37 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A rational examination of Biblical prophecy, March 25, 2005
This review is from: Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment? (Hardcover)
Tim Callahan has done the rational thing and examined hundreds of verses from the Bible claimed to be "prophecy" to see if they meet four simple tests:
1) Is it true, false, or too vague to be specifically interpreted?
2) If true, was it written before or after the fact?
3) If written before the fact, was its fullfillment something that could be logically predicted based on the knowledge of the time?
4) Was the prophecy directive or deliberately fulfilled by someone with knowledge of the prophecy?
There is not a single "prophecy" that meets these four tests. Maybe that seems obvious to many, but at a time where fundamentalists are trying to shut down all challenges to their view that the Bible is "inerrant", it's about time someone looked at what is actually written there to see if it is really true or not.
Callahan is not a accredited scholar, as some have pointed out in efforts to trash this book, but is that really necessary? After all, any educated person can find verses like this in the Bible and check their veracity:
"An oracle considering Damascus. Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and will become a heap of ruins. Her cities will be deserted forever; they will be for flocks which will lie down and none will make them afraid". (Isiah 17:1-2)
Here we are over 2500 years later, and Damascus is still standing; in fact, it is the oldest continuously inhabited city in the world. It's obvious this "prophecy" is nonsense, and that alone should invalidate any claims to Biblical "inerrancy". Those who need to read this the most will not, but the rest of us can read it and get some facts on our sides when fundamentalists start talking about prophecy.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Required Bible background reading, January 22, 2003
This review is from: Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment? (Hardcover)
Let's forget all the stuff about "scholarly" and "not scholarly." Undoubtedly there are plenty of scholarly works (mostly unread, probably) better than this one, but for 99% of the American population, even this book is pretty damn scholarly. To me, it is terribly conceited to assume that a regular Joe, a person with a passing interest (and a regular job) would go hunting down doctoral theses or academic publications, as though anything less were childish or sensationalist. Most people read to find out, and find out they will with this book.
In terms of accuracy and organization, this book seems to be very well put-together. As another reviewer shrewdly noted, it only takes one proven inconsistency to shatter the biblical infallability notion, and Callahan has plenty more than that.
If you've ever wondered what to say when real Bible believers start throwing prophecy and its fulfillment at you, this is a great place to start....
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Prophecy 0, History 1, October 22, 1998
This review is from: Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment? (Hardcover)
Mr. Callahan shows with detailed, step by step dissection of Bible "Prophecy" that it is nothing more than history after the fact or wishfull thinking by the authors. The fact that Paul says in the Bible that all prophecy is true doesn't make it so. This book as part an overall skeptical study of the Bible shows prophecy for the paper tiger it is.
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