After Chapters and Verses: Engaging the Bible in the Coming Generations - Softcover

Smith, Christopher R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0830856005 ISBN 13: 9780830856008

Publisher: IVP Books, 2010

Synopsis

After Chapters and Verses traces the history of the features that were added over time to the Bible such as chapter and verse numbers, section headings and study notes. It shows how these features get in the way of our understanding the Scriptures, and it explains how the International Bible Society (now Biblica) designed a new format to remove these roadblocks to reading and comprehension.

The book also looks to the future, showing how we can read, study, preach, and teach the Bible more meaningfully and effectively by engaging its books the way their authors originally intended.

About this title

From the Author:

This book captures the thinking behind The Books of the Bible, an edition from Biblica and Zondervan that removes chapter and verse numbers and section heads and instead presents the biblical books according to their natural literary outlines.  In the book I tell the story of the experiences I had that allowed me to make a vital contribution to the development of the edition as part of a skilled and visionary team.  I also tell how the pioneering "initial adopters" of the format have already begun to transform what it means to engage the Bible through their new approaches to reading, studying, preaching, and teaching.  I'm convinced that we need to move into a new era of Bible engagement, "after chapters and verses," if we want the coming generations to appreciate the Bible as much as previous ones did. This is the story of the dawning of that era.

From the Back Cover:

In today's culture, people are reading their Bibles less and less. If this trend continues, within 30 years the Bible will be a thing of the past for most followers of Jesus. One of the main reasons why younger generations aren't reading the Bible is its format. The grid of chapters and verses keeps them from seeing the stories, songs, poems, and dreams that naturally fill its pages.

After Chapters and Verses shows that this grid is a late and artificial addition to the Scriptures. It tells how the International Bible Society (now Biblica) designed a new format to enable people to read and understand the Scriptures much better without chapters and verses. And it describes the exciting new approaches that people using this format are already taking to reading, studying, preaching, and teaching God's word.

About this edition

• Publisher: IVP Books
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0830856005
• ISBN 13: 9780830856008
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 234