The Bible continues to be the world's runaway bestseller. But very few people could tell you just how its seemingly disparate jumble of writings—letters, stories, poems, collections of laws, religious visions—got there. According to Bennett, filling this knowledge gap clearly and objectively, How the Bible was Built relates the story of how the Bible came to be the Bible. The book teaches readers about the disagreements of various church councils concerning which books ought to be viewed as authoritative. Many may well be surprised to learn that the debate over the canon didn’t really come to a close until the Protestant Reformation and the invention of the printing press. Readers will also find help with difficult biblical terms and important dates.

According to the publisher's release, "It's hard to overstate the quality of writing in this little book. People of virtually any reading level and virtually any religious persuasion will all come away with a new grasp of how the writings contained in the Old Testament, the Apocrypha, and the New Testament came to be regarded as special by different groups of Jews and Christians—and how they ultimately came to be regarded as Holy Scripture."

James W. Bennett went to Bloomington High School where he graduated in 1960. He received his bachelor’s degree from Illinois Wesleyan University in 1964, and his master’s degree in English from ISU in 1966. He is the award-winning author of several novels for young adults, including I Can Hear the Morning Dove, and Dakota Dream, as well as the spiritual memoir, A Quiet Desperation.