Begin: A Journey Through Scriptures for Seekers and New Believers

Begin is a journey through the Scriptures designed to help someone simply understand the structure and context of the Bible. Ken Ham and Bodie Hodge compiled this critical resource which brings to light often difficult concepts through easy-to-understand commentary. Readers will enjoy a quick and concise presentation of the following core concepts with a brief summary of events and history in-between Genesis 1- 11 (The Foundation), Exodus 20:1-17 (The 10 Commandments), John (The Gospel), Romans (An Epistle from Paul to the Christians), and Revelation 21-22 (The Fulfillment in Heaven).

The layout of the book is fairly good.  There are lots of spaces for notes, little factoids on every page, and the commentary is fairly light but focused on creation and the God story from beginning to end.  At the end of the book there are a few appendixes with some simple apologetics to answer the standard atheistic questions that arise.

While I was reading this, I tried to think what I would have thought of it as a new believer going through, and I’m pretty sure I would have devoured it in a couple of days, and it would have driven me to find out more about the claims they make, having been a fairly staunch atheist before coming to Christ.

However, I do not think this book would be right for every new believer.  I had just finished my Master’s and looking toward a PhD when I came to Christ, so I was thoroughly steeped in the world of academia and rhetoric.  So, something like Begin would have been a great starting point for me.  Someone just starting their walk with Christ without that background might find the apologetics a little heady and irrelevant for their life, and there are many other avenues of discipleship out there.

So, I’d recommend the book with the caveat that the new believer leans more towards the academic and theoretical than the practical and experiential.

Buy the book for $10.39

I received a review copy from the publisher.  All opinions are my own.

Featured Non-Profit

This December with every post till Christmas, I'm featuring a non-profit worthy of support.  You can see a complete list here.

Today's featured non-profit is Answers in Genesis.

One of the author's of Begin reviewed above, Ken Ham, is the president of Answers in Genesis, which is dedicated to supporting the church in fulfilling its commission; being a catalyst to bring reformation by reclaiming the foundations of our faith, which are found in the Bible from the very first verse; proclaiming the absolute truth and authority of the Bible with boldness; relating the relevance of a literal Genesis to the church and the world today with creativity; obeying God’s call to deliver the message of the gospel, individually and collectively; resourcefully equipping believers to defend their faith with excellence; willingly engaging society's challenges with uncompromising integrity; sacrificially serving the AiG family and others; and generously giving Christian love.

In summary, they are an apologetics that has been engaging the scientific community for years.  They are often ridiculed and mocked for their beliefs in creation.  Do a quick search for some of their material on Youtube for instance and you find thousands of comments from angry atheists making fun of them.  They are at the forefront of apologetics in science, and I think are worthy of some support.

You can support them by following this link.

See the video below for some of their educational materials they are developing: