"Is the Bible Reliable" is a 2-DVD set and study guide where the teacher, Dr. Stephen Meyer, leads a small group of 24 college-age students through biblical journeys defending the historicity and reliability of the Bible. It is produced by Focus on the Family and is extremely similar to "The Truth Project", produced by the same organization.
If you've seen or participated in The Truth Project, then you understand the setting for this series well: classroom setting. The lessons are interesting: (1)The Patriarchal Narratives and the Documentary Hypothesis, (2)The Exodus: From Egypt to Canaan, (3)The Israelite Conquest, (4)The United Kingdom of David and Solomon, (5)Historicity of the Old Testament: A Tale of Two Conquests, (6)The Babylonian Conquest of Judah, (7)Canons of Historicity: The New Testament, (8)Early Composition of Luke and Acts, (9)External Corroboration, and (10)The Trial of Jesus.
Meyer obviously knows his stuff...he proves it well in this series. He seems to teach well, but sometimes he was a bit too fast or "skittish". I tried hard not to compare him and this series to Dr. Dell Tackett's "The Truth Project", but I did. I thought TTP was less hurried, if you will. Thankfully, it is a DVD series, so the facilitators are free to press the pause button in order to take extra time for more thorough discussion. Certainly, 30-minute overviews are not capable of covering every conceivable detail. So, lots of facts, charts, and maps are crammed into the lesson in quick order.
Which leads me to the next issue: time. I think the lessons could have been longer, so as to not feel rushed through the information. I understand the audience is young people, but hey, it's high time we teach young people that exploration takes considerable time, and is not complete in a quick episode.
The physicality of the study guide is pretty nice! Sturdy, colorful pages. However, the content is lacking for being a study guide. There doesn't seem to be too much depth in the guide, as if the students don't have the time to think through in discussion. I would have liked to see it go deeper.
I likely would not purchase this series with my own money. If someone bought it for a small group of students and asked me to facilitate, I would. But I think the money would be much better spent purchasing "The Truth Project", though. That one is produced with adults in mind, but college-age students wouldn't be left behind in that series. This one seems a bit redundant in that respect.
I give "Is the Bible Reliable 3.5 stars out of 5...primarily for presentation. I knock it down a point for being too rapid, and a half point for redundancy.
Disclaimer: I received this free DVD in exchange for my unbiased opinion of its content and presentation. I was not expected to provide a positive review of this title. All opinions are mine.
Often, many researchers who doubt the history of the Bible may say things like: "In the real world, miracles have never occurred." These statements may influence people's minds. They may say that the issues described in the Bible are unreliable.
ReplyDeleteHowever, it is good to note that such statements are nothing new: They have been presented over the course of the past two hundred years. Actually, it is interesting to note that as Darwin's theory of evolution, and the theory of the Ice Age became well-known, criticism of the Bible simultaneously began to gain ground. Researchers began to spring up who questioned the writings about the life of Jesus and other Biblical events. They may have thought that if the Creation and the Flood are not true in light of these theories, we would then have no reason to believe information about Jesus. So it is certainly not by chance that all three issues were raised almost simultaneously.
In any case, it is good for us to study this. The purpose is, especially, to help those people who want to know more about the reliability of Biblical information, and to show how reasonable it is to trust in the truth of described events. If you struggle with this issue, it is worth your while to read further.
More info; http://www.jariiivanainen.net/canwetrustcriticismoftheBible.html
MWD, well said!
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