The Book of Books by Trevor Dennis

This week’s review is of a book that I was really looking forward to reviewing. Instead, I found a book I could not even force myself to read in its entirety.

Typically I will not express criticism of a book that I have not read completely. In this situation, I will commit to not comment on what I have not read. I can honestly say, however, that even if what I did not read was perfectly in line with Scripture in every way, I would still not be able to recommend this book simply because of the low view of Scripture presented in what I did read.

The book is entitled The Book of Books and is written by Trevor Dennis. It is a retelling of stories that make up the Bible. Each story has an introduction written by the author to give some context, followed by his version of the Bible story.

The first red flag showed up in the book’s introduction. The author indicated his belief that the entire Old Testament was written during or after the exile when the Jews felt that they needed to preserve their heritage by either writing down the stories that had been passed down to them or by inventing new stories that fit with their faith.

As I continued on through the book itself, I started to jot down the perspectives that made me cringe. I hoped they would be few, but they were not. I will share here only the few that, in addition to the authorship issues, are the most critical in my opinion.

1. Beginning with Adam being created as a child instead of a man and God having to figure out how to help him survive and thrive, God is presented as a being who must work out problems rather than the omniscient, omnipotent God that He is.
2. The author tends to use obscure information to create his interpretations. One example is mentioned in the introduction and repeated in the story of David and Goliath. According to the author, David’s stone hit Goliath just above the knee, not in the forehead. The Hebrew word meaning “between the eyes” and typically translated in Scripture as “forehead” is apparently similar to the Hebrew word meaning “greaves (the armor that goes on the shin).” So, the author decided to make that change in his retelling of David and Goliath.
3. Sin is greatly glossed over in this book. It is not ignored, but it is primarily discussed in reference to an individual’s sin. The sin of Israel, both in their desert wanderings and after their settlement in the promised land, are not directly linked to their delayed arrival in the promised land or their exile.
4. Jesus is named as the Messiah, the Christ, and the Son of God, but not as God incarnate. He is simply presented as someone who revealed God to the people and helped them understand Him better rather that being presented as Immanuel, God with us.
5. In some places the resurrection is stated as fact, but in other places there is an insinuation that the disciples simply felt Jesus’ presence with them so strongly that they thought He had risen from the dead. It is hard to determine which belief the author is supporting.

These are just a few of the many issues I found in The Book of Books. But even had I only found these five, I still would not be able to recommend this book. If you’re looking for a story retelling of the Bible to share with your children or new believes, I would be delighted to point you to other more faithful renderings.

This book was sent to me by Kregel in exchange for my honest review.