The Bible is a big book. It has 1,189 chapters. That is a big book! Moreover, hundreds of people parade across its pages from the beginning of human existence to about AD 95. Hundreds of places, including mountains, valleys, bodies of water, nations, cities, and towns, appear on the pages of Scripture. How is it possible to grasp so much material?

What is needed is an overview of the entire Bible, like getting an overview of a large city by flying over it in a small plane. A simple way to gain a plane view or overview of the Bible is by becoming aware of its time frames or historical periods. These periods usually contain one or two (sometimes more) main characters who lived at different times in various places and practiced various customs. To gain a basic understanding of the Bible, start by exploring its historical periods, identifying the main characters, noting the dates, and observing their locations, actions, and methods. This is the "who, what, when, where, and how" of the Bible. The historical periods of the Bible contain the "who" and "what." Chronology indicates "when." The geography of the Bible focuses on "where," and the customs of the Bible reveal "how" people did things.

In The Plane View of the Bible, G. Michael Cocoris explains the ten historical periods of the Bible and, in the process, covers the main people, events, dates, places, customs, and the archaeological proof for the historicity of each historical period. The plane view will make the Bible plain.