Dr. Donald Brake, vice
president of Multnomah and dean of Multnomah Biblical Seminary, will appear at a
book signing event on November 4 and 7 for his book, A Visual History of the English Bible: The Tumultuous
Tale of the World's Bestselling Book.
Dr. Brake received a starred review from
Publishers Weekly for the book,
stating that he "takes the reader on a wonderful journey through several
thousand years of history ... marking the people, events, and crises through which
the Bible has had to pass, finally emerging in our time as a versatile and vital
document."
The book-signing events will take place on
November 4 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and November 7 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00
p.m. at Multnomah Biblical Seminary's Travis-Lovitt Hall. Dr. Brake will be
present to sign copies of his book and answer visitors' questions. Copies of
A Visual History of the English
Bible will be available for 30% off the retail
price.
About the Book
"The book touches an area most Christians
have a natural interest in but have very little knowledge about," Dr. Brake
said. "The recent publicity of The Da Vinci
Code and The Lost Gospel of
Judas is evidence that there is a desire to know the truth about
how we know the Bible that we read today is the same as given originally. The
drama and intrigue that follows the history of the Scriptures is as great as a
novel."
Through A Visual History of the English Bible,
Dr. Brake tells the story of how God's word went from being strictly for those
in the pulpit, to being read, understood, and acted upon by laypeople. As the
title suggests, the coffee-table-style book is full of stunning visuals
including color illustrations, photographs, charts, and a visual
glossary.
Dr. Brake's book, released in September
2008, also tells the stories of those that translated the Bible and brought it
to where it is today, including John Wycliffe, Johann Gutenberg, John Calvin,
and Ken Taylor. He asserts that most people know very little about the
translators' personal journeys. Excommunication and even death were common ends
to translation conflicts. "Resistance, persecution, Bible burning, and even
martyrdom have bloodied the history of Bible translation," he
says.
"The importance of the Bible is not found
in the beautiful art it has inspired, nor its literary style but its intrinsic
value as a guide for life," says Dr. Brake. "I'm very excited to be able to
present this idea in a way that is accessible and interesting to a wide variety
of readers."
Writing the
Book
An avid collector of rare Bibles, Dr.
Brake's enthusiasm for all things related to scripture, its history, and its
translation are revealed in his book. "I began writing this book several years
ago when I was asked by my family to record my journey as a rare Bible
collector," Dr. Brake said. "The fascinating journey has let me to many exotic
places and unique experiences as I bought and collected some of the world's most
rare volumes."
When Dr. Brake first started collecting,
his goal was not to simply share his experiences. He wanted to use his findings
to document the progress of Scripture from its inception to modern translations.
With this goal in mind, he only collected Greek, Latin, and English volumes that
were significant to this story. "Once I began doing this I was encouraged to
make my journal into a book," Dr. Brake said. "But what could I do that had not
been done?"
The answer to this question led Dr. Brake
to the formula of his book: the tumultuous tale of the Bible's story,
dramatically written sidebars of stories of martyrs, and adventures of a
bibliophile in his collecting. "I believe it will be of interest to those who
enjoy reading history that lives rather than just text with dates and factual
content," Dr. Brake said.
Contact Info
For more information about Dr. Brake's
book-signing event, please contact Kristin Kendall at 503.251.6452 or
kkendall@multnomah.edu.