|
|
This is the question pastor and Bible scholar W. Kenneth Connolly sets out to answer in his book and video series called The Indestructible Book. Both pretty much cover the same territory, chronicling the creation of the Bible, its translations, and the sacrifices its defenders made to honor and perpetuate it.
With meticulous detail, Connolly shows how the Old Testament writings were preserved. The Jewish scribes who copied them, for example, had to wipe the pens and wash their entire bodies before they wrote the word "Jehovah," every time they wrote it. Connolly continues with a discussion of how the New Testament canon slowly developed. As easy as it is to think that the Apostles simply wrote their books (the Gospels, Acts, the epistles, and Revelations) and instantly created the New Testament, the truth is much more amazing. For four hundred years, the church battled persecution and heresy to defend and define what would become the completed Bible.
It is in the telling of these stories that Connolly truly shines. By the time we learn of the sacrifices of Justin Martyr and the thousands of others who gave their lives for God's truth, we have a greater appreciation for that leather-bound book on our nightstand.
Connolly offers insightful biographies of the people who shaped the church. He describes how the social and political climate of their day may have influenced their behavior -- and how their behavior certainly influenced their world and ours.
Connolly's book is beautifully crafted, slightly larger than most hardcover books. Better yet, it's chockfull of illustrations -- drawings and paintings of the people and places mentioned within, photos of ancient Scripture, historical locations as they look today, and other relevant eye candy. It's the kind of book that is as pleasing to look at as it is to read.
The four-tape video series takes this visual trip through the history of the Bible a step further. Connolly hosts and narrates much of the book's text from exotic locations like Bethlehem, Greece, and Rome. He sits with a cup of tea at a table outside Germany's Gutenberg Museum to discuss the first printed Bible. From the moat of an English castle, he discusses the influences of various reformers. It all impresses the viewer with a better sense of the circumstances surrounding those who stood up for God's word.
Whether experienced as a book, a video series, or both, The Indestructible Book will renew your confidence in the inerrancy of the Bible and give you plenty to say when someone asks, "Well, isn't the Bible just the words of man?"
Robert Liparulo is an author and reviewer in Colorado Springs, CO.
Copyright ©1996, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com
Support your