Tuesday, March 26, 2013

One Perfect Life by John MacArthur

One Perfect Life by John MacArthur is more than just a harmony of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  In many study bibles an outline of the gospel harmony can be found apart from the actual biblical text.  In chronological study bibles, the text of the gospels is grouped chronologically- in which certain events are included multiple times from the different gospels.  This book is the harmony of Jesus' life including the full text of the New King James version of the bible.  In other words, it is not only an outline where the reader must piece together the texts himself.  Nor is it like a chronological study bible where you can read each individual account or multiple accounts of the same event as retold be the gospels, side by side or one after the other.  MacArthur seams the gospel accounts into one all encompassing account.  Matthew is used as the base text with regards to events that are retold in multiple accounts for one cohesive story of events.  Additionally, the author goes beyond the gospels but also includes biblical material from the old testament as well as other bible  books in the new testament as well.  This is done to give a very complete picture of Jesus' life in which prophetic old testament material is also included.  John MacArthur has done a lot of work into creating this book which takes all the material of the bible pertaining to Jesus and presents it to the reader.  Unlike bible commentaries or summaries of Jesus' life, this is not simply the author's words but the actual bible text.  Therefore this handy reference can also be used for study and memorization as well.  Also included are explanatory notes on the verses- similar to the extensive study notes that may be found in a study bible.  These notes are included in small font at the bottom of the page so as not to be confused with the actual bible text.  For those who wish to commit the life of Jesus to memory without having to flip around the pages of four different gospels this is the perfect resource.  As a blogger I received this book from Thomas Nelson for the purpose of writing this review. 

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