Jeffrey Kranz | Knowable Word

For a number of years, I’ve been impressed by the work of Jeffrey Kranz at his site OverviewBible. On the site, he has provided us with some of the most informative, concise, and visually appealing book overviews I’ve ever come across. Without sacrificing quality of scholarship or depth of insight, Kranz writes for ordinary people in a delightfully clear manner. If you want to get your bearings in one of the Bible’s books, and do so quickly and accurately, OverviewBible.com is a great place to start.

Kranz has now also published The Beginner’s Guide to the Bible, an ebook available on his website, to introduce you to the book of books in a way that will motivate you to go and read it. Having received a complimentary copy of the book from Kranz in exchange for an honest review, I am happy to report it is a smashing success.

Minor Haggling

Let me get a few things out of the way up front so I can move on to the good stuff.

First, you won’t be able to find the book anywhere but OverviewBible.com. You can’t buy it from Amazon; you won’t find reviews at Goodreads [Update: It’s now in the Goodreads database.]. But don’t let this fact put you off. This work is no hack job.

Second, I sadly found the book to have a number of typos in it. This could be an unfortunate byproduct of a low budget for self-publishing, and I hope Kranz remedies it soon. The typos distract from the otherwise high-quality presentation.

Major Reveling

Though this book aims at “beginners,” I had more fun with it than a youth group camping trip. In fact, the time and money for your next youth group camping trip might possibly be better spent on providing copies of this book to your students and meeting together to discuss it. (And don’t get me wrong: The book is not only, nor even primarily, for teenagers.)

Kranz writes in a plain, conversational style. He assumes zero knowledge of the Bible on the part of his readers. He explains what to make of this book, how to approach it, and what to expect from it. He doesn’t waste any of your time on Bible trivia, which has about as much impact on your life as any other sort of trivia. He directs his full attention to that which will give you the richest understanding of and insatiable hunger for the books of the Bible and their basic messages.

Kranz begins with the basics of what the Bible is, where it came from, and what it’s for (and not for).

He then summarizes what the Bible is about. In this second part of the book, Kranz defines “covenant” and walks through the four most significant covenants in the Bible: Abraham’s, Israel’s, David’s, and the New Covenant. Kranz unpacks rich theology in plain language, all to show that what the Bible is after more than anything else is a relationship with God. And Kranz shows how the ancients thought about relationships quite differently than we do today, which is why we must understand the concept of covenants.

Then the last two-thirds of the book contain a walkthrough of each of the Bible’s 66 books. Kranz explains the groupings of the books in the English Bible, the differences in genre between groupings, and the broad outlines of each book. He covers matters of author, audience, and purpose as appropriate, but he doesn’t get distracted by academic minutiae. And Kranz keeps his focus on observing and summarizing the text. He avoids getting into interpretive debates, and this approach maintains focus on the beginner, who should be able to gain a basic roadmap of the Bible without being expected to sign on to any particular theological tradition.

Though I’ve been a Christian most of my life, and I’ve been studying the Bible for many years, I really enjoyed reading this book. Kranz assumes no Bible knowledge on the part of the reader, yet he never speaks condescendingly or patronizingly. This gives his work an uncanny ability to both stimulate and satisfy.

Who It’s For

This book intentionally aims at the beginner. The person who has never read the Bible before, or who has tried and failed from confusion or boredom. The person who didn’t go to Sunday school or read the storybook Bibles. The person who doesn’t know whether Moses or Abraham came first, and who can’t remember whether “Israel” is a younger twin brother, a nation of twelve tribes, a political entity, or the northern part of a divided kingdom.

There is a man in my church who just put his faith in Christ in the last year. He’s a graduate student (so quite intelligent) from an Asian country (so unfamiliar with western culture and tradition). He never read the Bible before this, but now he can’t put it down. And yet, he finds so much of it confusing.

I recently told him I’ve found the perfect book for him. I really want him to read this book.

And I want you to read this book, if you struggle to read the Bible. Because the greatest commendation I can give to Kranz’s book is that he doesn’t want you to camp out with his book. His book glories in another Book, and I don’t think you can finish Kranz’s book without a piqued interest in God’s book. Even if you’re not yet sure that it’s God’s book.

Check this book out. Give it to your friends who are just getting to know the Bible. Keep it in mind for seekers or new believers. Discuss it with your neighbors who think the Bible is an unreliable, ancient, and muddled mess. Or use it to help stimulate those who struggle to read the Bible for one reason or another.

Kranz’s book will be a go-to resource for me with anyone who wants to know more of the Bible. Buy it at OverviewBible.

One of the most common errors in Bible study takes place when we parachute in to a certain passage, dig around a bit, secure the asset (a nugget of truth for the day), and then pursue extraction. In other words, we study Bible verses and Bible chapters, but not Bible books. But without a larger context, the passage often doesn’t make sense, and we give up in frustration, wondering whether Bible study is something best left to the experts.

The simplest solution usually lies in a good book overview. When you see the Bible as a collection of books, and you work to understand each book within its historical context (identifying the author, audience, occasion, and purpose for the book), smaller passages within the book come alive. For example, “Rejoice in the Lord” (Phil 4:4) takes on a new light when you see it’s one step in the reconciliation process between Euodia and Syntyche (Phil 4:2-9), which itself is a prime example of the joyful unity Paul seeks for the church (the main point of the letter of Philippians).

Without doubt, the best way to become at home within a Bible book is to read the book over and over. When I preach or teach a book, I usually read the entire book at least 5 times before the first session.

But sometimes we don’t have enough time for that much reading. And sometimes, we gain useful information from other sources gathered by others. So I’m always on the lookout for good articles and resources that present useful Bible book overviews.

I recently began following the blog of Jeffrey Kranz, who has given himself to creating clear and helpful overviews of every book of the Bible. I signed up for Jeffrey’s free course, where he sends a weekly email with an overview of one book of the Bible. The first one was on Psalms, and I must say I was impressed.

I thought, “Surely he’ll ignore the fact that the Psalms are organized into 5 books.” I mused, “I’ll check this out this first article, but if he missed the fact that Psalms 1 and 2 set the tone for the entire book, I’m not sure I can trust that he really understands the book.” I wondered, “Will he realize that the sons of Korah shouldn’t even have existed apart from God’s amazing grace (Num 26:11)?” (Okay, I generally try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I’ve just seen too many “Bible overview” articles that are not really very helpful.) But Jeffrey delightfully crossed my expectations on every count. Not only did he include details I expected (always pleasantly affirming); he also gave much information I hadn’t realized, which inspired me to jump back into the Psalms!

I can’t wait to see what he does with the other 65 books of the Bible. I’m happy to recommend this resource to you. If you’d like to receive Jeffrey’s emails, just sign up on his site here.

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Other resources I recommend regarding book overviews:

The book introductions found in the ESV Study Bible.
Articles at bible.org by Daniel Wallace on every New Testament book. I’ve found nobody better than Wallace at mapping out the occasion and flow of thought of a Bible book, and I consult him every time I study a NT book.

Check ’em out!