The Bible is the most important book in history. It's also one of the most misunderstood. Studying Scripture involves much more than reading. Serious Bible study can be a daunting task. It takes effort and skill.

The Bible was put together over 2000 years ago. There are serious obstacles to grasping its meaning and message. Wouldn't it be great to have a seasoned Bible scholar by your side to help? Now you can. In Brief Insights on Mastering Bible Study, biblical scholar Michael S. Heiser is the guide by your side, providing easy-to-read lessons and truisms for grasping God's Word.

Adept Bible study isn't about a checklist of tasks. It's about using the right tools, thinking carefully, and sticking to it. You don't need to be a scholar to understand the Bible. You just need some advice from one along the way.

The Bible was written for us - but not to us. We're not part of the ancient world that informed its writers. We're strangers to their ideas, experiences, and worldview. Because we're cultural and historical outsiders, what we read in the Bible can often be perplexing and impenetrable.

But take heart. Clear comprehension of what's in the Bible isn't a lost cause. In this 60 Second Scholar book, biblical scholar Michael S. Heiser reveals the most indispensable insights for understanding the Bible.

Brief Insights on Mastering the Bible presents readers with a straightforward but audacious proposition: Grasping these insights will mean comprehending Scripture more clearly than you ever have before. You don't need to time travel to understand Scripture, but you do need directions.

When Christians ask about vocation or calling we usually mean, Is God calling me to a particular job, profession or type of work? This question matters because God is interested in our work. Because he is, it s sensible to ask what he wants us to do. We see in the Bible that God does indeed call some people to particular work, and this provides all of us with various kinds of guidance for our work. In this Bible study, we will explore biblical accounts of these calls in depth keeping in mind that calling goes deeper than any one aspect of life, such as work. We will explore the calling to particular work in light of many of the biblical passages related to calling.

This Bible study is part of The Bible and Your Work Study Series. Each guide contains Scripture references, thought-provoking questions, and prayers to help you explore what the Bible says about work and apply it to your life in positive, practical ways. The lessons in each chapter are designed for thirty-minute lunch breaks, although they can be used in other formats as well. "

The Cambridge History treats the Bible as a central document of Western civilization, a source of exegesis and of doctrine, an influence on education, on the growth of scholarship, on art and literature, as well as on the liturgy and the life of the Christian church and its members. This volume commences the study of the Bible in the West. It begins with Jerome and the Fathers and goes on to the time of Erasmus. Introductory chapters look back and rapidly survey the growth of the biblical canon in the pre-Christian period and the early church, and early Christian book-production. The central portion of the volume discusses exposition and exegesis of the Scriptures: in the hands of the Fathers, in the Medieval Schools, in the Liturgy and in the tradition of medieval Jewish scholarship. The permeation of European culture by the Scriptures is illustrated by themes in art and manuscript illustration, and by separate sections on each of the main vernacular languages, giving special attention to English. Each chapter is written by a scholar and expert on the subject, who summarizes existing knowledge and, in many cases, advances it by reporting his own research.

Winner of two 1990 Christianity Today Awards: Readers' Choice (1st place; theology doctrine) and Critics' Choice (1st place; theology doctrine).

A 1989 ECPA Gold Medallion Award winner

How did the books of the Bible come to be recognized as Holy Scripture? Who decided what shape the canon should take? What criteria influenced these decisions? After nearly nineteen centuries the canon of Scripture remains an issue of debate. Protestants, Catholics, and Orthodox all have slightly differing collections of documents in their Bibles. Martin Luther, one of the early leaders of the Protestant Reformation, questioned the inclusion of the book of James in the canon. And many Christians today, while confessing the authority of all of Scripture, tend to rely on only a few books and particular themes while ignoring the rest. Scholars have raised many other questions as well. Research into second-century Gnostic texts have led some to argue that politics played a significant role in the formation of the Christian canon. Assessing the influence of ancient communities and a variety of disputes on the final shaping of the canon call for ongoing study. In this significant historical study, F. F. Bruce brings the wisdom of a lifetime of reflection and biblical interpretation to bear on questions and confusion surrounding the Christian canon of Scripture. Adept in both Old and New Testament studies, he brings a rare comprehensive perspective to the task. Though some issues have shifted since the initial publication of this classic book, it remains a significant landmark and touchstone for further studies.