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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