Historical and Chronological Context of the Bible

Every Christian home should have one of these. Great read and an excellent reference book to have. I ordered one for each member of my family. It took a while to deliver, but it does not disappoint!

The author teaches my kids and he is a true Renaissance man. This is not his only area of expertise--he has his Juris Doctorate, as well as a great knowledge of Philosophy and Ethics. My kids love him. But this is a book review so here are the facts: This is a huge volume written chronologically from the time of Sumer which ended in 2316BC to the Fall of Jerusalem in 70AD. Thankfully, it has a detailed index, however the index (not the text) is a bit difficult to read because of the fine print & the wide space between the subject and the page numbers. I use this book for two purposes: As a reference guide to look up details about various Bible characters & time periods since I teach a Bible Study Fellowship class. This is also the textbook for my 9th-grader whom I am currently home-schooling. I would have to say this is a bit much for a 9th grader to handle. Although readable, the details and facts are overwhelming to absorb. He cannot take this all in without some direction on what the important points are to remember and why some things are more important than others. This would be an excellent text to use alongside a study of the Old Testament if you really wanted to understand the historical context and what was going on in the countries and cultures in and around Israel/Palestine. Overall, this is an essential reference for any Bible teacher or historian focusing on any time period from Gilgamesh (or Genesis) to Vespasian. And for those to whom it matters, this is not necessarily written from a Pre-millenial perspective, which I actually found rather interesting.

BRAVO! This book is stunning at many levels. Initially, it is a visually attractive product -- an over-sized text, large print, interesting pictures and graphics throughout -- plus a beautiful, striking cover! More importantly, the interior does not disappoint. Mr. Gore tackles a daunting task -- covering massive chunks of history -- with a perfect mix of breadth and depth. His control of the narrative is impressive. His style is easy, clear and accessible. He gives the reader all of the "history stuff" and adds spicy, little-known details about famous people and places along the way. The subtitle is instructive. Understanding the world that shaped the Bible makes the Bible itself more three dimensional, more real,more human. I came away from the book thankful for all of the good work done for me by the author. He tells me things I really like knowing but have none of the drive necessary to find out on my own. The book does exactly what it's supposed to do -- it's an academically literate introduction to a massive subject -- and it's interesting! Mr. Gore has done all of the heavy lifting and the reader gets all the benefits. In sum, I agree with the writer's self-assessment. He's right when he describes the text as delivering the kind of classical education he wishes he could have received earlier in life. Lastly, it can also serve as a great teaching resource.

This book of Professor Gore's is highly outstanding. He does not only present world history in minute details but in chronological order that allows readers to associate times and periods with world developments, jurisprudence of ancient powers and their spheres of influence. The reason for the wars of the worlds, tactics, and governance are made explicitly clear. You will be able to fill major potholes in your knowledge of historical development of the world through the various empires. What I enjoy most is the fact that it squarely emphasizes what scripture has declared thousands and hundreds of years prior. The book fits biblical predictions and narrations squarely in their very context. Thus, it proves that historical development of the world is not without that hand of the Creator. Good or bad, God is still moving the world to achieve His purposes hence we have every reason to believe, trust and worship Him. He will have the final say as evidenced in the Bible. His ability to juxtapose biblical history with world history makes world history more meaningful and brings deeper understanding of biblical history to the reader. After reading this book, you will realize that God moved and continues to move people, systems and authorities to bring to be His purposes among citizens of the world. OUTSTANDING!!!

It's so useful for the historical context of biblical events

I love the material. I just wish there were regular page numbers.

Bruce, thanks for this book. This is for the serious student to understand better ancient events and His Story. I have ready it twice. It is deep. In College I had a History Minor, everything ties back to God's working.

Love this book! I am constantly reaching for this to help put my Bible reading in historical context and before I know it I have spend a few hours just going down rabbit trails! I wish I could get this on my kindle so that I could read it on the go!

I'd been watching Bruce Gores lectures on Youtube, loved his material and bought the book. Though not religious myself I had loved the way he put the bible into a historical context. However, the book is much more than that. Though still less than half way through it gives a well researched and detailed history of the peoples and empires of the near and middle east. All quite fascinating. I look forward to the rest of the book. My only complaint is the quality of the photo plates and there are a few typo's. A very worthwhile buy and a book that I will come back to many times.

The book is excellent in content and helps put into context biblical historical events; it gives me a better understanding of the times and settings of the world the biblical characters found themselves. I wish there were at least some color pictures/illustrations but that s' minor.

This is a gold-mine! As stated in the intro to the book, the author wrote out of necessity, to provide a fairly thorough yet interesting resource to put Biblical history into its broader, historical context. This work seems to honour the authority of God's Word while carefully researching ancient historical sources. If you are using this to put together a timeline, it is worth looking carefully over the sample pages showing chronology: note that the dating on many Old Testament Biblical events differs by about 50 years from some of the widely accepted dates (e.g. from Answers in Genesis), but since the purpose is to put the events in their historical and chronological setting rather than assign an exact year as such, I do not find this a big distraction. The target audience is highschool to adult, but some advanced junior high could also appreciate this source, as I did not find the writing dry.

I bought the book because I've loved Bruce's YouTube videos. Excellent textual content overall. I heartily recommend it. . Unfortunately, the plates/graphics are in black and white and not color. A book of this excellence should have color plates. . The other unfortunate aspect is, like very many Christian biblical teachers, he follows Ptolemy's date scheme from the 1st century, and so Bruce sadly gets his dates wrong. . Hence I sadly select 4 stars. If you havent seen his YouTube videos, you must. Start by Playlists. And get the book!

Excellent information