The Sampler Bible

What is the Sampler Bible and why should you bother reading it?

Although the Bible has been the best-selling book every year in a row since the invention of the printing press (a 500 year run), it often sits on shelves...unread.

So how can the Sampler Bible help you overcome some of these stumbling blocks?

1. It is relatively small. At 1/4 of the full Bible, it only would take the average person 25 hours to read.

2. It is understandable. Care was exercised in choosing the main events for the Sampler Bible, and notes on the side help explain what might be difficult to figure out.

3. It is surprisingly relevant. Again, because the Sampler Bible is only the highlights of the full Bible, it contains events and issues of the Bible that are easy to relate to with your life.

4. It is interesting. Not only does the Sampler Bible give you the most interesting samples of each book of the Bible, it also gives you samples of the most popular versions (translations) of the Bible (19 different versions were used in the Sampler Bible).

5. It is straightforward. Since the Sampler Bible is only the highlights of the full Bible, you can just start reading it from the beginning - just like any book you might read.

6. It could be life-changing. The words found in the Sampler Bible have influenced so much: architecture, philosophy, art, history, science, literature, and most importantly, lives.

Steve Elzinga is the Senior Pastor of Pathway Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the founder of Onyourgates - a ministry that provides personalized, Bible-based evangelism products so that churches and Christian organizations can reach out in a personalized way to their own communities.