October 11, 2019
The Bible for Dummies Book Report
By: Violeta
Professors Jeffery Geoghegan and Michael Homan wrote the Bible for Dummies in 2003 to help people comprehend the best known yet least understood book in the world. The book aims to make the Bible more relevant and accessible regardless of your beliefs or faith. The professors continuously explain that the Bible is “not just a religious text; it’s a work of history and a literary masterpiece.”
Although the Bible is meant to be experienced as a narrative the Dummie version is laid out in sections so you can drop in and out with out skipping a beat. Before the deep dive they lay some ground work that will help understand the Bible better. First, they define B.C. (before Christ) and A.D. (from Latin anno domini “year of our Lord” not After Death like most people reference). Secondly, the Old Testament is a sacred text for both Christianity and Judaism while in Jewish practice it’s called the Hebrew Bible or Tanak. While the Bible portrays God as transcending our ideas of gender the biblical authors almost always use masculine pronouns so the caps He or Him is God. Which is interesting that questioning gender and use of pronouns have been questioned since the beginning.
The Bible has been on the best sellers list since the inventions of the printing press, but this book explains who wrote it and how we got it. The Bible is not one single work, many different authors and stories bound together. Moses wrote the first five books of the Old Testament. The five books cover everything from the Creation of the World, humankinds early days, ancient Israel ancestors and their formation of a Nation under Moses. The stories are typically written in first person by the various authors of the stories. The political history of the lands caused the scrolls to change hands in 586 B.C. when Jerusalem was destroyed. The creation of the New Testament is much quicker happening in about 50 years as compared to 1,000 for the Old. It involves the life of Jesus, history of the early church, and Revelations, referring to the end of time prophecies. These are said to have been written under divine inspiration by Jesus’ closest followers, disciples.
It’s kind of like Sunday School on steroids, it’s a big book broken down into fun snack sizes easy to swallow. It includes Adam and Eve in Paradise, pyramids in Egypt, the Sea of Galilee where Jesus hangs with his followers. Another interesting fact that applies to today, followers were important back then as well. Those “followers” have morphed into social media, however, more followers still translates to a larger impact. We do it for the Gram, Jesus did it for God. Jesus and his disciples tried getting as many followers as possible to spread the word, and the Last Supper was important and famously pictured by Da Vinci (so they kinda took pictures of their food and dinners too!).
In conclusion, the Bible is filled with adventure, political conflicts, and ultimately the struggle of good and evil. I couldn’t help but recognize the similarities between the Bible and Game of Thrones, especially in the Old Testament. They draw from the same general themes and display the power of the written word. The unsung heroes in both the Bible and GOT are the scroll writers and protectors. They held all the power to write history and preserver the stories of the past, which in the show affected the present and future dramatically. Their words and interpretations in the Bible have survived the test of time and have had the power to start wars, build churches, enslave people and free them, and is still the cause of heated debates around the world and around our own dinner tables. The Bible for Dummies dives into the long history and helps you understand the most famous book in the world.
Eric in Elburn at The Kaneland Homecoming Parade!October 10, 2019
When you win with us… you win big! Liz from Downers Grove on stage with The Chainsmokers!
October 8, 2019
Happy Monday!
September 30, 2019
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September 19, 2019
Do you see the resemblance?
September 16, 2019
LIVE Cooking with Eric!
September 12, 2019
Win Passes for Cooking with Eric!
September 10, 2019
Chicago Gourmet! A week of culinary events throughout the city, leading up to the main event in Millennium Park featuring cooking demos, food, wine, spirits and beer tasting all weekend.
Want a pair of passes to join Eric Wednesday at Bar Siena in the West Loop for an evening of Pasta Making assisted by Chef Fabio Viviani? Text “Disaster” to 60123 for the chance to win a pair of passes.
September 3, 2019
#Bears vs #Packers tickets up for grabs all week long! Charles Leno Jr #72 chats with us this Friday after Thursday nights game.
