Project True Story

One of the great needs of our day is to retrieve the reading and understanding of the Bible in our cultures. Getting into the Bible is not always easy as it is a library of some 66 books written in cultures often very different to our own. A major key to unlocking the Bible is to come to grips with the overarching story the Bible tells, what we like to call The True Story of the Whole World. Once we discover how the whole fits together and then we can start to see how the parts fit within the whole, as well as how we fit within the grand story the Bible tells.

This page introduces you to three major resources associated with KLC in this respect.

The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story

Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen. 2nd ed. (London: SPCK; Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004)

The Drama of Scripture provides an engaging overview of the storyline and theology of the Bible. The authors work their way through the Bible as a drama with six acts – creation, sin, Israel, Jesus, mission and new creation. Their study provides an introduction to the Bible and a commentary on important passages, while helping the reader relate their story to the Bible story at each point.

The Drama of Scripture has turned out to be an international bestseller, having sold well over 100 000 copies. It was written as an undergraduate textbook but has been used in a variety of contexts apart from, but including, the lecture theatre. It is now available in one form or another in some 12 languages. The most recent translations are the French and the Mongolian ones. In 2024 Baker Academic will publish a 20th Anniversary 3rd edition.

Drama has been translated into many languages:

Translation into Russian (Cherkasy, UA: Colloquium Publishing, 2009).
Translation into Korean (Seoul, SK: Intervarsity Press, 2009).
Translation into Musselmani Bengali. Translated by Institute for Classical Languages Trust; (Muhammadpur, Dhaka, BD: Padma Educational Services Ltd., 2010)
Translation into Chinese (CN: Enoch Communications, 2012)
Translation into Spanish (Bellingham: Lexham Press, 2017)
Translation into Portuguese (São Paulo, BR: Edições Vida Nova, 2017)
Translation into Romanian (Alba-Iulia, RO: Reintregirea, 2017)
Translation into Hungarian (Budapest, HU: John Calvin Publishing House of the Reformed Church Publishers, 2018)
Translation into Farsi (London, UK: Pars Theological Centre, 2019)
Translation into French (Trois-Rivières, QC: Publications Chrétiennes, 2021)

Audiobook version (Rapid City, SD: Two Words Publishing, LLC, 2020)

You can find more resources related to Drama by visiting https://missionworldview.com/.

Much recent scholarship has emphasized the narrative quality of Scripture. This book takes that insight and brings it to life, enabling even the beginner to grasp the sense of Scripture as a single great story - a drama in which we are all invited to play a part. I am delighted to see solid scholarship made easily accessible in this splendid fashion.

The Drama of Scripture is just what we would expect, and need, from the partnership of an accomplished biblical scholar and a noted missiologist. This is an entrée into the grand sweep of God's story told with a keen eye for Christian formation and the mission of God's people. Though Bartholomew and Goheen are obviously in conversation with relevant scholarship, their narrative is uncluttered and disarmingly transparent in its invitation for us not only to grasp but also to be grasped by the big story of God's project.

Bartholomew and Goheen do a masterful job of presenting the Bible as an organic whole. They powerfully demonstrate how the themes of covenant and the kingdom of God provide a coherence for Scripture that helps the reader make sense of its varied parts. I enthusiastically recommend this book as a university-level textbook, but all who want to enrich their understanding of the account of God's redemptive plan will benefit from reading it.

Nothing could be more necessary for the teaching of Scripture and the understanding of Christian theology than a command of the biblical grand narrative. In this introductory text, Bartholomew and Goheen make it possible for students to situate fragmentary knowledge of the Bible within a coherent view of the canonical Scriptures - that larger story that both forms and, when central to living memory, unites the church.

This is a vivid introduction to reading the Bible as a coherent story of God's purposes for the world. It will not only help the new reader but will also enable the experienced reader to distinguish the central themes of Scripture from mere sidelights.

The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama

Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen. 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids: Brazos, 2020)

The True Story of the Whole World explores the grand story line of the Bible, showing how God’s action in the world gives meaning to our lives and provides us with a foundation for our actions. This revised editions has been updated and streamlined throughout.

True Story has a fascinating history. SPCK in London published the first edition of Drama under the same title but as a more church, user-friendly version. Faith Alive in the USA picked up this more user-friendly version and published it very successfully in the USA as The True Story of the Whole World. True Story has sold well and recently Brazos Press (part of Baker) published a 2nd edition of it.

A revised version of True Story with Baker came out in 2020.

The book has also been translated:

Translation into Korean (Seoul: Holy Wave Plus Publishing)
Translation into Mongolian (Fellowship of Campus Students Mongolia)

What a shockingly bold title, The True Story of the Whole World, and it lives up to every word. This book masterfully synthesizes the biblical narrative without sacrificing important exegetical details. It prompts readers to sit back in awe of the history of redemption while also compelling them to get on with Jesus' kingdom mission. Its predecessor, The Drama of Scripture, was required reading for all our church's interns and residents. I am now thrilled to recommend this more accessible version to our whole church.

I know of no book that is more important to our current and emerging times than The True Story of the Whole World. This book is accessible and tremendously impactful. Goheen and Bartholomew have immersed me and so many others in the world-altering story of Jesus Christ. Their book presents a breadth of biblical wisdom that helps us make sense of why the modern church is anemic in its calling to be the light of the world. I recommend The True Story of the Whole World to all who desire wisdom. Read and apply this book to your lives and ministries.

The 30-Minute Bible: God’s Story for Everyone

Craig G. Bartholomew and Paige P. Vanosky. (Downers Grove, ILL: IVP, 2021)

We know about the Bible. We may know some Bible stories, or maybe we’ve even read large portions for ourselves. But what it’s really all about? How do all the different pieces fit together? Without a sense of the big story the Bible is telling, we’ll miss out on the good news God has for us. In The 30-Minute Bible, experienced Bible teachers Craig Bartholomew and Paige Vanosky present the story of Scripture in thirty short readings, each designed to take about half an hour. Each includes a passage from the Bible and a short chapter explaining how the passage fits into the Bible’s wider narrative. Written in straightforward and clear language, the readings are accompanied by Brother Martin Erspamer’s lovely illustrations. Discover the timeless story of the Bible―in thirty minutes a day for thirty days.

This book follows the same approach as the above two but is written at a wonderfully accessible level.

The idea is that if readers will devote 30 minutes a day for 30 days, the book takes them through the whole story of the Bible. The book is ideal for group as well as individual study.

See more at https://www.30minutebible.com.

The 30-Minute Bible has also been translated into Korean:

The Bible can be a daunting tome. Its length, complexity, and journey through thousands of years make comprehending it seem like a daunting task for even the most dedicated of readers. The 30-Minute Bible takes the fear out of even opening to the first page. One of the gifts of reading Scripture is discovering how relational God is. The approachable nature of this book reflects God's desire to relate to us through God's Word even today. To be able to spend thirty minutes a day to hear God's eternal voice in our world is nothing short of a gift.

The Bible is an extremely complex book, made up of many books written in a variety of literary genres over a long period of time. It is easy to get lost amid this complexity. And so it is part of our missional and theological task today to provide clear maps that tell the story as lucidly as possible to enable God's people to place different parts of the Bible within its overarching narrative structure. In The 30-Minute Bible Bartholomew and Vanosky provide just such a map. It can help even beginners to not just understand the Bible's story but be shaped by it instead of the false, idolatrous stories of our culture.

There can be no more urgent task for the church today than to recover the biblical story. Here in thirty accessible, informative, and satisfying bites, Bartholomew and Vanosky clearly set out the key developments in the biblical story from creation to new creation. This book will enable the reader to see how the Bible fits together, to identify the big themes, and to recognize how Jesus fulfils God's purposes for humankind and for the world. And, crucially, it will also enable readers to find their own place in the unfolding drama of God's great story. As a pastor, this is the book I have been waiting for! I want to put a copy into the hands of every family under my care.

Paige and Craig have written the book that we always knew we needed but could never find. This is an essential tool for discipling God's people to take up our role in God's story!

Project True Story

The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story

The True Story of the Whole World: Finding Your Place in the Biblical Drama

The 30-Minute Bible: God’s Story for Everyone

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