Review: Frameworks by Eric Larson

The premise of Frameworks is simple; a guidebook to the Bible. Much like you would not travel a foreign country without a travel guide (or seven) or even go to a new city without planning your trip, a reading of the Bible without tools to understand the content and context is fruitless.

Eric Larson’s contribution to the toolbox of texts one can use to better understand The Bible is a fun, colorful adventure into a more liberal Jesus, a delightful understanding of a God who became Man and the subsequent lifestyle based on his teachings.

Every book of the New Testament is its own chapter in Frameworks, filled with wonderful photography on glossy pages and introduced with background as to the social context of the text. The theme’s, authors, place and time of writing and an outline of the text are the first few pages of each chapter, and those sections are followed by how to navigate the text, things to look for when reading, and insights you can apply to your life. Also, at the end of each chapter is the average reading pace for the casual reader – while Acts can take up to 2 hours and 20 minutes  (or seven twenty minute sessions) for the casual reader, you can go ahead and finish Philippians in about 13 minutes.

Larson’s text reads much like your best friend giving you a summary of a movie he just saw while you sip a cup of coffee in a Starbucks. Filled with quick blurbs, quirky insights and fun things to think about (i.e. Jesus as a stone mason since there were few trees in the region he grew up), I recommend checking this book out, especially if you are a part of the Twitter-generation.