John A. Beck

Summary: An introductory Bible atlas that combines an overview of the biblical narrative and colorful and detailed maps, with an emphasis on the significance of the geography to the unfolding plan of God.

Has this happened to you? You are reading a biblical narrative and come across a place name. You think you've heard of it before and that that might be significant. Or you wonder about the different places where Jesus and the disciples ministered, or where were the places where Paul traveled.

This book is a great companion to reading the Bible. After a satellite view of the Bible lands observing the major features of the Fertile Crescent, the land bridge of international travel from Babylon and Assyria running through the Promised Land and south to Egypt, and the land of Israel with the Jordan River valley between Galilee and the Dead Sea, the spiny ridgeline running through the center of the country, and the fertile shorelands, often occupied by Israel's enemies.

Beck then offers a narrative of the biblical story with an emphasis on the places where events occur and the movements of people. We discover that Shechem is the place where God shows Abram that Canaan is the land of promise, where Israel renewed its covenant with God, and that served as gathering place for the ten breakaway tribes of the northern kingdom. Under the name Sychar, it was the place where Jesus disclosed to an outcast Samaritan woman that, in him, the promises of God, and the longings of a thirsty heart, were filled.

Full color maps are interspersed with text, showing locations, routes traveled, and topography. From Jacob's flight to Egypt, wilderness wandering, conquest of Canaan, the losses and battle of Judges, the expansion and division of the kingdom under David, Solomon and successors, and the exilic journeys. As the narrative progresses, we have maps of the development of Jerusalem, from David's fortress capital, to the temple city of Solomon, to the religious, political and occupation center of the time of Jesus. Beck helps us trace the early forays of Philip and Peter out of Jerusalem, Paul's Damascus journey, and each of Paul's mission journeys and final journey to Rome. We conclude with the Seven Churches of John's Revelation, and the hope of the new Eden, the garden city with the tree of life.

The book also offers name and scripture indexes that help in finding pertinent maps. If I could make two suggestions, some maps identified locations of events, but no indication of chronology--numbers might help here. Also maps were overleaf, or occasionally separated by several pages from the narrative references to places.

Aside from these minor considerations, this is a great companion for one's Bible study with far more and larger maps than most study Bibles. The color renderings accompanied by the text that illuminates the significance of places transforms the reading of biblical texts from bewildering references to obscure place names to enhanced understanding of how places were important in the outworking of God's plans.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary review copy of this book from the publisher. The opinions I have expressed are my own.… (mais)

This Bible Atlas takes you through the Bible with maps. The maps are nice looking, and interesting to study.

But…There is a lot of reading, sort of summing up a lot of Israel's history and their geographical movements. Others may not mind it, but for some reason the readings seemed to distract me from the maps, rather than enhance them. Also, the maps don't always seem to fit with what is being talked about.

There were several 'iffy' statements made by this book that bothered me.

Beck states that animals were in the Garden of Eden to "provide companionship to the first humans who lived there.." . But doesn't that contradict Adam's not finding one suitable companion among the animals he named? If animals provide true companionship then Adam didn't really need Eve.

"On the one hand, the ark is a symbol of divine mercy, a rescue raft that keeps Noah's family and the animals aboard alive. On the other hand, the new spatial focus highlights the problem: those aboard cannot live without land, and there is no land on which to live. As the weeks go by and the limited supply of food on board the ark dwindles, we feel the pressing need to return to solid ground." Who says that those aboard cannot live without land? Couldn't God have kept them alive in the boat for any length of time? Couldn't He have kept the supply of food from running out?

"He(Jesus) spoke to their needs using language that reflected experiences from their lives. This included not only the rigors of farming and fishing but also debt slavery (Matt. 18:23-35) and being cheated - paid less than they were promised as day laborers in vineyards (20:1-16)."
And yet in a lot of the accounts of Christ speaking to the people he wasn't really speaking to be sympathetic regarding their hard lot but to make a point (and sometimes to make a point that they weren't supposed to understand - Matt 13:11-15). In the case of the day laborers, Jesus doesn't say that the point of the story was that the Master had cheated his servants, rather the thing we seem to need to take away about the Master seems to be that the Master can do whatever he wants, "But he answered and said to one of them, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a shilling? Take up that which is thine, and go thy way; it is my will to give unto this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? or is thine eye evil, because I am good?(Mat 20:13-15)" And, if one thinks that the point of the story is that servants are being cheated, what does that say the Kingdom of Heaven? Jesus said that this account is an illustration of the Kingdom of Heaven. So is the point of the story that the Kingdom of Heaven is an unjust Kingdom?

This book didn't really have me focused on the maps, it seemed to carry one through it all with seeming little thought to the maps actually being examined. But that's just my opinion, others may have no problem with it. And again, the maps themselves are rather nice, and are interesting to examine.

Thanks to the folks at Baker Books for sending me a free review copy of this book (My review did not have to be favorable).… (mais)

What a fantastic Bible reference book for study and just reading! The book isn’t big or long, but what it packs into 171 pages is incredible. I liked the way the book was arranged. I know the Bible is true and real without a doubt, but the author brought it to life for me. The Bible history, eye-catching, clear map illustrations and the wonderful word descriptions that went with them gave me a greater picture of the events I have read about so many times. I know from now on when I read my Bible what I have learned will come to mind and add to my time in the Word. Mr. Beck covered from Genesis to Revelations! Some thing that impressed me was the many scriptural references on every page. The scripture index and place names index at the back of the book make it simple to look up specific books, scriptures, locations you might be studying. A treasure to have! I know I will be using it often.
I received this book from Baker Publishing in exchange for an honest review. The opinions I stated are my own.… (mais)

This is a great new book for people longing to know more about the geography of the places that they read about in the Bible. The Basic Bible Atlas has maps to show the geography of the lands mentioned in both the Old Testament and New Testament and these colored maps are both beautiful and very detailed. From the Creation to Paul's missionary journeys, readers are given a glimpse of both the geography and the history of the different eras. I especially like that the travels of Jesus and his disciples are shown in detail and that all of the journeys are shown in red. I also appreciate that there is a Scripture Index.

The Basic Bible Index is perfect for both new and veteran Christians and I highly recommend it. I believe that it would be a wonderful resource for both home and church libraries.

I received a copy of this book from Baker Books Publishing Group. I was not obligated to post a positive review and these are my own thoughts.… (mais)