For more than two millennia, Christians have accepted the importance of the Bible as sacred Scripture, and for equally as many years they have struggled to comprehend its meaning! Over the centuries the church has expressed the centrality of Scripture in numerous ways, and has studied and interpreted the Bible in a wide variety of faithful approaches. Understanding that process is critical to our ability--and our willingness--to accept the Bible as sacred and true. To that end, Soulen leads us through the history of how Christian understandings of the Bible have changed and developed throughout history. The author takes the time to establish how the various books came to be in the Biblical canon, dealing with the Old Testament and New Testament in separate chapters. There is much to interest the reader in this book, and it is delivered strongly. There is a gap regarding the grammatical-historical method of interpretation. There are a few things spoken concerning the literal hermeneutic though not substantively enough for the evangelical constituency. This is a significant study and offers a warmth and usefulness within the academic marketplace.