THE LION CONCISE ATLAS OF BIBLE HISTORY
By Paul Lawrence
Lion Hudson. 191 pages. £12.99
ISBN 978 0 745 955 322
When we hear of a reference work published by Lion, we expect a high quality product, both in presentation and content. This book is no disappointment.
It is concise and designed to help the Bible reader locate each major incident or section in its context, historically and geographically. It does this well. The text is broken up into around 80 two-page articles. Each topic has a clear map or photographs, etc. of relevant material. The text summarises the content of that biblical time.
The author treats the Bible as historical from the beginning. Where there are disputes, he gives both sides, usually very fairly. His expertise is in Hebrew and archaeology and so he tends to come down on one side of the archaeological argument. An example of this would be with the date of the Exodus. It is not possible to weigh up the opposing views in one page of text, so it is a pity he took a preferred line.
There are a couple of relatively small matters of concern. Firstly, the destruction of Jericho. Mr. Lawrence argues that the collapsed wall has not been found, but he must know that there are those who believe this has been discovered. Second, in his reference to the birth of Christ, he quotes the biblical passage which includes ‘no room in the inn’. But some specialists in the Middle East and in the Greek text dispute that translation.
However, this is a good little book and will be appreciated by young people, and older, wanting to understand the biblical background without resorting to larger volumes.
Dr. J.H. John Peet,
member of Chertsey Street Baptist Church, Guildford
