Author: Michael F Bird. Publisher: Zondervan, June 2021. 240 pages.

Michael Bird is unashamedly an evangelical Christian. Although he deeply respects and honours the Bible, he does not treat it in the way many fundamental Christians do these days. In this book he is trying to explain his understanding of the nature and purpose of the Bible. I believe he makes his case with conviction and humour.

In the first chapter he explains the types of writings found in the two Testaments and the Apocrypha, and how the specific sets of writings became our Bible. We are shown that the order of books in the Hebrew Old Testament differs from what we commonly use; whereas we classify the books according to type (histories together, prophets together), Jews classify broadly according to when books were considered authoritative. There follows a brief history of translations into English. This chapter alone is worth the money for purchase.

Unlike many American evangelicals, Michael, acknowledging the divine inspiration of the Bible, notes that it was composed by humans, so that determining the message God has for us is not normally discovered through a literal reading but needs interpretation. He gives some humorous swipes at those who do take it literally. However this does not mean that we can ignore or ‘explain away’ uncomfortable verses and stories; doing so can lead to creating God in our own image. Sometimes the words of the Bible are tricky, and we should not shy away from accepting this.

The Bible, though it can comment on our issues, was not written about our time; we cannot expect once-for-all Biblical rulings on modern problems, such as climate change, or abortion control. This does not mean the Bible has nothing to say on them though. Again, it is about interpretation.

The book finishes off by declaring the Bible has a definite purpose – instilling spiritual values such as knowledge, faith, hope and love. The final chapter argues the core of the Bible as the revelation of the person and purpose of Jesus Christ. However this does not mean that every Old Testament verse refers to Jesus but that we can acknowledge God’s hand in guiding Israel and beneath see their need for a Messiah. So, for instance, when Hosea 11.1 says: “When Israel was a child, I loved him and called him out of Egypt as my son”, this was not written about Jesus as such, but Matthew rightly sees in it a prophetic witness to Jesus (Matthew 2.15). Both can be right!

Did you know the New Testament quotes the Old? In the Appendix the author points out the top five quoted, which is interesting and maybe surprising.

If the above does not align with how you understand the Bible then this is a greater reason for reading this book – we can all do with a challenge! And anyone who has never delved deeply into the Bible will find this a valuable entry point for that study.