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Millennium is for celebrating Jesus, not fearing Y2K, publisher says


ORLANDO, Fla. (BP)–Calvin Miller spent a year and a half gathering facts, portraits and little-known quotes about Jesus for a millennium tribute to the Son of God.
The result — “The Celebrate Jesus! Millennium Bible” — gives readers the feeling they are thumbing through a journal lovingly crafted by a mother for her son.
Miller, professor of preaching at Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, Birmingham, Ala., sees the project as a literary tribute to Jesus as well as a loving one.
“I’m kind of known as a literary and reflective sort of guy and I think that’s why Broadman & Holman chose me to do this project,” Miller said during an interview at the annual Christian Booksellers Association Convention in Orlando, Fla. Broadman & Holman is the publishing arm of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Miller believes the 366 quotes he selected from 2,000 years of various writings about Jesus and the fact the Bible is the King James Version helps give it its literary feel.
That there are 366 sayings about Jesus is no coincidence, said Miller. One saying per day accompanies a devotional section that provides a year and one day’s worth of Bible study.
Short sayings about “what people thought about Jesus” are included from such historical and contemporary figures as: Thomas Aquinas, Philip Yancey, John Wesley, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Teresa of Avila, Martin Luther, Dwight L. Moody, John Calvin, Charles Spurgeon and C.S. Lewis.
Another aspect of the Millennium Bible that gives it a literary feel, Miller said, are the 24 full-color paintings from classical artists that include historical stages of Jesus’ life such as: the Marriage Feast at Cana (Bartolome Esteban Murrillo); The Sermon on the Mount (by Lorrain); The Transfiguration (by Raphael); The Last Supper (by Peter Paul Rubens); and The Ascension (by Rembrandt).
The Millennium Bible project was a fairly massive one, but its concept is simple, said Wendell Overstreet, marketing specialist for Broadman & Holman Bibles.
“The main purpose we’ve forgotten during the media hype about Y2K is that the year 2000 is a celebration of the Christian faith. We want this Bible to take the focus away from Y2K and bring it back to Jesus,” he said.
The Millennium Bible is a limited edition and can be a gift item or a treasure to be passed through the centuries, Overstreet said. The Bible offers a 16-page family record section for the purpose of recording special memories during the year 2000.
Other features of the Bible include charts listing:
— the parables Jesus taught.
— titles the Bible applies to Jesus.
— how Jesus used the Ten Commandments to teach his disciples.
— the disciples of Jesus.
— the miracles of Jesus.
— the sermons Jesus preached.
— Old Testament prophecies pointing to Jesus’ first coming.
— harmony of the gospels and instructions for readers how to see the life of Jesus in chronological order through the four Gospels.
–the prophecies of Jesus’ second coming.
Also, a time-line fold-out of the life of Jesus and the historical events leading to his birth is included, along with full-color maps and God’s plan of salvation.
The 1,600-page hardcover Bible costs $29.99.

    About the Author

  • Terri Lackey