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This book by George Thompson, Welcome to The One Great Story!, is offered to the whole church and especially to those who wish they understood the Bible better but feel or believe it is beyond them. It works for those who are joining the church or young people in confirmation. It works for the sometime church member who feels inadequate about the ways of God both near and far. It also works for the new Council or Session member who has been chosen to lead the church in the coming years. This book was made for study groups in the church as well. It is clear that Thompson draws on his extraordinary knowledge of biblical studies as well as an awareness of regular people who sit weekly in morning worship. That is the genius of his work. He understands where the church is in its educational task. You won’t learn what each book of the Bible is about or be able to list the books of the Bible, however helpful that might be. What you will see and understand is the role of the faithful and reliable God among women and men, from creation until the “not-ending” of God’s reign among us.

Thompson sees this story as a tapestry that is woven not only by the ancient near-Eastern world in which the story plays out. It is also part of the fabric of what is going on in our world today. No dust-covered Bible for him. Its worth is when the two worlds—the biblical world and our world of pandemics and war and love and family—meet. That is exhilarating and opens up for the reader a whole new future. Along the way are wonderful sidebars and excellent questions that will certainly help those who teach. Moreover, Thompson’s “tapestry” urges the reader to move deeper into her or his life for new understandings and energy for the living of these days.

Mary Miller Brueggemann and Patrick D. Miller

April 2020