Bethlehem Morning, Before and Beyond

Bethlehem Morning, Before and Beyond is intended for people who have no background in the Bible. Maybe they’ve never held a Bible or owned one, but they are curious. The reader will quickly learn that understanding the Bible is not child’s play. It requires effort, a serious application of the mind. But the diligent student will be rewarded far beyond his/her expectations.

Each person has his or her own reasons for investigating the Bible. Without disturbing those personal reasons, the reader soon learns that the Bible presents its own reasons why it should be studied. One reason is that the Scriptures claim to be inspired by God which means men wrote down in their own words the thoughts God gave them. "For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God.” Living Bible 2 Pet. 1:21.

Another purpose is to learn about God. What is He like? We can say what we think God should be like; "God is good, God is kind, God is true.” But definitions limit. Just as truth is greater than any definition of it, so God is greater than any definition of Him. So rather than asserting formal definitions of God, it is better to discover what He is like from how He interacts with humankind. However, He has described Himself with these memorable words, “God is love” which challenges us to interpret all His actions in the light of principled love.

The Bible is a book of sacred history, poetry, wise sayings, short stories, prophecies, and biographies designed to accomplish God’s purposes for His readers. One can drop in, read a snippet here and there and be benefitted. But to get the most from Scripture, it is best to follow a connected line of study with a specific aim in view. We have several aims, such as to learn what God is like, to know for sure that He is real, that He can be trusted, and that He is worthy of our devotion. In this book you will be directed to a website that contains scientific videos giving one confidence in Bible history, www.evidenceforbelieving.com, then click on videos.

This book follows a story track. It travels back in time 4000 years (2000 B.C.) to visit events where God revealed Himself dramatically and intimately which soon catapults the reader to our day in just a few chapters. It starts with the Christmas story, the familiar events surrounding the birth of Jesus. From there it flashes back to events leading up to His birth.

As one reads the Bible, s/he is learning how cultures thought and talked thousands of years ago, which in some cases are different from the way we think and talk today. Although the Bible has had a great influence on how people think and talk in Christian countries. Questions will rise: Why did God do that? Did God really intend doing that or did He just lead the people to think that He was doing that? Why does He befriend such ignorant, disobedient savages? Most problems will resolve themselves with further study. Some may never be answered to our satisfaction. They’ve been debated for years. The lack of good answers for every question should never stop us from studying the Bible. There are many questions about earth, sea, and sky, and living things that we don’t have answers for yet, but we still use them and enjoy them.

You're going to like this book!