A Hitchhiker's Guide to Jesus: Reading the Gospels on the Ground

Bible students have long known that there is no substitute for visiting the lands of the Bible when an in-depth knowledge of Scripture is desired. The printed page can take you only so far. Breathing the air and walking the ground serve to bring the Bible story to life. Fisk, associate professor of New Testament at Westmont College in Santa Barbara offers us a lively account of a fictitious traveler, "Norm the Younger." Norm is daring and imaginative, and knows how to make the most of his pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Sometimes the lovable goof but more often a serious student of Jesus' life and times, readers take a part in Norm's travels in a delightful and always enlightening way. Cleverly intertwining contemporary observation with historic reminiscence, and never failing to reflect on the entire testimony of the Bible as it relates to Jesus' Jerusalem, Norm builds a convincing case for faith not just in the story, but in Him who made that story. This is a top-notch effort by a skilled scholar and writer. (Apr.)