Have you ever wondered how the Old Testament was recorded? Who did it? How was it preserved? Were changes ever made? How were the books for the New Testament chosen?
What books were rejected? Would you like to read some of those? Try The Gospel of Judas or The Gospel of Mary Magdalene.
What writings were lost and have just been discovered? We have translations of both The Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi Texts.
That's the fun stuff.
Then there are the scholarly reference books you would expect to find: HarperCollins Bible Commentary, Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, The Oxford Companion to the Bible and more.
Most easily read is a series from Reader's Digest, including Who's Who in the Bible and Jesus and His Times.
My favourite? The Promised Land, an exquisite art book by Abba Eban with paintings by Gordon Wetmore. It speaks to the soul, and invites us all 'home' to the promised land from whence our Bible came.
The Sign Out book is on the desk.
-Joy Duncan