This little
book is packed full of information. Dr.
William H. Marty has undertaken the task of bridging the gap in Biblical
history; the so called “Silent Years” between the end of the Old Testament and
the beginning of the New Testament.
While not
exhaustive, that would take a few volumes to explore several hundred years’
worth of history, The World of Jesus does a good job of hitting the highlights
of this period. There are a lot of
people to sort through and I have to confess that I got confused trying to keep
the historical figures straight. The
chapters of the book are broken up by time period such as the Persian Period,
the Greek Period, etc. But many of the
people can cover more than one period.
To me, the set up was a little hard to keep track of but I don’t know if
it really could have been simplified more than it has.
Before
receiving this book I had read a review claiming the book was a sensationalized
view of history; the people treated like stars in the tabloids. I did not find this to be the case. Unfortunately people’s sensibilities really
haven’t changed in twenty-five hundred years or so. I do not think the tabloid comparison a fair
one.
This is a
good book for anyone interested in learning more about the time between Testaments
and will whet the appetite for those wanting to dig deeper into history.
I received this
book free of charge from Bethany House Publishers in exchange for an honest
review.
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