A comprehensive and notably crystalline biblical education guide.
A handbook for teaching the Bible to young students.
The Old and New Testaments can be daunting reads, especially for youngsters, given their length, historical breadth, and theological complexity, but here, debut author Hurst distills its essential teachings into an accessible instructional guide. It’s specifically designed to be a teaching aid, and it’s split into 52 weekly lesson plans covering the entire Bible—from the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation—over the course of one year. The author structures each section around key concepts and central teachings (such as, for example, the difference between omnipresence, omniscience, and omnipotence) and provides impressively lucid synopses. The book includes key vocabulary terms and various pedagogical tools, including crossword puzzles constructed around biblical trivia, that will help students review the material. Toward the end, the author furnishes a lengthy catalog of “memorization activities and tools”—fun games crafted to help students retain information. A helpful appendix offers student “take-home sheets” that summarize lessons learned. Hurst’s primary focus throughout the text is on the centrality of Jesus to the Bible, whom she depicts as the linchpin of human salvation. The author is a parochial middle school counselor who’s taught the Bible for more than 25 years, and it shows here—her command of the material is confident, and she has a gift for simple, clear exposition. Throughout, she offers instructive advice for teachers on how to clarify difficult concepts while also maintaining a spirit of joy and enthusiasm. The book isn’t intended as a scholarly exegesis; for example, Paul’s epistle to the Romans gets barely a paragraph of explanation. Also, the overall level of sophistication likely won’t satisfy older students—even those at the high school level. However, this well-organized book is clearly meant for younger kids who are reading the Bible for the very first time, and for that purpose, it’s an excellent tool.
A comprehensive and notably crystalline biblical education guide.Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5127-5535-0
Page Count: 174
Publisher: Westbow Press
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This a book of earlier, philosophical essays concerned with the essential "absurdity" of life and the concept that- to overcome the strong tendency to suicide in every thoughtful man-one must accept life on its own terms with its values of revolt, liberty and passion. A dreary thesis- derived from and distorting the beliefs of the founders of existentialism, Jaspers, Heldegger and Kierkegaard, etc., the point of view seems peculiarly outmoded. It is based on the experience of war and the resistance, liberally laced with Andre Gide's excessive intellectualism. The younger existentialists such as Sartre and Camus, with their gift for the terse novel or intense drama, seem to have omitted from their philosophy all the deep religiosity which permeates the work of the great existentialist thinkers. This contributes to a basic lack of vitality in themselves, in these essays, and ten years after the war Camus seems unaware that the life force has healed old wounds... Largely for avant garde aesthetes and his special coterie.
Pub Date: Sept. 26, 1955
ISBN: 0679733736
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1955
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