The Jesus Story by Dr. William H. Marty

I found this book very easy to read. Combining the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in an easy-to-read, non-overlapping book is a great idea. Chronology in the New Testament can be confusing. Different accounts of the same event provide us with varying details, which has a definite purpose when reading through God's Word. However, this can cause the reader to wonder about which account to really pay attention to. I found The Jesus Story to be very concise, but I felt that I was missing out on some vital details as well. More detail in the stories would have been great! I found myself thinking, "Didn't it happen this way?" And other times my thoughts were, "Did it really happen that way? Was that detail actually in that passage?" With that being said, I enjoyed this book, but I still prefer to read my Bible and get my facts there. If you know someone who wants everything stated simply and to-the-point, then this might be just the book for them to get their feet wet in The Jesus Story. Take a look!

More info:
http://www.bakerpublishinggroup.com/authors/dr-william-h-marty/1590

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by Bethany House for my review.

The King James Only Controversy: Can You Trust Modern Translations? by James R. White

I found this book to be very informative and educational.  Having no knowledge of the KJV Only controversy before reading the book, I became very informed very quickly.  I found the first few chapters to be especially interesting, insightful, full of information, and helpful.  I learned about text types, variants, manuscripts, etc.  There is a history, of sorts, of the Scriptures in this book that I imagine many people (even Christians) are unaware of.  I thought that Mr. White did a good job of informing the reader of the basics of what he was discussing so that even those of us who know nothing of Greek or Hebrew could understand his points and explanations.  The book enlightened me about the issues of translation that arise in all versions of the Bible, whether KJV, NIV, NASB, RSV, or any other version.  It really is amazing that there are those who would stake their whole Christian walk on one version of the Bible so blindly.  I was glad to have the opportunity to review this book and be informed about so many aspects of God's Word that I never knew about before.  I highly recommend this book for those who want to learn more about this issue and Bible translation in general.  The book is somewhat tedious to get through at points for the uneducated, but overall I found it very intriguing and, as I've said, educational.  I feel that the Bible version you choose to read is your own personal choice between you and your Savior, and I also think that this book is a good jumping off point for those who want a more in-depth knowledge and understanding of Bible versions in a very general sense.

Disclaimer: This book was provided for review by Bethany House Publishers.