Faith leader wants Christians to 'love their Bibles': It is 'true and trustworthy,' he says
A Texas pastor wants to help people better apply the lessons of the Bible to their own lives with the help of a new book, "The Jesus Book: Reading and Understanding the Bible for Yourself."
"The subtitle really says it all – reading and understanding the Bible for yourself," Jack Graham told Fox News Digital in a telephone interview ahead of his book's Nov. 5 publication.
Graham is senior pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, which has locations in Plano and Prosper, Texas.
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"My goal is for people to understand what the Bible is all about and the basics of why we believe the Bible – why we believe it is true and trustworthy," he said.
In the book, Graham reveals more about the history of the Bible, how it was assembled and why Christians believe it to be inspired by God.
The Bible, Graham said, "is the bestselling book of all time. And yet, some would say maybe it's the most unread bestseller of all time. Many people have a Bible, but they've never read it."
"The Jesus Book," he said, is for both the new believer and lifelong, Bible-literate Christians.
"Every Christian needs to understand what the Bible is telling us," Graham said.
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"Everyone could grow in their faith as a result of what we talk about," he said of the book.
"The Jesus Book" includes what Graham called the "fundamentals" of the Christian faith, describing the differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament, as well as explaining "what the Gospels are about."
Beyond the basics, the book "talks about manuscripts that prove the veracity of scripture, and we talk about apologetics – as to why you can trust the Bible – and we talk about worldviews, which are very deep subjects," he said.
One of the discussion points in the book is how people can live out their faith in the world and "view the world through the lens of scripture rather than viewing scripture through the lens of the world," he said.
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"The subject is broad enough and big enough that there's something for everyone," Graham said.
Graham has written many other books, but he told Fox News Digital that "The Jesus Book" is the "signature book of my life."
"It's what I've built my life and work on, the ministry that I've been given," he said.
He said his life is "a testimony to the power of the Bible and how God's word has ministered to me, and through me, to others," he said.
"And there's nothing more important – outside of Christ himself – than the way we know Christ," he said.
The way to know Christ is "not through human experience," but "through the Bible and God's spirit working through the Bible."
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Another section of the book is centered on meditating and interpreting scripture, Graham said.
"When you're reading the Bible … God's spirit uses His word to speak to our hearts and our minds," he said.
When a person is meditating on scriptures, he or she begins to understand it differently, he said.
"Pondering and contemplating, deeply reflecting upon scriptures – and it is when we do that, I believe, when we're meditating on God's word, that we begin to understand it for ourselves and begin living it out, and we get a message from God," he said.
Through "The Jesus Book," Graham said he hopes to inspire scores of people and help them better understand and promote God's word.
"My desire and prayer is that if someone reads this book, they would be an advocate for the message of the Bible, a messenger of the truth of the Bible and would live the Bible," Graham said.
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"I want people to learn to love their Bibles and live God's word out," he said.
"The Jesus Book" is published by Bethany House Publishers.