Theology Thursday Book Review: Halley’s Bible Handbook
I wish there was a Jedi Mind Trick emoticon. Because I’d use it now.
{ { { You did not notice that I posted a Wordful Wednesday on Thursday } } }
Last year, under the influence of Halley’s Bible Handbook, I undertook to read through the Old Testament once and the New Testament twice. (The logic was that the NT is twice as valuable. It’s also much shorter.
The Handbook is a classic Biblical Studies tool you’ll find on most lists of useful study aids, so I also undertook to read it along with my Bible reading. This did not go well.
You see, I do my Bible reading while enjoying my morning coffee/tea, and then I like to move on to another book while I eat breakfast. I suppose that reading the 
Handbook wasn’t a good enough change of pace for me, or something. I’m really not sure. But I am sure that what with basically reading an entire book of the New Testament every weekend, I just couldn’t keep up with Halley’s and do any other reading.
And so it sat. Oh, I had gotten a head start on it, reading the introductory chapters and those not explicitly connected with a book of the Bible, before the year even began. (I crunched the numbers, and it was 184 pages of “other” stuff.)
Essentially, Halley’s Bible Handbook is a concise commentary on the Bible, with extra Bible Dictionary/Encyclopedia bits and tangents built in.
As in most study Bibles, each book of the Bible is introduced with such topics as Author, Date, and Occasion of Writing. The commentary is then broken into major sections and subsections, so it’s much like Cliff Notes on the Bible. So if you wondered, say, what the topic was in Matthew 13, you could look it up and find out (I’m looking now) that it’s mostly Kingdom Parables.
For me, the really good parts of the Handbook were the archaeology notes and some of the More Info parts like the section on the inter-testamental Period and Church History.
Interestingly, the title page reveals what the author/editor feels to be The Most Important Page In This Book. In my copy, it’s page 814, and here’s how it starts:
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IN THIS BOOK
IS
This Simple Suggestion:
THAT EACH CHURCH HAVE A CONGREGATIONAL PLAN OF BIBLE READING
and
THAT THE PASTOR’s SERMON BE FROM THE PART OF THE BIBLE READ THE PAST WEEK
Thus connecting
The Pastor’s Preaching with the People’s Bible Reading.
Frankly, I agree with the sentiment, and I don’t doubt Halley’s assertion that this would result in a “Re-Vitalized Church.” But I also recognize that the re-vitalized church might be leaner. But those who remained would have, you know, Bible knowledge imparted to them.
So if you’re up for 800+ pages of really small print, pick up a copy at your local used book store. Or grab a new one from Amazon.
(One quick thing I wanted to note: Halley’s Bible Handbook is definitely targeted at Protestants, containing not a few anti-Roman statements/interpretations.)
