The Bible Jesus Read: Why the Old Testament Matters

Yancey makes a bold apologia for the Old Testament. Appropriately naming it "The Bible Jesus Read," he reminds Christians that the Hebrew Scriptures is the sourcebook of their own faith. It is the "Scriptures" to which Jesus referred when He said, "The Scriptures say...." Avoiding complex surveys and background studies, the author leaves that to the experts; instead he examines the several types of writing one finds in the Hebrew Scriptures. He sees them as a testament to God's dealings with people and of the human response to God in a world that is fully reflected in the pages of the sacred text. One of the best spiritual writers of day, Philip Yancey rates up there is Kathleen Norris and Lauren Winner for clarity and integrity.

I am so ashamed of myself because before reading this book I had been quite proud of having read many spiritual books and the whole Bible four times. However, I still failed to realize that the title of the book simply meant the Old Testament, and that I was very ignorant of the Old Testament. Back to the book itself. The author had expressed that he would like modern christians to re-balance their interest between the Old and the New Testaments, when most of us had certainly put our time on the later one, if we had read it at all. Afterall, Jesus did read and always quote from it. In this respect, I doubt whether his objective can be served because I really think those who had read the Old Testament twice could appreciate the insights that the author had observed and the majority had neglected. The fact that the author had focused only on Job, Deuteronomy, Psalm, Ecclesiastes and the books of the prophets as a whole made it an ordinary Bible commentary instead of the other Yancey works with clear central themes. Nevertheless, this book is still up to the average but still outstanding Yancey standard, perhaps except the part on Deuteronomy, which some other reviewrs shared the same not so positive opinion with me. Anyway, I would strongly recommend this book to all Christians, preferably if one had read the relevant books in the Old Testament at least once. As usual in all my reviews, I would like to copy and paste some messages for your reference. Hope they would help you to better understand the goodness of the book. ""Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." We usually interpret that commandment in a narrow sense of prohibiting swearing," said Webber, who then proceed to expand its meaning to never live as though God does not exist. Or, stated positively, Always live in awareness of God's existence. ...Any key to living in such awareness must be found in the Old Testament. pg 29The Old Testament gives clues into the kind of history God is writing. Exodus identifies by name the two Hebrew midwives who helped save Moses'life, but it does not bother to record the name of the Pharaoh rulng Egypt. First Kings grants a total of eight verses to King Omri, even though secular historians regard him as one of Israel's most powerful kings. In his own history, God does not seem impressed by size or power or wealth. Fiath is what he wants, and the heroes who emerge are heros of faith, not strength or wealth. pg 32At root, Job faced a crisis of faith, not of suffering. ...At such times we focus too easily on circumstances - illness, our looks, poverty, bad luck as the enemy. We pray for God to change those circumstances.....When tragedy strikes, we too will be trapped in a limited point of view. Like Job, we will be tempted to blame God and see him as the enemy.... I hesitate to write this because it is a hard truth, one I do not want to acknowledge: Job convinces me that God cares more about our faith than our pleasure.....In a message t

For about ten years, I have preached at many churches and found an amasing amount of indifference to the message of the Old Testament. It amazed me that those who claimed to be followers of Jesus could so indifferent to the part of the Bible which reveals His coming, His identity and His mission. Sadly, this attitude is common among many. The Old Tesament doesn't have the message of salvation, they say. That's not only desperately mistaken, it doesn't give proper credit to theLord for how He would reveal His perfect revelation of Himself! Finally, in his unmistakably introspective style, Philip Yancey has set the record straight. He seems to reach into the mind of the Lord to show us how the Jewish Scriptures were a vital part of Jesus' life and His earthly ministry. He shows his readers how Jesus, who dwelt with the knowledge that the Old Testament spoke openly of Him, reached out to the people of His day and became for them a fulfillment of those Scriptures. This book is a must for not only the theologically trained, but also for the layman who looks for understanding of how the Old Testament is relevant to his or her own personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

I have read many of Yancey's books, and "The Bible Jesus Read" may be my favorite. Yancey's ability to combine hard thinking, with practical implication, has never been better. He is not afraid to ask the hard questions about life, pain, suffering, the Bible, and God. As I read this book I felt that I had a soul-mate in my journey. Thanks Yancey for summarizing issues in such a way that I can ask deep questions, and still come away deeper in my faith. I will recommend this book highly, and return to it often myself.

This book delivers in true Philip Yancey style a rare and honest look at the reading of the Old Testament. This book could not have come out at a more opportune time for me as I had just completed reading the OT for the first time! I was left feeling confused, shocked, frightened and overwhelmed at times. Reading the OT made me realize I had created an image of God not true to what the Bible presents in the OT. The Bible Jesus Read made me feel it was o.k. to have the questions and struggles I experienced and that I was not alone in my feelings. Churches seem to conveniently avoid and shy away from the difficult issues and passages as if "embarrassed" by them. It was refreshing to find a book that dealt honestly and openly with the OT issues/situations that I don't believe God wants us to overlook. Yancey's book encourages the questioning, struggling and meditating of God's Word, even if answers are not always found in the manner we want them to be. It was encouraging and comforting to see Yancey's faith in God through Christ maintained throughout the periods of doubt and questioning we all have in our spiritual growth. The only problem I have with Yancey's work is that I wish he was more prolific in getting more books out.