Frameworks: How to Navigate the New Testament

A brand new Christian who is sitting in the pew hears the pastor say – “Open up to Habbakuk 3:1” and has no idea where to even start looking for that book – or a seasoned Christian who has sat through innumerable sermons and Bible studies but wants to learn about the Bible on his own… this book by Eric Larson is for those two Christians and everyone in between.

Frameworks, according to Larson, is…

A book about Bible navigation and context – material that’s designed to build your confidence in your ability to negotiate the text and understand it. Think of it as a guidebook, a Bible companion, written for anyone who would like to have a personal biblical tour guide. This book can be sued for self-study, in small group discussions, or in classrooms to set the context for Bible reading and to lead you through it. (15)

This book certainly lives up to its stated purposes. Larson helps you navigate through the New Testament first by providing an introduction to the New Testament as a whole. Here he gives you the background necessary to read the gospels and all of the NT letters. Then he takes you through each New Testament book one by one. As he takes you through these books he answers 10 questions:

1. What is the book like?
2. What is this book about?
3. Why was it written?
4. How is the book organized?
5. How does it read?
6. How do I move through it?
7. What makes the book or its author special?
8. What should I remember most?
9. How can I explore further or go deeper?
10. What one verse can I apply right now?

What I liked

There are several things that really stuck out to me as being fantastic about this book:

1. Solid use of evangelical scholarship that doesn’t dumb things down but makes things accessible to the general reader.
2. Helpful organization of the content.
3. Very helpful and memorable introductions to each book.
4. Some really amazing pictures and graphics.
5. Easy to read layout.

What I Didn’t Like

Naturally there are some things that I didn’t like about the book:

1. The introduction to the synoptic gospels harmonizes the books too much and doesn’t allow each book to speak for itself.
2. Some of the pictures were clearly stock photos, which I feel like I have seen elsewhere.
3. Some of the graphics were poor in quality, its almost like they didn’t print out well.
4. There were some typos throughout the book.
5. Some of his book “themes” were quite a stretch, its as if he preferred to have an easy to memorize/catchy statement over a more accurate one.

Overall Thoughts

This is a fantastic New Testament survey which will definitely help “ordinary” people navigate their way through the New Testament. I wouldn’t use this book for a NT survey class in a college or seminary, however this might be an awesome textbook for somebody teaching a New Testament survey at a Christian high school or in a Sunday school class. Regardless of how you use it though, it sure is helpful, and it even sparked some ideas within me for preaching series!

(Note: I received this book courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an impartial review.)