These two books are real eye openers. McLaren's book is a resposne to Divinci code. It uses history to give us a new view of Jesus and his message. The history in the book is well worth the read. Frank Viola's THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH is the most insightful handbook on the New Testament I ever read. Here is a public review put out by the publisher destiny image. Have any of you read these two books?
New book unveils a brand new way to approach the New Testament - a narrative chronology
The Bible has always had its critics. With Biblical and historical illiteracy at an all-time high, people are gullible to swallow any lie, as long as it has a persuasive package. The Da Vinci Code (Daniel Brown) and recently discovered Gospel of Judas are but two examples. These foster doubt about the credibility of the canon and leave unwitting Christians wondering what is genuine and what is fictional.
In The Untold Story of the New Testament Church (Destiny Image), Frank Viola expertly weaves the entire New Testament into a single synchronous story. He intersperses the story with often-fascinating history and background on each book of the New Testament. More important, he helps readers understand what is happening behind the scenes, from the rise of Emperor Nero to a clear explanation of Paul's travailsincluding his "thorn in the flesh."
This approach has never been done before. Noted scholar F.F. Bruce once said that reading the New Testament letters like hearing one end of a phone conversation. The Untold Story reconstructs the other side of that converstation creating one fluid story of the early church.
To Viola and other Christian scholars, the Bible needs no fictionalized redrafting to add to its historic accuracy. It remains the most enticing literature ever written. Rather, findings like the Gospel of Judas pick up where earlier findings such as The Gospel of Thomas, Secret Book of John and the Gospel of Mary started. The present-day insinuation that Judas was a "hero" points to our own twistedness; our need for dark heroes. It minimizes true martyrdom and uncovers our penchant for perverting the truth.
In The Untold Story, Viola re-sequences the books of the New Testament (in proper order) and helps us see what he calls "The big picture." The birth of the early church, full of intrigue, action and conflict, is anything but dull. He disdains the modern proclivity toward a cut-and-paste approach to scripture which takes individual verses out of context. By doing so, he explains, anyone can justify any behavior. He says this practice of building "floatable doctrines" undermines truth just as it did in the first century A.D.
"Without understanding the historical context of the New Testament," says Viola, "Christians have managed to build doctrines and invent practices that have fragmented the Body of Christ into thousands of denominations." Most of us have learned the story of Christianity in bits and pieces, all out of sequence. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church puts all of these bits and pieces together in understandable sequence. By so doing, we are given a picture of the early church that is accurate, revolutionary, and life-changing. It is also one that will help us to easily spot error and bogus revisionist theories that purport to tell us what really happened 2,000 years ago.
BOOK OVERVIEW
The Bible is true and accurate in every respect but it isn't necessarily laid out in chronological order. Frank Viola painstakingly lays out the books of the New Testament and adds historical and sociological background. In a day where we are looking for the authentic, we so readily fall for the fictional. What was going on behind the scenes when Paul was writing his letters? How and where did the apostles die? How did Emperor Nero wicked influence accelerate the spread of Christianity? No matter how many times a person has read the New Testament, Viola provides a rendering that will fascinate and inform. More important, in an era where truth is unclear, The Untold Story illuminates as well as encourages.
New book unveils a brand new way to approach the New Testament - a narrative chronology
The Bible has always had its critics. With Biblical and historical illiteracy at an all-time high, people are gullible to swallow any lie, as long as it has a persuasive package. The Da Vinci Code (Daniel Brown) and recently discovered Gospel of Judas are but two examples. These foster doubt about the credibility of the canon and leave unwitting Christians wondering what is genuine and what is fictional.
In The Untold Story of the New Testament Church (Destiny Image), Frank Viola expertly weaves the entire New Testament into a single synchronous story. He intersperses the story with often-fascinating history and background on each book of the New Testament. More important, he helps readers understand what is happening behind the scenes, from the rise of Emperor Nero to a clear explanation of Paul's travailsincluding his "thorn in the flesh."
This approach has never been done before. Noted scholar F.F. Bruce once said that reading the New Testament letters like hearing one end of a phone conversation. The Untold Story reconstructs the other side of that converstation creating one fluid story of the early church.
To Viola and other Christian scholars, the Bible needs no fictionalized redrafting to add to its historic accuracy. It remains the most enticing literature ever written. Rather, findings like the Gospel of Judas pick up where earlier findings such as The Gospel of Thomas, Secret Book of John and the Gospel of Mary started. The present-day insinuation that Judas was a "hero" points to our own twistedness; our need for dark heroes. It minimizes true martyrdom and uncovers our penchant for perverting the truth.
In The Untold Story, Viola re-sequences the books of the New Testament (in proper order) and helps us see what he calls "The big picture." The birth of the early church, full of intrigue, action and conflict, is anything but dull. He disdains the modern proclivity toward a cut-and-paste approach to scripture which takes individual verses out of context. By doing so, he explains, anyone can justify any behavior. He says this practice of building "floatable doctrines" undermines truth just as it did in the first century A.D.
"Without understanding the historical context of the New Testament," says Viola, "Christians have managed to build doctrines and invent practices that have fragmented the Body of Christ into thousands of denominations." Most of us have learned the story of Christianity in bits and pieces, all out of sequence. The Untold Story of the New Testament Church puts all of these bits and pieces together in understandable sequence. By so doing, we are given a picture of the early church that is accurate, revolutionary, and life-changing. It is also one that will help us to easily spot error and bogus revisionist theories that purport to tell us what really happened 2,000 years ago.
BOOK OVERVIEW
The Bible is true and accurate in every respect but it isn't necessarily laid out in chronological order. Frank Viola painstakingly lays out the books of the New Testament and adds historical and sociological background. In a day where we are looking for the authentic, we so readily fall for the fictional. What was going on behind the scenes when Paul was writing his letters? How and where did the apostles die? How did Emperor Nero wicked influence accelerate the spread of Christianity? No matter how many times a person has read the New Testament, Viola provides a rendering that will fascinate and inform. More important, in an era where truth is unclear, The Untold Story illuminates as well as encourages.
