A Family Guide to the Bible

When I first cracked opened Christin Ditchfield's "A Family Guide to the Bible", I thought I was holding something along the lines of "Talk Through the Bible" or Henrietta Mears' classic "What the Bible is All About". To be honest, I was wondering why the need for another book in this category. But as I perused the chapters, I realized this really is a "family" guide. Ditchfield has written her family guide in very user-friendly fashion. I could read this to my 10-year old daughter and she would get it.

The book begins with chapters on the history, authority and message of the Bible. It ends with chapters on how to study the Bible, a "Where in the Scritptures You'll Find..." chapter that directs the reader to various Bible heroes and "verses to help you..." and a chapter of Bible maps. In between is the heart of the book - a book by book survey from Genesis to Revelation. For each book Ditchfield lays out the usual facts about the book's author, audience, setting and story, which is a brief description of the plot. She gives five more categories of information that are quite helpful for teaching and application.

The Message: This is generally the longest section on each book. This gives a fairly thorough but to-the-point summary of the book. It ends with a "Key Verse or Passage".

More on This Story in the Bible: This helpful section gives each book's place in Bible history and connects it the rest of Scripture.

Words to Know: This is a family friendly addition that defines some of those difficult words we come across in the Bible. For example, the words to know for Malachi are 'covenant', 'profane' and 'refiner's fire'. Who couldn't use an easy definition of those words?!

Did you Know?: Ditchfield offers an interesting scientific, historical, cultural or doctrinal tidbit.

Making the Connection: This section connects the Bible book to an issue in contemporary society.

Think About It: This is a short devtional based on a particular verse or theme from the book.

Obviously, this book has a lot to offer parents and teachers who are trying to bring the Bible down to the family level. This book would be a welcome addition to your reference shelf for when you are preparing to teach on a particular book of the Bible, either in your family or in a kid's Sunday School class. You could even use it to teach a Bible Survey in those settings.

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