A young girl in my neighborhood sometimes suggests that we play what she calls matching games --- with various rules that I think she makes up. I thought of her as I read GOD’S STORY IN 66 VERSES.

Stan Guthrie has given us a right-fine volume, but I was never quite convinced that its content matched its title. The book provides a three-page summary of each of the 66 books of the Bible. The summary is introduced by a verse (one and only one) that Guthrie sees as being critical to the message or grounding of the biblical author’s message --- particularly as the one biblical book relates to the whole scriptural schema. The key verse is repeated but not always highlighted later in the chapter as part of the summary/outline.

"Overall, GOD’S STORY IN 66 VERSES is a good supplement when a big, bulky study Bible isn’t at the ready."

One chapter, as an example, starts with the easy-to-understand introduction: “Habakkuk proves the old adage ‘be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.’” A later chapter, on 2 Corinthians, starts by giving the historical setting: “It is a year after the writing of 1 Corinthians. Paul, in Macedonia, has heard that many in the fractious Corinthian church are questioning his apostleship and even his honesty…”

I would recommend this book as a primer for someone interested in the Bible who hasn’t read the Book but wants to understand its themes/threads. (Is this like a biblical Cliffs Notes? I’m not sure, as I don’t think I’ve ever read one of those distinctively yellow and black volumes.) And I’d also recommend it for someone who is reading the Bible in some systematic fashion (the Gospels, the New Testament, the Prophets or Histories, or starting at the very beginning); the chapter summaries would provide a heads up, giving insights to help keep one focused when one might otherwise get bogged down in the text. It also sometimes helpfully hooks future New Testament fulfillments to Old Testament themes.

Overall, GOD’S STORY IN 66 VERSES is a good supplement when a big, bulky study Bible isn’t at the ready. It lays out a plan of salvation as relevant and effective now as it was when the Scriptures were written.