The Bible from 30,000 feet by Skip Heitzig

The Bible from 30,000 feet, by Skip Heitzig. This book was published in September, 2017, by Harvest House. 

Book description: An Eye-Opening and Engaging Guide to the BibleEnjoy the magnificent panorama of Scripture like never before! Pastor Skip Heitzig shares a FLIGHT plan for all 66 books of the Bible to help you better understand the context and significance of each. In this one-year overview, you'll discover... 

• Facts—about the author and the date each book was written

• Landmarks—a summary of the highlights of the book

• Itinerary—a specific outline of the book divided by themes

• Gospel—how to see Jesus within the book's pages

• History—a brief glimpse at the cultural setting for the book

• Travel Tips—guidelines for navigating the book's truths

If you have ever found yourself getting lost and wandering from verse to verse in Scripture, put yourself firmly on track with the clear aerial view offered in The Bible from 30,000 Feet.

My thoughts: 

The author created a clever way to explore the Bible using flight as an acronym (see above). For each book of the Bible, he does a thorough job of going through all of the points listed. 

I found a few possible errors, depending on your stance toward modern Bible scholarship. For example, he contends that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible. 

This is a common view, however I have read that most modern Bible scholars do not believe the Pentateuch was written by Moses, or not all of it. (See How to read the Bible by Harvey Cox.) 

I am not a Bible scholar, so I will leave that debate to the experts. 

I am, however, someone well-acquainted with flight, as my husband and I travel frequently, both in commercial airlines and in our own small airplane. I would say that the title should be instead: The Bible from 5,000 Feet. 

From 30,000 feet, you don't see much ground detail, whereas from 5,000 feet, you see much more. This book is dense with details. In fact, it weighs in at 642 pages. The Bible itself is only about 350 pages long. 

So, will you learn much about the Bible while reading this book in conjunction? 

Of course. The information goes well beyond the short summaries found frequently at the beginning of each book of the Bible.  

I enjoyed seeing how Jesus figures into each book. I especially liked learning about the cultural setting. That is so important, if we hope to understand what the words might have meant to people in ancient times and how it sometimes dramatically changes what the words could or should mean to us.  

I was provided a free copy to read and review by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.