Maps Archives

About the Casual English Bible Maps..

Bible maps make the Bible clearer

The Casual English Bible® maps tell Bible stories in a captivating way that engages even people who have never read the Bible. Lavishly detailed maps only make the stories of Jesus and others more compelling and easier to picture and to understand.

These 3D-style maps of Bible lands are created from blended high resolution satellite images, matched to precise elevation data from international space agencies.

How to search for maps

—Type “Galilee” into the Casual English Bible’s map search engine, below. Instantly, you’ll see dozens of beautiful maps…many in 3D style. Each one tracks with a different Bible story. These aren’t generic maps with a hundred place names.
—Type “Samson” into the Bible map search engine. You’ll see the tiny village where he lived in the Judean foothills below Jerusalem.
—Type “Corinthians” and you’ll see a gallery full of maps associated with Paul’s letters of 1, 2 Corinthians, to the church in Corinth, Greece.

3D sense of the lay of the land

Get a feel for the lay of the land:

—Ararat Mountains, where Noah’s boat ran aground. The Bible doesn’t say it was Mount Ararat.
—Judean hills where Joshua and the Israelites found most of their battles for the Promised Land. They avoided the plains, where their enemies with armored chariots had the advantage over Israel’s foot soldiers.
—Jesus’ 20-mile climb from Jericho and the Jordan River Valley upward half a mile high, to the crest of the Mount of Olives, overlooking Jerusalem.
—One surprise for some readers is the Jesus Triangle, a plug of ground between three cities. It’s where Jesus spent most of his ministry time. A person can walk that entire triangle in a single day. Type “Jesus triangle” to see it.

Peter writes to Paul’s churches

Peter writes to Paul's churches

Bible Book: 1 Peter Type: Maps Location: Antioch, Antioch in Pisidia, Attalia, Cyprus, Damascus, Derbe, Iconium, Israel, Magdala, Paphos, Perga, Salamis Era: Church, Letters

Why did Peter write to Paul's churches

When the apostle Peter wrote to church Paul had started throughout Paul's own homeland territory, in what is now Turkey, it might have come across as awkward. Maybe even inappropriate. What does another preacher think he's doing by writing his advice to another preacher's congregation. Or in this case, congregations. Peter's letter targets troubles in the general church. Christians are facing frauds passing themselves off as church leaders. And they’re facing persecution from people outside their community of faith. That may have included some former relatives and friends who didn't like changes Christianity was making in these new believers.

Risk-taker

Peter always seemed a little out there, ready to stick his neck out. He started defending Jesus when Jewish police arrested him. Peter took a sword and cut off an ear from a servant of the high priest. He led the disciples of Jesus. Look at the list of names. Bible writers always put him first. And he is the star of the disciples in the Bible stories. Here, he addresses Christians scattered throughout what is now Turkey. That was Paul’s turf. Paul was born and raised there, and that’s where Paul started planting churches among non-Jews. There’s no record of Peter ever having gone there. He’s best known for ministering to Jews in what is now Israel and Palestinian Territories.

A guess about why Peter wrote

One guess about why he wrote is that he was on trial in Rome, just before his crucifixion, when he got word that churches throughout Turkey were facing some kind of persecution, which Peter never identified.

Nero may have ordered his execution

Emperor Nero, credited with executing Peter and Paul, launched the first persecution of Christians after accusing them of starting the July AD 64 fire that burned much of Rome. That might explain why Peter, on trial in Rome, wouldn’t specifically identify Nero as the source of the trouble. But there are other theories too. Jews might have caused the trouble for these churches, as they had done for Turkey’s premiere church planter, Paul. 1 Peter 2 Peter For other Bible versions, see Bible Gateway

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