The world of the Bible seems hopelessly far away and long ago. And yet the Bible continues to be the best-selling book in prosperous 21st-century societies that are highly technological, devoted to personal freedom, suspicious of religious institutions, superstitious in their own way, struggling towards equity, and still frighteningly violent. Fundamentally, the people of the Bible were people like us. What can we learn from them and from their Book?

Many adult Catholics aren't comfortable reading the Bible on their own. Author and adult educator Noel Cooper is changing that.

Leading readers on a chronological journey through the books of the Bible, he offers general information, historical and theological insights and analytical tools for further reflection and study. Notes in the margins guide readers to appropriate Scripture references.

Winner of the 2004 Catholic Press Association Award for Scripture.

Noel Cooper has three degrees in theology and 25 years' experience as coordinator of Religious Education for the York Region Catholic School Board. He lives in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

Noel Cooper's profile page

• Winner, Catholic Press Award for Scripture