The Narnia 3 Book Review Blog

Kendall H. Easley. The Illustrated Guide to Biblical History. Nashville, Tennessee: Holman Reference, 2003. Cloth xiii + 306pp. $19.95

Since the publication of the Encountering series from Baker Books publishers seemingly have been tripping over themselves to produce high quality color, graphic and visually oriented Bible surveys and helps. This present volume represents a new series from Holman Publishers into that genre.

This work, as noted in the preface, uses the new Holman Christian Standard Bible (Holman, 2000) for Biblical text references and draws on the considerable graphic resources from the archives of The Biblical Illustrator, a regular periodical production of the Southern Baptist Convention. The work is designed to present a sweeping over view of Biblical History in the Old and New Testament era, what the author calls “metanarrative” (2). There is also an adequate overview of the inter-testamental period. He notes that “building the Kingdom” is the theme of the entire Bible (3).

The clear strength of this work is the highly detailed maps and charts (all in full color) and the excellent pictures throughout. The book is produced on high quality paper, and is remarkably low-priced (in fact this reviewer found that Amazon.com sells it for only $13.95 new in hardback). There are frequent uses of “sidebars” giving a paragraph or two of additional information on specific issues, individuals or groups. The text is brief, often too brief even for metanarrative. The totality of Biblical history is placed in a prologue which in only seven pages covers all of Genesis 1-11; six chapters, and an epilogue in which the author deals with Revelation 21-22 as summations of a sort of all of Biblical history; a sort of tying up all the loose ends.

The text itself is broadly evangelical and conservative in nature and generally avoids controversial issues. The author mentions creation options of “old earth” and “young earth” only in passing (4) and rather cavalierly gives the impression that it is an unimportant subject to the totality of what he calls the “Kingdom Story” (ibid). He does present an early dating for the Exodus (24) but without any real conviction or an explanation as to why this might be an important interpretative issue. He presents an A.D. 30 crucifixion (not this reviewers choice), but again without any mention of additional options (199ff) or the issues involved. The author presents a section on Revelation 20 and the millennial kingdom, but rather oddly consigns both the amilllennial and premillennial view as taking the passage (esp. 20:4-6, as he ignores entirely vs. 1-3 and the binding of Satan) as figurative (280). He presents a solution for the passage that he calls “promillenialism” in which no real chronological significance can be derived and is intended to present comfort for the readers of God’s victory (ibid).

In the introduction the author gives no mention as to his intended audience or a specific need that this work is designed to fill. It certainly can be recommended, despite the above-mentioned flaws, as a general overview of the Bible. This work would find it’s best use perhaps in a Sunday School setting. It is much too brief and anemic for a college-level text and certainly of no particular value at the seminary level.