Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: The One-Stop History of the Bible
WORK NOTES: with Robert V. Huber
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://stephenmillerbooks.com/
CITY: Kansas City
STATE: MO
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-M.-Miller/e/B000AQ2J9O/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0 * http://www.kregel.com/autores/stephen-m-miller * https://stephenmillerbooks.com/about-steve/stephen-m-miller-media-bio/ * https://stephenmillerbooks.com/about-steve/qa-with-steve/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born August 3, 1952, in Oakland, MD; married Linda (a registered nurse), 1979; children: Rebecca, Brad.
EDUCATION:Kent State University, B.A.; Nazarene Theological Seminary, M.A.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Journalist, editor, and writer. Newspaper reporter; editor of Christian books, magazines, and Bible curricula.
AWARDS:Retailer’s Choice Award for best Christian nonfiction book in United States, Christian Retailing, for Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible; best Christian nonfiction book in England, Christian Broadcasting Council, for The Bible: A History; Award of Excellence for magazine editing, Evangelical Press Association, for Illustrated Bible Life magazine.
RELIGION: ChristianWRITINGS
Editor of Illustrated Bible Life.
SIDELIGHTS
Award-winning, best-selling Christian author Stephen M. Miller was born in 1952 in Oakland, Maryland. He was a newspaper reporter and in 1994 became a full-time freelance writer and editor of many Bible-related books. He has been an editor of Christian books, magazines, and Bible curricula for Christian denominations in the Wesleyan theological tradition. He holds a journalism degree from Kent State University and a master’s degree in religious education from Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri.
Miller’s award-winning 2004 title Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible provides an alphabetical dictionary explaining more than 500 important people and places in scripture. Written in a readable magazine style, the book describes fascinating people, healers, warriors, lovers, liars, and prophets. It also includes color maps, photos, and paintings. Commenting on the 2017 expanded and updated edition, Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible: An Illustrated A-to-Z Dictionary of the People and Places in Scripture, Nadine Cohen-Baker said in Library Journal that the “dictionary [is] written in a chatty style that tries hard—perhaps too hard—to make the Bible sound fun to read and contemporary.”
Miller and Reader’s Digest editor Robert V. Huber have collaborated on books about the Bible. The 2003 volume The Bible: A History; The Making and Impact of the Bible examines one of the world’s most influential books. The authors delve into the past to trace how the Bible came to be written, its development, its role in the rapidly growing Christian church, its reformation, and its impact over the millennia in regions around the world. In Good Bookstall, Mary Bartholomew said the book is “packed with information, beautifully illustrated … a monumental work.” Library Journal reviewer Charlie Murray commented that the authors “fill a gap left by the more academic … histories of Israel and New Testament times.”
Next, Miller and Huber published The One-Stop History of the Bible in 2016. With full-color illustrations and color-coded notes, the book provides a guide to the history of the Bible from its origins in oral history, to how it was written down, to the many ways it has influenced history and nations. The authors explain how the books of the Bible were selected, how and when the first translations occurred, and key moments in church history that affected the Bible. A contributor to Publishers Weekly noted that the book covers a lot of material in a way that is accessible to readers. However, the contributor added that while the information is simple and accurate, when Miller and Huber “depend on a combination of biblical narrative blurred with historical fact, the text runs into problems.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Internet Bookwatch, August, 2013, review of Stephen M. Miller’s Complete Guide to the Bible: Student Edition.
Library Journal, March 1, 2004, Charlie Murray, review of The Bible: A History; The Making and Impact of the Bible, p. 84; February 15, 2005, Nadine Cohen-Baker, review of Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible, p. 160.
MBR Bookwatch, March, 2008, Regan Zaborowski, review of Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible for Kids.
Publishers Weekly, June 13, 2016, review of The One-Stop History of the Bible, p. 92.
ONLINE
Crosswalk, http://www.crosswalk.com/ (May 20, 2009), Annabelle Robertson, “Stephen M. Miller’s Quest for The Jesus of the Bible.”
Good Bookstall, http://www.goodbookreviews.org.uk/ (April 7, 2003), review of The Bible.
Stephen M. Miller Home Page, https://stephenmillerbooks.com (April 1, 2017).
STEPHEN M. MILLER was born in Oakland, Maryland. He was the first of six children—four boys, two girls—born to Clyde and Virginia Miller.
Steve’s parents grew up a mile apart in coal country near Tunnelton, West Virginia, a deer hunter’s long walk south of Morgantown.
After Steve came along, Clyde went looking for a job that didn’t involve dragging a pick into a dark hole.
He moved the family to Akron, Ohio where he became a tool and die maker, crafting steel parts for machinery.
Virginia didn’t work outside the home until all the kids were in school. Then she took a part-time job as a sales clerk at JC Penney—as much for the clothing discount as for the slight salary.
Steve, at age 15, started working part-time after school at a Sohio service station, pumping gas, changing oil, and fixing flat tires. (Sohio stood for Standard Oil of Ohio.) It was a job he kept into his college years, until the owner died. The salary, which started at 75 cents an hour, paid for his first car. An extreme vehicle. Extremely used. Ford Galaxy, dingy green. The first time he drove it, he didn’t know how to work the manual choke. A kid on a bicycle passed him.
News journalism at Kent State University
In college, Steve knocked out his general courses at the nearby University of Akron. Then he transferred to Kent State University, where he got a bachelor’s degree in news journalism.
For those wondering where he was in 1970 when the Ohio National Guard came to Kent State to quell the Vietnam War protests and ended up killing four students in the parking lot outside the School of Journalism, Steve was a senior in high school.
His mother enrolled at Kent State the same year he did. She got a degree in elementary education, launching her career as a public school teacher. Don’t ask Steve who finished college with a higher grade-point average.
Steve commuted to college; he couldn’t afford to live on campus. He drove the 45 minutes each day to Kent, Ohio. After the owner of the Sohio service station died, Steve found a full-time summer job working in a factory. He ran heated molds that pressed uncured rubber into auto parts. Then he dug out the parts with a brass pick. He sweat through his clothes in the first 10 minutes, and through his boots by 30. At shift’s end, his crust of body salt sculpted him into Lot’s wife’s brother.
Working at the newspaper
When Steve landed a summer internship his senior year, working as a news reporter for the Coshocton Tribune in central Ohio, life was looking up. He lived in a rented trailer and listened to his mouse traps snapping at night. Which wasn’t as tough as listening to the girl next door match her oscillating voice to a record player with an rpm that couldn’t decide which r to pm. But Steve was out of the rubber factory. And into an air-conditioned office.
After graduation, he took a job as a news reporter with the Alliance Review. He worked there a year and a half, covering general news and editing the religion section and the business section. Small paper. Pleasant town.
It was during those months that he decided the Christian publishing world needed a little help from writers and editors who had taken journalism 101. He admits his arrogance.
He moved to Kansas City in 1976 to attend Nazarene Theological Seminary. The seminary offered no programs for Christian journalists. The options were: preacher, Christian education minister, or missionary. Steve wanted none of the above. All he wanted was an education in the Bible and theology. He took the two-year Christian education program, and concentrated his electives in biblical literature and theology.
He worked at Nazarene Church Headquarters as a magazine, book, and curriculum editor for about a dozen years, receiving the top editing award from the Evangelical Press Association. It was the award of excellence for the magazine he edited, Illustrated Bible Life.
Full-time freelancing
That same year, in 1994, Steve resigned from Nazarene Headquarters to begin a fulltime career in freelance writing.
By then, he was already writing part-time for Reader’s Digest Books, helping them with Who’s Who in the Bible—the first in a series of four Bible-related books he helped them write.
As a fulltime freelance writer, Steve covered a wide range of topics for secular and religious publishing companies. From international travel to family matters to health topics for the Mayo Clinic, helping Mayo write 10 books. All the while, he wrote articles and books about the Bible. This was the writing he most enjoyed, and knew best. It became his niche.
His first bestselling book was How to Get Into the Bible, published without the help of an agent. The lousy deal he let himself get talked into convinced him that good agents are worth the 15 percent they charge.
Steve teamed up with Robert V. Huber, a former Reader’s Digest editor, to write The Bible: A History, for Lion Publishing of England. The book won the non-fiction book of the year award in 2004 from England’s Christian broadcasting media. It has been translated into more than a dozen languages, including Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.
Steve’s next award-winner, which turned out to be a bestseller as well, was Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible. It won the 2006 non-fiction book of the year award from Christian retailers. It also spent most of the year on the Christian bestseller list.
This book, illustrated with color pictures and written in a magazine style laced in humor, convinced the publisher there was a market for easy-reading Bible reference books.
So far, Steve has written a dozen color-illustrated Bible reference books. His books have sold about two million copies.
Steve married Linda, a registered nurse, in 1979.
Steve and Linda have two grown children. Rebecca Eck is a nurse practitioner, married to Dr. Jonathan Eck, an optometrist. Brad Miller has a master’s degree in business and he directs the digital marketing for a Kansas City-area firm. He’s married to Jill, who helps direct the children’s ministry of a church.
Awards
Best Christian nonfiction book in United States: Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible (Awarding organization: Christian Retailing; the Retailer’s Choice Award)
Best Christian nonfiction book in England: The Bible—A History (Awarding organization: Christian Broadcasting Council)
Award of Excellence: Illustrated Bible Life magazine (Awarding organization: Evangelical Press Association; top award in magazine editing)
Gold Medallion Finalist: How to Get into the Bible (Awarding organization: Evangelical Christian Publisher’s Association; one of top 5 Bible study books of the year)
Books
• Visual Walk Through Genesis, Harvest House, 2016
• The One-Stop History of the Bible, Lion, 2016
• A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible, Harvest House, 2015
• Strange and Mysterious Stuff from the Bible, Harvest House, 2014
• Complete Bible Handbook, Barbour, 2014
• 100 Tough Questions About God and the Bible, Bethany House, 2014
• Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Barbour, 2013
• Complete Guide to the Bible – Student Edition, Barbour, 2013
• Understanding Jesus: A Guide to His Life and Times, Barbour, 2013
• Bible Snapshots, Barbour, 2012
• Who’s Who & Where’s Where in the Bible 2.0, Barbour, 2012
• How to Live in the Moment, Amazon Kindle, 2012
• Complete Visual Bible, Barbour, 2011
• Complete Guide to Bible Prophecy, Barbour, 2010 (Revised 2013, Spanish 2014)
• Complete Guide to the Bible, Barbour, 2008 (Spanish edition 2013)
• Incredible Mysteries of the Bible, Zondervan, 2008
• Student’s Guide to the Bible, Barbour, 2008
• Everyday Understanding, Thomas Nelson, 2007
• Everyday Relevance, Thomas Nelson, 2007
• User’s Guide to the Bible, Lion, 2007
• Who’s Who & Where’s Where in the Bible for Kids, Barbour, 2006
• Big Dummies of the Bible, Thomas Nelson, 2005 (Spanish 2005)
• Who’s Who & Where’s Where in the Bible, Barbour, 2004
• The Bible: A History, Lion, 2004
• How to Get the Bible into My Life, Thomas Nelson, 2002
• Extreme Journey, Thomas Nelson, 2001
• Present Moments: Cherishing Everyday Experiences, Vine Books, 1999
• How to Get into the Bible, Thomas Nelson, 1998 (Spanish) ¬
• Complete Guide to the Bible, Reader’s Digest, 1998 – Principle contributing writer, associate editor
• Illustrated Dictionary of Bible Life and Times, Reader’s Digest, 1997, contributing writer
• The Bible Through the Ages, Reader’s Digest, 1996, contributing writer
• Who’s Who in the Bible, Reader’s Digest, 1994, contributing writer
Casual English Bible
Beta version of Genesis, Luke, Acts, Ephesians launched in 2016
Stephen M. Miller is an award-winning, bestselling Christian author of easy-reading books about the Bible and Christianity.
His books have sold about two million copies and include The Complete Guide to the Bible and Who’s Who and Where’s Where in the Bible.
A former newspaper reporter, Miller has a bachelor’s degree in news journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in biblical studies from Nazarene Theological Seminary. He describes himself a journalist who covers the Bible as his beat.
He launched his full-time freelance writing career in 1994, after working as a news reporter and later as an editor of Christian books, magazines, and Bible curriculum for a group of Christian denominations in the Wesleyan theological tradition.
Miller lives in the suburbs of Kansas City with his wife, Linda, a registered nurse. They have two married children who live nearby: Rebecca with her husband Jonathan, and Brad with his wife Jill.
You started out as a newspaper reporter. Did you ever regret making the jump to Christian writing?
Yes.
Sometimes I’ve felt like I was singing to the choir—just another Christian writer making pecking sounds on a keyboard for the enlightenment of the enlightened. At times I wonder if I could have been more helpful as a Christian working in a secular newsroom.
I don’t know.
What I do know is that I love what I’m doing. I get up each morning looking forward to the day’s work—well, most mornings.
It’s reassuring, too, when I hear from folks who are new to the faith or who are exploring Christianity and the Bible, and they tell me that one of my books is helping them.
This much I believe, wherever I go and whatever I do, God goes with me. It’s not as though the newspaper was my best option and Christian writing was second best. God is with me wherever I go and whatever I do. And I don’t see how that can be second best.
Why did you make the jump to Christian writing?
I was arrogant. I saw the stinky cheese magazines, books, and Sunday School take-home papers coming out of my denomination and other churches and Christian publishing groups, and I figured they needed me—and any other Christian who understood the basics of journalism.
One editor of a take-home Sunday School paper actually ran the name of his magazine upside down in one issue. When I asked him why he did that, he said that since he ran the full-page, front-cover photo on its side (which is another big no-no) the reader would have to turn the magazine sideways to see it. So he said it’s logical to assume that the reader would continue rotating the magazine clockwise to read the name upside down.
Mr. Spock would not have been impressed. Nor would Mr. Pulitzer.
When I started working as an editor for my denomination, I was the odd man out. Most other editors were has-been pastors. By that, I mean they had been pastors. Some, however, were has beens; they were worn-out pastors. Others had been wonderful pastors, and should have kept that day job. A rare few could write well. There was no one else I knew of who was educated in both editorial and biblical studies. Not in those early years.
Christian publishing has come a long way since then. But we’re still playing catch up to the big boys. We still need better writing, better design, better printing quality, and more marketing than you can shake a stick at. Readers need to know that the help they want is out there.
You don’t usually take a position in your books—especially on controversial topics. That’s unusual among Christian writers. Why don’t you let your readers know where you stand?
In the not-too-distant past I had a book project cancelled for that very reason—because I refused to take a position on a controversial topic. I had already written the book, on assignment, and with my non-position clearly expressed in the samples I submitted. But the publisher had second thoughts. And I wouldn’t budge. We both felt strongly about the matter. They lost the advance they paid me. And I lost the book deal with them—and any potential deals in the future. Fortunately for me, another publisher picked up the book.
There are two main reasons I avoid taking a position on topics that can go any number of ways when the Bible isn’t clear on the matter. Or worse, when the Bible is silent.
1. I’m an old-school news journalist, taught to report the facts as objectively as I can. And I am absolutely fed up to my ears with today’s journalists reporting the news and then telling me what they think about it. I don’t give a rat’s rear end what they think about it. I want to hear the facts objectively so I can make up my own mind.
I think that’s what many non-Christians and new Christians want when it comes to matters of faith. They want to know what the Bible says and how different scholars interpret it. Then they want to draw their own conclusions.
2. On many controversial issues, I don’t have an opinion. If the Bible doesn’t talk about it—and there’s a lot the Bible skips—I’m relaxed about saying, “I don’t know, but in God I trust.”
Here’s what I think about those tough topics that the Bible doesn’t bother giving a boo-hoo or how do you do. When the Bible is silent, I expect God’s Spirit to fill in the gaps.
Jesus told his followers that God would send the Spirit as a Counselor. In moments of crisis, when I have a big decision to make about something the Bible doesn’t address, I don’t plan on making my decision based on some of the brainwashing I’ve experienced in sermons—or on passionate opinions from other well-intentioned people who don’t have a biblical leg to stand on. I expect God himself to guide me.
You say you try not to think about Christians while you’re writing. Why not?
Actually, I do think about new Christians along with non-Christians. It’s the veteran Christians I try to ignore.
Here’s the reason. Newbies and nons are like New York City. If you can make it there, you can make it anywhere.
If I can write about the Bible and the Christian faith in a way that intrigues people outside the faith or folks barely on the fringe of faith, longtime Christians will come along for the read.
But if I start with the longtime Christians, I’ll get so worried about offending them that I’ll water down my writing. I’ll stop asking the tough questions that non-Christians ask. I’ll stop mentioning some of the more troubling facts that, at least on the surface, look like they contradict the Bible.
I want my readers to trust that I’m doing the best I can to help them see the Bible from many different points of view—so they can think for themselves and make up their own minds. I don’t want to come across as some guy doing their thinking for them. I’m digging up the interesting research for them, but the decision about what to do with it is theirs.
Converting readers to Christianity isn’t my job. It’s God’s job. My job, as I see it, is to report the story.
That’s the same job Jesus gave his disciples. It was his last request before he returned to heaven: “Be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere” (Acts 1:8, New Living Translation).
What’s your work day like?
I’m writing most days, and usually at my desk between 8 or 9 a.m. Thirty-minute lunch break at noon, with a news tag team: Kansas City Star newspaper and broadcast news, which I usually hate because it’s fluff and talking heads when what we need are reporter boots on the ground. Back to work from 12:30 to 4:30—often later. Since I do my own photo research, I’ll often do a little extra of that in the evening, now that the kids are gone from the house. I often work some on the weekends, but not much writing—more office stuff and photo research, the easier chores.
How long have you worked as a writer?
Pushing toward 40 years, which is hard for me to believe. I started making a living as a full-time newspaper reporter in 1975. I’ve been working as a full-time freelancer for about half that time, since 1994.
Do you have a favorite book you’ve written?
Well, yeah, but it’s kinda out of print. It’s The Jesus of the Bible. Stinky title, rotten cover. But I think the guts are nice.
The publisher is trying to salvage the weak sales by repackaging the book at a cheaper price, but without any of the photos, maps, and charts in the original, which bums me. The words-only book is Understanding Jesus.
I hope they’ll bring back the full meal deal with an engaging title and cover design.
I loved the year I spent researching the life and times of Jesus. That original edition is one of the books of mine that I refer to most often. It shoulda been a best-seller.
What was your toughest book to write?
The Complete Guide to Bible Prophecy.
That was a tough topic, and tough year of research and writing.
Most books about Bible prophecy offer one point of view as though it’s God’s honest truth. But I approached the topic as a journalist. So I reported on what different Bible experts have to say about the prophecies, along with the reasons behind their theories.
My head was spinning from all those theories. It was quite a task to wrap them up in one lavishly illustrated book intended to captivate non-Christians. At least I hope it captivates them.
That’s always the worry, that I’ll spend a year of my life writing something no one wants to read.
I’ve got only so many years to work with, you know.
—Best Christian nonfiction book in United States: Who's Who and Where's Where in the Bible (Awarding organization: Christian Retailing; the Retailer's Choice Award)
—Best Christian nonfiction book in England: The Bible--A History (Awarding organization: Christian Broadcasting Council)
Award of Excellence: Illustrated Bible Life magazine (Awarding organization: —Evangelical Press Association; top award in magazine editing)
—Gold Medallion Finalist: How to Get into the Bible (Awarding organization: Evangelical Christian Publisher's Association; one of top 5 Bible study books of the year)
BOOKS
A Visual Tour Through Genesis, 2016
One-stop History of the Bible, 2016
A Quick Guided Tour Through the Bible, Harvest House, 2015
Complete Guide to the Bible: The Bestselling Illustrated Scripture Reference with Bonus Map Section, 2015
Complete Bible Handbook, 2014
Strange and Mysterious Stuff from the Bible, Harvest House, 2014
Stephen M. Miller's Bible Handbook, Barbour, 2014
100 Tough Questions About God and the Bible, Bethany House, 2014
Stephen M. Miller's Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Barbour, 2013
Complete Guide to the Bible - Student Edition, Barbour, 2013
Understanding Jesus: A Guide to His Life and Times, Barbour, 2013
Stephen M. Miller's Bible Snapshots, Barbour, 2012
Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible 2.0, Barbour, 2012
How to Live in the Moment, Amazon Kindle, 2012
Complete Visual Bible, Barbour, 2011
Complete Guide to Bible Prophecy, Barbour, 2010 (Revised 2013, Spanish 2014)
Complete Guide to the Bible, Barbour, 2008 (Spanish edition 2013)
Incredible Mysteries of the Bible, Zondervan, 2008
Student's Guide to the Bible, Barbour, 2008
Everyday Understanding, Thomas Nelson, 2007
Everyday Relevance, Thomas Nelson, 2007
User's Guide to the Bible, Lion, 2007
Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible for Kids, Barbour, 2006
Big Dummies of the Bible, Thomas Nelson, 2005 (Spanish 2005)
Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible, Barbour, 2004
The Bible: A History, Lion, 2004
How to Get the Bible into My Life, Thomas Nelson, 2002
Extreme Journey, Thomas Nelson, 2001
Present Moments: Cherishing Everyday Experiences, Vine Books, 1999
How to Get into the Bible, Thomas Nelson, 1998 (also in Spanish)
Complete Guide to the Bible, Reader's Digest, 1998 - Principle contributing writer, associate editor
Illustrated Dictionary of Bible Life and Times, Reader's Digest, 1997, contributing writer
The Bible Through the Ages, Reader's Digest, 1996, contributing writer
Who's Who in the Bible, Reader's Digest, 1994, contributing writer
LC control no.: n 97017609
Descriptive conventions:
rda
Personal name heading:
Miller, Stephen M., 1952-
Variant(s): Miller, Steve, 1952-
Birth date: 19520803
Found in: How to get into the Bible, 1997: CIP t.p. (Steve Miller)
data sheet (Stephen M. Miller; b. Aug. 3, 1952) bk. t.p.
(Stephen M. Miller)
================================================================================
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS AUTHORITIES
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave., SE
Washington, DC 20540
Questions? Contact: ils@loc.gov
Stephen M. Miller is a full-time freelance writer and editor who specializes in Bible-related projects. He holds a master's in religious education from Nazarene Theological Seminary, Kansas City, Missouri.
Stephen M. Miller's Quest for The Jesus of the Bible
Annabelle Robertson Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer
2009 20 May
COMMENTS 0
Stephen M. Miller's Quest for The Jesus of the Bible
Stephen M. Miller isn’t your average Bible scholar. In fact, despite publishing credits that would make any seminary professor proud, Miller insists he’s not a scholar at all—and Bible scholars just might agree. According to Miller, he’s merely a “translator.”
But the best-selling author isn’t the type who translates the Bible from one of its original languages into English. He’s the one who takes the Bible from another popular language—“Christianese”—and translates it into English. Everyday English, that is. The kind that non-Christians speak.
“There’s only one family in my neighborhood that goes to church, so I’m thinking, ‘How do I phrase this for them?’” he said, during a recent telephone chat. “Those of us who have been Christians awhile have our own way of talking, and that’s not their way of talking.”
A freelance journalist and editor who contributes to numerous publications such as Reader's Digest Books, Guideposts Books and Christianity Today's Christian History magazine, Miller is also a prolific author. In addition to writing books like The Bible: A History, How to Get the Bible into My Life and Who’s Who & Where’s Where in the Bible, Miller has served as a writer and a contributing editor for The Quest Study Bible, which remains one of the best-selling study Bibles in the country. His How to Get into the Bible is also one of the top-selling Bible handbooks in Christian circles.
Here’s what Miller has to say about why he writes, his latest book—The Jesus of the Bible—and what he discovered about Jesus along the way. ...
Unlike most books about Bible history, The Jesus of the Bible is very accessible to the average person, yet still engaging for someone with a lot of biblical knowledge. How did you bridge that gap?
I think in terms of communicating to average folks, and I think that’s my journalism background. We were taught to grab them by the throat with the first sentence and do your best to hold them. You’re writing for a mass audience, so you can’t write for one segment, whether that’s the Christian elite or an educated savant. You write for my Uncle Henry, a cold miner, or a friend who’s a solder in Iraq, and you tell the story in a way that will hold their interest. That’s what I feel strongly about—telling the story in a way that average folks can get engaged. And my hope is that it will pull them into the Bible. I see it as a springboard.
Why don’t other Christian scholars do that?
I think of myself as a translator, more than anything else—not a biblical scholar. Big deal, I went to seminary; I went to journalism school, too. I’m a generalist, and that’s not a compliment. I use the biblical scholars as the resources and I’m trying to say what they should be saying, if they could say it well. Sometimes I get it wrong. I interpret them in ways they don’t want to be interpreted or take them in directions that they don’t want to go.
If someone can’t explain something in a way that I can understand—with normal words—then they don’t understand it. I think theologians invent words to explain things that they don’t understand. Words like “trinity.” But people like my neighbors don’t understand it. They want us to learn their language, but that’s not going to happen, for the most part. They (are forced) to learn our language.
Where do you find all the art for The Jesus of the Bible?
I’ve been doing this for decades. Years ago, I took over a magazine called Illustrated Bible Life. I realized we were in a visual age and talked them into it, then began working with the major suppliers of biblical art, like Art Resources out of New York City, Flicker, Deviantart.com. These are places where average folks, even kids, are putting up art. These are new and emerging sources of photos, art, paintings, and some of the photos are phenomenal, just phenomenal.
So, basically you’re surfing the Web?
Not so much surfing as keeping my eyes open. If I want a picture of a topic, I will Google it and look at the sources.
You have lots of paintings of Jesus in there. Do we actually know what he looked like?
We don’t have a clue what Jesus looked like. The most common description can be traced back to the 1400s—which is that he was very handsome with long brown hair parted in the middle and a full beard with no wrinkles. The earliest on-record description was about 200 years after he died, and they say that he was as homely as a hound dog. But they take that from the suffering servant passage, and that’s poetry. Why would you take that literally? The picture in my book was taken from a skull from first-century Israel. The guy looks like a bearded construction worker—someone who would be working a jackhammer on the sidewalk, whistling at some girl walking by.
What do you think about the view that it’s wrong to try and create a picture of Jesus, because it violates the commandment that we are not to create any likeness of God?
The graven image commandment, as I understand it, is talking about idols. The Jews took it in a different way, literally, and wouldn’t make any images at all, which is (why) we don’t have any images of Jesus. (The idea is that) … we would be too inclined to worship the image.
(But) even the idea that the Bible is error free it its original version is worshipping the Bible, not God. That doesn’t take into consideration humanity, or the fact that what we have in our hands is copies of copies. What we need to be talking about is how reliable it is, or how effective it is and what we can rely on them for. My response would be: For everything we need to know about God and about salvation.
What was the toughest part of the book for you to write?
The critical studies, where the scholars were on a quest for what Jesus was really like—the quest for the historical Jesus, (otherwise known as) “The Jesus Seminar.” The circles that I move in consider that flaky. They cast their ballots with color-coded marbles that actually track with the red letter edition. If a certain percentage of marbles are red, then that’s what Jesus actually said. So when you look at the Lord’s Prayer, for example, “Our father” isn’t red. Nothing is red in the Gospel of John—the entire Gospel.
It’s a little odd to envision these scholars sitting in a room dropping their marbles into a bucket, and I was so tempted to make a wisecrack about them losing their marbles. The theories that they come up with about what Jesus was like seem to have no substance. One theory was that Jesus was a revolutionary whose revolution failed, so his disciples stole the body and rewrote the story. If you’re passing that off as history, you need to substantiate it—beyond the claim that that makes sense, and that the fact that he rose from the dead makes no sense (to you). They can’t understand how we can believe in these things because they are not a part of their experience. We never see anybody walking on water or rising from the dead (so) why would we believe something like that? These biblical scholars are doing the same thing, saying that these things are beyond reason so we need to come up with some reasonable explanations.
So what would you say to people who argue that Jesus didn’t exist?
Go to the section of the book that quotes Roman history, where writers like Josephus, who was born in A.D. 37, talk about him. Josephus writes, for example, “There was a wise man who. ...” That’s not in the Bible. That’s in a Roman history book. There are others. If you’re going to say that Jesus didn’t exist, you’ve got to say that somebody made those things up.
What surprised you, if anything, during your research?
That Jesus produced enough wine at Canaa to get more than 1,000 people drunk—drunk enough to drive a donkey cart! He produced 120 to 180 gallons of wine, depending on the measurement you use. At a minimum, at least 1,000 people were drunk at that wedding.
Anything else?
Jesus probably had an accent. Remember the story of Peter in the Garden? They said that they could tell it was him because he had an accent from Galilee. The Northerners have an accent. It never occurred to me that Jesus had an accent.
What is your calling as a writer?
I don’t use "the calling" language. I don’t think in terms of God calling me to do this or that. A lady in the church once told me, “I was called to be a missionary, but now I’m living God’s second best.” But if God goes with you in whatever you do and wherever you go, how could that be second best? I could have stayed in secular news. And sometimes I wonder if I could have made a bigger impact on God’s kingdom, had I done that. But I love what I do. I’m excited about getting up and doing what I have to do, most of the time.
I think in terms of God giving us gifts, desires and interests, and God going with us wherever we go and in whatever we do. It takes the pressure off.
For more information about Stephen M. Miller or The Jesus of the Bible, please visit Stephen's site or Barbour Books.
Miller, Stephen M. & Robert V. Huber. The Bible: A History; The Making and Impact of the Bible
Charlie Murray
129.4 (Mar. 1, 2004): p84.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2004 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Lion. Mar. 2004. 256p. illus. bibliog. index. ISBN 0-7459-5072-8. $29.95. REL
With their new book, Miller (editor, Illustrated Bible Life; author, How To Get the Bible into My Life) and Huber (editor, Reader's Digest General Books division; author, The Bible Through the Ages) fill a gap left by the more academic, and thus more narrowly focused, histories of Israel and New Testament times. This book concerns the whole history of the Bible's development as a book and source of religious inspiration, from its earliest oral compositions to its use and appearance in contemporary cinema and literature. This excellent resource is packed with up-to-date scholarly information, presented in a style that is accessible to the informed general reader. The contents are divided into five major groupings, arranged chronologically from earliest to modern times. Each section is subdivided into two-page chapters that succinctly describe points of historical context or biblical theme. Each section is also profusely illustrated--with charts, photographs, or illustrative artistic reproductions--all of which are readily identifiable and greatly clarify the point being explained. Highly recommended, especially for public libraries.--Charlie Murray, C.S.S., Fordham Univ., New York
Murray, Charlie
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Murray, Charlie. "Miller, Stephen M. & Robert V. Huber. The Bible: A History; The Making and Impact of the Bible." Library Journal, 1 Mar. 2004, p. 84. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA114048912&it=r&asid=c5249f9ff18dc5d29624a89ae6469522. Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A114048912
The One-Stop History of the Bible
263.24 (June 13, 2016): p92.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
The One-Stop History of the Bible
Robert V. Huber and Stephen M. Miller. Lion (IPG, dist), $16.95 (128p) ISBN 978-0-74597036-3
With full-color illustrations on every page, color-coded organization, and individual sections no longer than a few paragraphs, Huber, a veteran of the Reader's Digest General Books Division, and Miller, a freelance writer who contributed to The Complete Guide to the Bible, have produced an accessible guide to the Bible's long and complex history. Beginning with the oral transmission of texts that would become the Bible, through the process of canonization, then into the spread and proliferation of Bibles through the ages until today, the book covers a lot of ground. The information contained here is simple and accurate, but when the authors depend on a combination of biblical narrative blurred with historical fact, the text runs into problems--for example, assuming that "God personally laid down his laws ... punctuating them with thunder and lightning" or that David started the process of writing the Bible. For the most part, though, the ' book benefits from modern scholarship--noting the Bible's multiple authors and evolution in coordination with historical events--and presents the full scope of the Christian scripture from Genesis through Revelation. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"The One-Stop History of the Bible." Publishers Weekly, 13 June 2016, p. 92. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA458871773&it=r&asid=fe69919f793a6ff0a934507ebe810beb. Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A458871773
Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible for Kids
Regan Zaborowski
(Mar. 2008):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2008 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible for Kids
Stephen M. Miller
Barbour Publishing, Inc.
P.O. Box 719, Ulrichsville, OH 44683
ISBN 9781597892278, $12.97, 2006, www.barbourbooks.com
I read this book, "Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible for Kids," with my mom when it was time for my Bible class every day. It has a lot of different stories about people and places that we read about in the Bible. The stories are short. They tell lots of cool things about the people that lived back then and where the places were. I was surprised because a lot of the places the book talked about are real places. But they have different names today. I thought that the places were just made up but I found out they are real.
The best part of the book was looking at the pictures. There are lots of them. Every story has pictures. The cartoon pictures were funny, too. If there were no pictures in the book, it would have been boring. But I liked the pictures a lot.
The book was kind of hard for me to read by myself, so my mom and I read it together. We read a little every day. I always wanted her to read more. I love to read about history, it's my favorite subject, so I liked that part. My favorite stories were about Deborah, because she was a soldier and very brave, and Samson because he was so strong. He could kill a lion with only his hands and even push over a building. I didn't like Delilah, because she cut his hair because she wanted money and then Samson wasn't strong anymore and he got hurt.
I liked "Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible for Kids" very much.
Reviewed by Regan Zaborowski (age 8) for Reader Views
Zaborowski, Regan
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Zaborowski, Regan. "Who's Who & Where's Where in the Bible for Kids." MBR Bookwatch, Mar. 2008. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA176562464&it=r&asid=8e6b148293680e495024108f0d52d04d. Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A176562464
Miller, Stephen M. Who's Who and Where's Where in the Bible: an Illustrated A-to-Z Dictionary of the People and Places in Scripture
Nadine Cohen-Baker
130.3 (Feb. 15, 2005): p160.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2005 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.libraryjournal.com/
Miller, Stephen M. Who's Who and Where's Where in the Bible: An Illustrated A-to-Z Dictionary of the People and Places in Scripture. Barbour. 2005. 400p. illus. maps. index. ISBN 1-59310-111-2. pap. $14.97. REF
Miller specializes in writing about the Bible, having authored such works as How To Get into the Bible and How To Get the Bible Into My Life and having served as editor for the Illustrated Bible Life magazine. His latest is a dictionary written in a chatty style that tries hard--perhaps too hard--to make the Bible sound fun to read and contemporary. For example, the entry for Isaac begins, "Isaac was an unbuttered bagel kind of guy. Plain." The entry for Miriam states that before she became a prophet, she was "just another little girl, looking out for her baby brother." Not all of the 500 entries lay it on this thick, however, and every entry clearly shows the author's familiarity with people and places in the text. But when it comes to interpreting events and assigning significance, Miller writes as a preacher rather than a scholar. Belief can overwhelm fact, and theory is often ignored altogether. Entries range in length from a few sentences to several pages and are accompanied by numerous captioned pictures and informational sidebars. As a cat lover, this reviewer was edified to learn in one sidebar that some versions of the Bible depict Daniel slaying a dragon with a giant hairball. Bottom Line Sincerely written and intermittently amusing, this is a fun work to browse. It is not, however, meant to be used as a serious research tool in libraries.--Nadine Cohen-Baker, Univ. of Georgia, Athens
Cohen-Baker, Nadine
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Cohen-Baker, Nadine. "Miller, Stephen M. Who's Who and Where's Where in the Bible: an Illustrated A-to-Z Dictionary of the People and Places in Scripture." Library Journal, 15 Feb. 2005, p. 160. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA129460835&it=r&asid=aa5b459e69d89fce4b19e67d4e611698. Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A129460835
Stephen M. Miller's Complete Guide To The Bible: Student Edition
(Aug. 2013):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2013 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Stephen M. Miller's Complete Guide To The Bible: Student Edition
Stephen M. Miller
Barbour Publishing
P.O. Box 719, Uhrichsville, OH 44683
www.barbourbooks.com
9781620298015, $9.99, www.amazon.com
Profusely illustrated throughout, "Stephen M. Miller's Complete Guide To The Bible: Student Edition" is a 256 page compendium that is thoroughly 'reader friendly' and suitable for students of all 66 books comprising the Holy Bible. A topical section deftly addressing key life issues through biblical scripture; noting two ways to approach studying the Bible; helping students to select the right Bible for them; organized into two major section (with the first being an alphabetical presentation of theological issues ranging from anger to worship, the second being descriptive presentations of the various books comprising the Bible as a whole), an enhanced with the inclusion of a Search Engine Index, "Stephen M. Miller's Complete Guide To The Bible: Student Edition" is especially recommended for both individual and group biblical study curriculums, as well as church and community library Christian Studies reference collections.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Stephen M. Miller's Complete Guide To The Bible: Student Edition." Internet Bookwatch, Aug. 2013. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA340808796&it=r&asid=24c214cb2dd94d63d7eb0229ef0ae9e2. Accessed 26 Feb. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A340808796
The Bible: A History
by Stephen M. Miller & Robert V. Huber
Jacket
Paperback
Price: £25.00
Publisher:
Lion Hudson
Published:March 2003
ISBN:0-745-95072-8
Review:
I will not pretend that I have read every page of this book. It is not that sort of ‘read’, but I have spent many happy hours leafing through, being attracted by a particular page and having a closer look. Packed with information, beautifully illustrated, telling the story of the Bible from before it was written down, to the present day, it is a monumental work of great value. Presented in this clear, attractive fashion, it should appeal to many who would not dream of looking at a closely printed academic book, yet the facts presented here, would not be out of place on an academic’s shelves.
From March 2005, available in Paperback. £12.99. ISBN 0-7459-5176 7
Reviewer: Mary Bartholomew (07/04/03)