Retired education lecturer Noel Donnelly has written a guide to the “Good Book”, aimed at Catholics.

Dr Donnelly, who was a senior lecturer in biblical studies in the education faculty at Glasgow University, has produced a book, in bite-size portions, introducing readers to aspects of the Old and New Testaments, a range of biblical characters, and the life of Jesus.

It includes timelines, maps, diagrams and glossary definitions that put the information into context.

He has also attempted to take the mystery out of some sections of the Bible: “Some of us still feel as if we are being asked to swallow stories like Jonah and the Whale, or about how the walls of Jericho came tumblin’ down.

“We ask what that has to do with us in the modern world of mobile phones, texting, keyhole surgery and interactive TV,” he said.

Your Bible: Every Catholic’s Essential Companion by Noel Donnelly is published by Redemptorist Publications.