A One Year Trip through the Bible by Stephen Ruth

I finished reading through this book for the second time at New Year's.  It is a Bible and commentary separated out into daily readings based on a 365 day year.  As it does include the author's own thoughts, it does not include the whole Bible itself (eg genealogies) but various quotes from each section; it does, however, give the reference for the whole section so you can follow it up in your own Bible.  Additionally, this book include the Apocrypha.  Despite having been brought up in a Catholic church, I hadn't read the apocrypha before, so I find it really interesting.  One day, I would like to delve into why these books were excluded, as some of them certainly seem like they could be part of the canon (based on the excerpts I've read).


The description on Amazon reads:

Read The Bible With Commentary In A Year By Spending Only a Few Minutes Every Day-- The book aims at readers of any denomination who want the full Bible experience, with daily reflections--Genesis through Malachi in the Old Testament and Matthew through Revelation in the New Testament--in one year. (The Apocrypha is also included.) The theme is a layman's journey through scripture, so the comments are those of a visitor, not an experienced traveler, but expert Bible commentators are always nearby. Each day's reading requires 10-15 minutes, more or less, including scripture and commentary.

All the Great Stories, Prayers, Incidents and Memorable Characters Are Included--Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and his coat of many colors, Samson and Delilah, David and Goliath (there arereally two Goliath stories, one not involving David at all),  Jezebel and Ahab--and Jesus, Mary and Joseph, Peter and Paul, James and John, Herod, Pilate, Mary Magdalene, centurions, priests and all the heroes, villains and common people of the New Testament. The major character is Jesus, and since he knew the Hebrew Bible very well, there are countless times when he quotes the Psalms, prophets and Torah. several other translations occasionally used.

Easy to use--The book is designed to be simple to use and easy to read. It's possible to find various scripture passages, specific days' readings and even key words, with a click or two.

Inclusion commentators and other experts--The author, a lay person, has studied hundreds of outside resources, scripture experts from Christian, Jewish and other denominations. His role is mostly as a person being whisked along on a year-long tour by expert guides, although sometimes he disagrees with the tour leaders.

Layman's perspective--As a layperson who is still marveling at the immense complexity of the Bible, the author's spin on each day's readings is different from that of an expert. It must be. Yet the essential Bible messages shine through every day.

Frequent geographical updates and maps--There are many comments on the "where" of the scripture. When the Israelites go to the wilderness of Paran, its current location (on the Sinai Peninsula) is described. Abraham lived near Hebron in today's Israel. Jonah's Nineveh is probably today's Mosul, Iraq. The journeys of Paul, which covered about ten thousand miles, and the movements of Jesus are described in contemporary geographical detail with maps and charts.

 Famous quotes are singled out--The best-known stories, sayings, prayers, curses and hymns of the Bible are emphasized. In most cases there are special graphics to call attention to these  memorable lines from the Old and New Testaments.

Enumeration of commandments, feasts, blessings, curses, etc.--Whenever there are important enumerations, bold numbers or brackets set them off. You'll find this in the tribes of Israel, the Ten Commandments, the ten plagues, the three dreams that guided Joseph early in Matthew, etc.

Some examples from the Latin Mass--Just skip these parts if you want. Pilate probably said in Latin"Quod scripsi scripsi" ("what I have written, I have written"--meaning leave the words labeling Jesus "King of the Jews" as they are) in the Passion story. For Catholics of a certain age, many psalms will be quite familiar. Psalm 43, for example, includes "I will go to the altar of God", "Introibo ad altare dei" .That's what the priest said during the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar. The altar boy's reply was "Ad Deum qui laetificat juventutem meam" or "to God who is the joy of my youth".

Reference to useful web site--Internet links are provided for further study of Solomon's temple, of Michelangelo's Moses statue and dozens of others.

Other translations included--While the basic Bible source is New Revised Standard Version, some other translations are also included.

So, if you wanted to be guided as you read through the Bible in a year, I would recommend this book.  As I said, it's not the complete Bible, so I tend to alternate years between this and a full Bible in a Year.  (This year, I am doing a Bible Read-though with a friend from church - we aim to try and complete the whole Bible in 6 months, meeting up weekly to discuss passages that caught our eye.)  While I know some Christians may have an issue with this, I particularly like how the commentator doesn't always accept the Bible to be literal, but judges the different styles of writing as they are (whether that be history, prose, metaphor, prophecy, revelation, opinion etc).  I may not always agree with Ruth's comments, but I find his stance to be a refreshing read.  And as I said before, I liked the chance to read the apocrypha.  I think every Christian should read it once, just to be able to make an informed decision about it, and to understand some of the history of the Jews (eg the book of Maccabees) that is not included in the Protestant Old Testament.