The Baker illustrated Bible handbook / edited by J. Daniel Hays and J. Scott Duvall.

Includes bibliographical references.

God's story (and your story) -- The grand story of the Bible -- How is the Bible organized? -- The beginning and the end -- The Old Testament --The Pentateuch -- The Historical books -- The Wisdom books and Psalms -- The Prophets -- The history between the Old and New Testaments-- The history of Palestine between the Old and New Testaments -- The New Testament -- The setting for the New Testament -- An overview of the life of Christ -- What is a Gospel? And why are there four Gospels? -- The synoptic problem -- Gospels -- The Book of Acts and Letters of Paul -- The general letters -- Apocalyptic literature -- How the bible came to be -- The inspiration of the bible -- The production and shaping of the Old Testament canon -- Writing, copying, and transmitting the New Testament text -- The canon of the New Testament -- The Dead Sea Scrolls -- The Septuagint -- Bible translations and the English Bible -- Translations for the world -- Digging deeper into the Bible -- How to read, interpret, and apply the Bible -- The unity and diversity of the bible -- The use of the Old Testament in the New Testament -- How to interpret and apply Old Testament law -- How to interpret parables -- How to interpret and enjoy figures of speech in the bible -- Literary features in the Bible -- Archaeology and the Bible -- Are there hidden codes in the bible? -- Responding to contemporary challenges to the Gospels.

Provides the ambience of the ancient world-its cultures,customs,and histories. Contains one thousand one hundred colored pages with illustrations,maps,photos and one hundred twelve in-depth articles on a wide range of topics. Each part of the Bible fits into and informs every other part forming a cohesive understanding of God's word.