The Story Bible Together with Tales from the Midrash: Book 2 from Joshua Through the Life of Solomon

Plot

A story Bible that impart treasured heritage in a form that its integrity and beauty would be closely preserved. The writer tried to follow the dictum of not teaching anything that would later have to be unlearned. For example, the treatment of miracles is described as it was experienced by the poeple in the story with a rational explantion based upon scientific findins suggest or implied. The writer has tried to avoid undue emphasis on an anthropomorphic conception of God. The writer has not exposed children unduly to material which may be emotionally disturbing.

One of the things that give the Bible such an enduring place in our lives is the deeply human quality of its people. The Bible never assumes that even the greatest of its heroes was without fault or weakness. It shows, rather, how the heroic qualities of personality develop through struggle and the overcoming of obstacles. Surely such a presentation is more psychologically sound for children than the idealized images of men and women which the teachers of the Bible stories often like to portray, together with the glorified picture of Israel as a whole. The writer has tried to present the early history of Israel as the realistic struggle of a people and its great leaders, who, though truly inspired by an epic ideal, nevertheless were very human in their failings and very much a part of the world in which they lived.