to make it easier to find a particular incident, detail, or quotation from the ministry of Jesus.
I received an electronic copy from the publisher through NetGalley, but I also downloaded the digital Kindle sample from Amazon.com because the advance reader copy does not contain page numbers.
The information in the book is arranged from A to Z. Bible references help to find the stories in the Bible. Some Bible references in the Kindle version are even linked to Biblegateway.com. The book also provides an overview list of Jesus' parables and miracles since the author considers them an important part of Jesus' ministry. Nearly 300 brief articles about Jesus' life and ministry (people, places, names and titles, teachings, key events) are presented in the book. Furthermore, there is an extensive cross-reference system (in the Kindle version the links takes the reader directly to the referenced article).
The topical index system in the text consists of "sidebars" on major subjects of Jesus' life. The list of the subjects is given in the introduction of the book, but I question why this list was not included after the table of contents in order that it could be found more easily. The "sidebars" show up as gray text in the electronic advance reader copy and as "normal" text in the Kindle sample, so it cannot be evaluated how they look in the printed copy.
I recommend the Our Daily Bread Jesus Sourcebook as a valuable resource to lay people, pastors, elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, ... but even scholars can profit from it if they want to have a resource that provides quick references.

The electronic advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley free of charge. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a positive review.
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