The Human Faces of God by Thom Stark

The Human Faces of God: What Scripture Reveals When It Gets God Wrong (and Why Inerrancy Tries To Hide It) is, in short, a great book. It sits proudly on my bookshelf with other biblical scholars such as Robert M. Price, and the esteemed Bart D. Ehrman. Thom Stark is a Christian who gets it. Mind you, he's not an orthodox Christian. I would describe him as having a humanistic worldview with a strong appreciation for the teachings of Jesus Christ. I might even go so far as to say it is akin to the views expressed by Thomas Jefferson in Ye Will Say I am No Christian (which has been reviewed on this blog). In this book, Thom Stark lays out piece by piece why those called "inerrantists" are dead wrong; that is, someone who takes the Bible to be the literally true, flawless, divine word of God. He shows why inerrantists don't actually exist, but that those who think that they are are not only dead wrong, but hazardous. He then looks at the origins of Judaism, showing that it originally was a polytheistic religion. He then shows the barbaric practices of the ancient Jews, including human sacrifice and genocide. He also shows how certain stories were fabricated to boost morale, as propaganda for the Jewish people. He shows how Jesus was wrong about the coming kingdom of God, and how his views make sense for an apocalyptic prophet who's views fit a similar paradigm to other apocalyptic Jewish sects such as the Dead Sea Scroll community. In some spots the book seems to drag on, but only because the author is trying to clearly and fully explain what his point is. He also includes the evidence relevant to what he is discussing. Throughout the book you will encounter transliterations and explanations of ancient Hebrew words as they originally appear, translations of textual variants the verses of scripture he is referencing, and in one case the actual Hebrew letters to show you how an editor merely exchanged one word for another. If you are truly interested in what he has to say and are not an expert in the field, the inclusion of the evidence in question is convenient and actually time saving.

Like a good professor, at the end of each section he writes a conclusion to tie together all of his points. His writing is clear, and easy to understand. He explains terms that I wouldn't know off the top of my head, because I am not a Biblical scholar. His sources are also very well documented, which combined with the inclusion of evidence he is talking about, and the clarity of his writing, makes for an academically sound yet readable work. At the end of the book he gives hope for the faithful. Rather than using these things to destroy Christianity entirely, he provides an alternative, liberal, humanistic Christianity that rejects fundamentalism, inerrancy, and bigotry. He advocates living by the morals that Jesus actually spoke of, such as toleration and peace. As I said before, Thom Stark is a Christian who "gets it". He understands that traditional faith is groundless and hazardous, but he also understands that you can't just destroy something important to society without giving a positive alternative in its place. This is what worried the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche when he said, "God is dead." Nietzsche feared that a debilitating nihilism would sweep over Europe as Christianity slowly eroded from society, and advocated the "master morality" of the "übermensch" where artistic aristocrats would rule. I think that Thom Stark understands this as well, but instead offers a more feasible alternative to the masses instead of knocking down orthodox Christianity and leaving nihilism in its place. I derive my moral guidance from Aristotle and Epicurus, but to those who admire the teachings of Jesus or don't wish to abandon the Christian community and set of traditions, Stark is the one you should read. Fans of Bart Ehrman will definitely enjoy this as well.

10/10

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The Faiths of the Founding Fathers by David L. Holmes ; Ye Will Say I am No Christian

Today I will do a joint book review since both of the reviewed books relate to the same topic:

The Faiths of The Founding Fathers by David L. Holmes is an excellent book for those who wish to learn about the religious views of the founding fathers of the United States. The book starts by looking at the religious views of the colonial Americans in the 1770s, looking at different churches and sects in different colonies. It then explores the relationship of the Founding Fathers and the Anglican (or Episcopalian, as the colonial Americans chose to rename it after rebelling against the English crown -the King was the head of the Anglican Church), and chronicles the rise of Deism in the European Enlightenment. It explores the influence of Deism on the Founding Fathers, and then investigates the views of Ben Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe. Afterwards, it explores the views of their wives and shows that their wives held more theistic orthodox Christian views, and explains that Deism was popular among scholars (women were not allowed to go college) and Freemasons (an all male organization). After that, it shows how to distinguish a Deist from an orthodox Christian, and then looks at the three founding fathers that we know to be Christian: Samuel Adams, Elias Boudinot, and John Jay. The concluding chapter explains that the Christian Right is wrong to re-write history and view the Founding Fathers through the lens of modern evangelical Christianity. The book is followed by an epilogue that examines a few more modern presidents.

10/10

Ye Will Say I am No Christian: The Thomas Jefferson/John Adams Correspondence on Religion, Morals, and Values, edited by Bruce Braden, is a collection of letters that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson wrote to each other. Adams was a Unitarian Christian, while Thomas Jefferson was an anti-clerical Deist and far more skeptical than John Adams. They frequently conversed on their favorite topic, philosophy, via letters to each other. In these letters, their religious views are spelled out to each other, and it makes for a very interesting read once you get used to their archaic English. These are not all of the letters that they wrote to each other, much less to other people, on the topic, but they are very good. Being of a more skeptical bent myself, I appreciated a lot of what Thomas Jefferson had to say; He has been a personal hero of mine for a while. I would recommend reading The Faiths of the Founding Fathers by David L. Holmes first before reading this, as this book is an excellent supplement to the discussion of the religious views of these two great men in the previously reviewed book.

10/10

Be sure to check out the brief biography of Thomas Jefferson on my People of Interest Page, as well as more books on the topic of the Founding Fathers on my Reading Lists page.

Buy Faiths of the Founding Fathers today at Amazon.com

Buy Ye Will Say I am No Christian today at Amazon.com

The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins

The Magic of Reality is Richard Dawkins's newest book. It is primarily targeted towards a younger audience. Judging by the content of the book, I would say it is best read by children of about 1o or 11 and up. However, this book is extremely enjoyable to adults such as myself. To those who are put off by Dawkins's "militant" approach to religion in The God Delusion, have no fear here. Dawkins doesn't lash out against religion as he does there. What Dawkins does do is go through a list of questions that everyone has wondered at some point in their lives; the questions range from the scientifically curious, such as "Is there life on other planets?" and "Why are there so many different types of animal?" to the philosophical, such as "Why do bad things happen?" and a host of other questions. Dawkins begins most of each chapter by asking a question, and giving a myth from some culture that explains it. He touches on Greek mythology, Norse mythology, African mythology, Judeo-Christian mythology, and more. He doesn't give any special preference for or against any particular culture's myth. In other words, he doesn't make a target out of the Abrahamic faiths. This might make the book more attractive to some people, including the non-religious, who were put off by his tone in The God Delusion. This book could have equally well have been written by a deist instead of one of the world's most outspoken atheists. In more philosophical chapters, such as "What is a Miracle?", he advocates rational thinking about these issues and explains them in a very easy to understand manner that should be understandable to most pre-teens. Instead of tearing down religion and arguing for atheism, here he advocates the beauty of studying the natural world without needing superstition to make it beautiful. I like this approach much more as a naturalist. I personally prefer the title of "Naturalist" when describing what I believe. I believe in the natural world, and that's what I wish to be defined by, not my disbelief in (or lack of knowledge of) the existence of a deity. To me, the title of Naturalist side-steps the issue of the existence of a creator, because there have been deistic, pantheistic, and atheistic Naturalists. For those with a similar opinion to my own, you will enjoy this book. If you are wanting to buy your child a science book, this would be an excellent one.

“I want to show you that the real world, as understood scientifically, has a magic of its own – the kind I call poetic magic; an inspiring beauty which is all the more magical because it is real and because we can understand how it works. The magic of reality is – quite simply – wonderful. Wonderful, and real. Wonderful because real.”-Richard Dawkins

The artwork in this book is absolutely beautiful. The artwork is done by Dave McKean, who is an accomplished artist. The illustrations are colorful and in many instances help give an excellent visual companion to the text that might help younger readers comprehend the material more easily.

This book gets a 10/10. This book deserves an award. If you are interested in science, or have a child that is, get this book. Unless you are very religious, this book shouldn't pose a problem to you.

Buy the book today at Amazon.com.

50 Reasons People Give For Believing In A God by Guy P. Harrison

While most books on atheism focus on either The Bible itself, complicated philosophical arguments for and against the existence of a god, or rely on science to contradict religious teachings, this book takes a much simpler approach. Instead of examining the theologian, it examines reasons the "common man" would give for why they have faith. The book isn't harsh or complicated; rather it is polite and easy to understand. I would recommend as a first time book for a theist wishing to understand why an atheist rejects their beliefs, and for the atheist, to try and get an insight as to why people believe the things they do. Each chapter is independent. It is more of a collection of essays than a single book, which means you can read a chapter and put the book away for a few days if needed and not need to refresh on what you forgot. You can easily read a chapter in a short amount of time, perhaps for some food for thought on lunch break, or something to sleep on at night. 

10/10

Is Belief in God Good Bad or Irrelevant by Greg Graffin & Preston Jones

http://www.amazon.com/Belief-God-Good-Bad-Irrelevant/dp/0830833773/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_i

This book is a published email correspondence between a professor at a Christian University named Preston Jones and Greg Graffin. At the time of his publication, Greg Graffin was working on his PhD. Since the publication he has become a professor of Zoology and accomplished scientist at UCLA. He has also been the singer for the amazing punk rock group Bad Religion since the 1980s. This is such a great book that I finished it in one day. I like reading books on this topic, so it was nice seeing a dialog between the two opposing viewpoints. Preston Jones is probably the only Christian I've read that I have much respect for. He seems genuinely thoughtful, even if his thoughts are lacking in depth. I like that he is curious about atheism and is not repelled by Greg Graffin's atheism. In most discussions like this, the discussion is tense, like a meeting between the leaders of two rival nations. Instead, this book has the atmosphere of two human beings trying to find truth. It's very relaxed. What I like is that throughout the book quotes from various philosophers, scientists, the bible, and Bad Religion songs are inserted where necessary, most often when it is referenced. It keeps the reading smooth and easy, so if you are not like myself and voraciously read philosophy and science, you won't need to go look it up. At the end of the book are study questions and discussion questions so that you can do further research for yourself, and also discuss things with your friends, book club, or whatever. I highly recommend getting this book, regardless of your religious views.


This book truly deserves a 9/10. I hope to see more books like this in the future.

Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku

Sorry I haven't written a review. I've been busy over the holidays. I'm sick right now, so this review won't be that long but it's been a while since I've posted. I have many new books - both fiction and non-fiction - to read and review over the course of 2011. There will be books about science, god, philosophy, and even a few fictional books i'll review.

Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku is best summarized in one word: cool! If you are a fan of science fiction, as I am, you will enjoy this book. Kaku divides various things seen in science fiction movies into three categories. Class 1 things are things which are not really impossible, but unlikely due to technological limitations, but may be possible one day. Class 2 Impossibilities are those which are hypothetically possible, but extremely unlikely because it would take thousands of years of technological development. Class 3 impossibilities are things which are thought to be impossible because they violate the laws of physics. Kaku is an accomplished physicist, and has a very in depth knowledge of these things. He also explains things simply and clearly. If you are a fan of science fiction with an interest in the science behind things like time travel, the Death Star, the Starship Enterprise, and robots you will very much enjoy this book. I have no complaints, so it gets a 10/10.