“One thing must be emphatically stated. The New Testament books did not become authoritative for the Church because they were formally included in a canonical list; on the contrary, the Church included them in her canon because she already regarded them as divinely inspired, recognizing their innate worth and generally apostolic authority, direct or indirect.”
– F.F. Bruce (The New Testament Documents, p. 22)
Larry Stone has served us well by giving us a beautiful book that can sit nicely on one’s coffee table and tells the compelling story of the development, translation and transmission of the Scriptures in various languages, it’s historical development, and the current status of translation today around the world. With his selection of various pictures, pullouts, and interesting stories, Stone does not fail to captivate the reader of this book. He does a superb job of giving information that is scholarly and yet accessible to anyone who is interested in knowing more about how the Bible came to be and its impact on civilization.
Having had classes in Bibliology in Bible college, and seminary – I still learned things from the book that I had never known before. We have a nightstand at the entryway to our home and I have found visitors and my two teenagers sitting down looking through the book and being captivated by its contents, pictures, and pullouts. The visual aspects of the book make it almost irresistible to look at.
Stone’s book gives the reader a greater appreciation of the Scriptures and the cost and sacrifice involved in making them available in our language. I would suggest three additions for a future addition to this book for even more usefulness: larger font, a glossary in the back of key terms discussed in the book, and another chapter on the authority, sufficiency, and relevancy of the Bible for salvation and sanctification. However, as the book stands, I would still highly recommend it to everyone who wants to know more about how the Bible came to be.
I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com book review bloggers program. I am under no compulsion to write a positive or negative review of this book. The opinions expressed are exclusively my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
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