Book Recommendation: "Telling God's Story"

Preben Vang and Terry G. Carter. Telling God’s Story: The Biblical Narrative from Beginning to End. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2006. ISBN: 0-8054-3282-5


In the past several years, Preben Vang and Terry G. Carter, who are currently professors at the Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, noticed a startling trend when they surveyed the school’s incoming students. Surprisingly, the majority of freshmen, even those who were avid readers of the Bible and hailed from strong churches, were unable to place major biblical events in their proper chronology. Vang and Carter surmised that the reason for this deficit is that biblical educators often fail to present the numerous events that are recorded in the Old and New Testaments as individual brush strokes that, when viewed together, reveal one grand masterpiece–God’s story. The purpose for which Vang and Carter published Telling God’s Story is to help students of the Bible to understand how each part of Scripture relates to the whole.


The book begins with a nine page overview of the Bible, presented in narrative format. This is followed by a brief introduction to the background of the Bible story which tackles relevant topics such as biblical testaments and covenants, the canonicity of Scripture, and the necessity of regarding the Bible as the inspired Word of God. The remainder of the work is divided into sections which focus on individual stories, while at the same time demonstrating how these episodes fit into the overall story. Carter authored the Old Testament part of the volume, while Vang penned the New Testament portion.


Telling God’s Story contains a number of beneficial features. First, because the majority of the Bible is in narrative form, Vang’s and Carter’s method is a natural way to approach Scripture. For this reason, teachers in different arenas of service will find the resource useful. Not only does Telling God’s Story make an excellent textbook for Old or New Testament Survey courses, it also deserves a place on the shelf of the missionary who ministers in oral cultures that transmit information via stories.


Second, the end of each episode contains Vang’s and Carter’s detailed outline of the story of the Bible, which is divided into twelve major events (Creation, Crisis, Covenant, Calling Out, Conquest, Kingdom, Kingdom Divided, Captivity, Coming Home, Christ, Church, Consummation). The segment of the story on which an episode focuses appears in bold print in the outline so that at a glance the reader may see its relationship to the rest of Scripture.


Third, each episode is subdivided into “acts,” much like a play. At the end of each act is a series of study questions that cause the reader to think in-depth about the material that was just presented. The purpose of these questions is to reinforce the goal of viewing Scripture as a “flowing narrative” rather than merely helping one to remember a few Bible facts.


Fourth, easy to read charts and illustrations are scattered throughout the text. These serve to encapsulate concepts and themes in such a way that they can be grasped at a glance. Worthy of note is Carter’s portrayal of the three hundred years of disobedience, judgment, and deliverance during the time of the Judges (p. 94), as well as his representation of the dynasties of the Northern and Southern Kingdoms (p. 130). Additionally, Vang’s arrangement of Jesus’ parables (pp. 205-6) and miracles (pp. 212-14) is superb.


The biblical narrative does not exist in a vacuum, so Vang and Carter, fifth, described the settings in which the story transpired. Their familiarity with the cultures of ancient Israel and her surrounding neighbors provided both depth and insight. An illustration of this is the observation that God’s punishment of Egypt before the Israelite exodus was a religious conflict. The ten plagues were aimed at the so-called powers of the gods of Egypt in order to demonstrate that the God of Israel was the only true God (pp. 65-66). The significance of Jesus’ institution of the Lord’s Supper during the Jewish Passover meal (pp. 225-28) is another example of the authors’ ability to illuminate Scripture.


One minor shortcoming in the Old Testament section is Carter’s periodic hesitation to commit to a particular view when various interpretations have been proposed by scholars. For instance, Carter discussed the three main positions regarding the intactness of the image of God in mankind after Adam and Eve sinned, but he never committed to any of them (p. 35). This reluctance, however, may be because the authors of Telling God’s Story intended to present the Bible as a narrative instead of writing a commentary.


In summary, Vang and Carter succeeded in producing a much-needed volume that this reviewer highly recommends. Not only does Telling God’s Story reveal a deficiency in the way which educators often present the Bible, it also provides a practical solution which helps the reader to examine God’s Word in the way which God intended it to be examined. Laymen, students, teachers, and missionaries alike will find this edition worthwhile, enjoyable, and enlightening.