Customer Reviews

Bible Prophecy: Failure or Fulfillment?

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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.

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....

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.

Having searched for this book for some time, I had mixed feelings upon actually reading it. Despite it's recent date, it's very much in need of revising to bring it current with the topics discussed. This may partly be due to Callahan's intended target, fundamentalists, who're also not always up to date. Much of it reads like a discussion of the topic from somewhere between 1900 and the 1960's, not surprising given the sparce and dated bibliography. All that aside, I found it to be not as terrible as the naysayers, nor as brilliant as its supporters, think it is. Callahan raises many interesting points and puzzles that are worthy of discussion, research and response. At the same time, there are a number of miss-steps typical of the non-specialist. The best thing for this book would be a sequel in which Callahan sits down with some scholars of the opposing camp, and I don't mean easy targets like McDowell or some radio preacher, and bats these problems out in a written debate format, somewhat like Wright and Borg did with the Jesus issue. Until then, this is still a worthwhile place to look to see a skeptical treatment, but it should be taken with a grain of salt, particularly if you haven't done degree level study in these areas, or are not up to date with the relevant literature. The "assured results of textual criticism" are once again up in the air over a number of these points, and the dust has yet to settle.

Not a bad book. Points out some glaring inconsistencies in the writings and arguments of some popular fundamentalist/inerrantist apologists and Bible teachers like Gleason Archer and Hal Lindsey. All it takes is ONE provable inconsistency or inaccuracy in the Scriptural text to require a modification or abdication of the Inerrancy doctrine, and Callahan provides several which fundamentalists/inerrantists would have a hard time explaining or explaining away. Often they DON'T explain them ... they just avoid them - see, e.g., "Anonymous" one-star reviewer "Hugh Raspberry!," who is apparently J.P. Holding, whose Web site at tektonics.org (no URLs in reviews) contains a lengthier review of the book, with much of the same language. Holding's reviews and comments about books and persons critical of inerrancy and fundamentalism can politely be described as "caustic" and "sarcastic," so be prepared to be sniped at if you take exception to what he writes.

Callahan systematically makes his way through the prophecies of the Bible. He is very level headed and rational. He does not come off as a beligerent atheist, but rather a voice of reason. The last few chapters are very interesting as he demonstrates just how tenuous and imaginitive today's end times theories are. Dooms-dayers such as Hal Lindsey and Lahaye have somehow penetrated much of modern Christianity. Their sensational claims (cloaked as scholarship) are easily exposed by Callahan. This is a great book to have handy as a reference book when prophecy issues emerge.

First, a message to all Christians who are bound to read the reviews for this book. For the record, I am a former fundamentalist Christian, and I am not bitter about my former background as such. Also, I do respect all who hold Christian beliefs. However, I must say that this book did indeed play an important part in my deconversion.

Please do not immediately dismiss this book in one fell swoop as another case of "Satan trying to discredit God's Word." The circular thinking that is evident in that is precisely the reason that a book like this could go so long without any decent treatment from Christian apologists.

Think about it. There are many, many people and books around the world that claim to contain the true words of God. Certainly, if all the other people who believed all of those other books followed this "Satan discrediting God's Word" line of reasoning, most of the people in the world would never, EVER find the true "word of God" (if it exists). For one of these books, like the Bible, to be the actual word of a loving God to mankind, there *must* be something to set it apart from the other books. In reality, Bible prophecy is really the only realistic claim that Christians have to their book being "the one."

I believed it for soooooo many years--as long as I can remember. I mean, I practically learned how to *freaking* read by reading a storybook bible. Later on, I read all the books by people like Tim Lahaye and spent 99.9% of the Sundays in my life in churches hearing all kinds of interpretations of Bible prophecy. Like so many other Christians, I thought I was well versed in it. However this is clearly not the case. Just by nature of reading a single critical book on the subject, written from another point of view, I have gained an understanding of the subject of Bible prophecy that is magnitudes greater than the 99.999% of Christian believers in Bible prophecy who have yet to do so. That's just how it is. Until most Christians step up to the plate and take a fair look at both sides of the issue by reading stuff like this, they really don't know the first thing about Bible prophecy.

That being said, I wholeheartedly recommend this book, to everyone. Even if you have no interest in Bible prophecy, you will gain a great deal of knowledge about history that should be required reading for anyone interested in the Bible. The author places everything in its historical context. He is also quite exhaustive in his representations of the historical scenarios and events that are related to Bible prophecy, so...in reality, I personally see no real way that the author could be wrong about most of the stuff unless he is deliberately misleading you.

Additionally, to those who get upset because of "liberal scholarship," you NEED to read this book. This particular author is very generous in that, although he makes extensive use of such "scholarship" to make his conclusions, he explains his reasoning very thoroughly at every step of the way.

To those who claim that this book somehow is lacking in the "bibliographical" department, that is pure nonsense. There is a very, very extensive bibliography of scholarly works and works written for the layman. Seriously.

In response to the "reader" that wants to give the book a raspberry -- you don't need to be a Bible scholar or read hundreds of scholarly studies in order to see the many fallacies in the Bible. They're there, and the only way to get around them is to resort to tortuous semantic and linguistic acrobatics that in the end are all suppositions. This book is very good -- but, like I said, not in-depth enough for the "scholarly."

By an intelligent theological layman for other intelligent members of the laity, this brief but scholarly book unmasks the deceits routinely practiced by Orthodox Jewish and Christian fundamentalists. Critical in the best sense of that term--i.e., consistently using his formidable analytical reasoning powers--Callhan makes mincemeat of the sophistry offered by true believers to buttress their beliefs in supernatural magic. A fine addition to any skeptic's library.

Do you wonder about some of the claims made by evangelical Christians as we approach the millenium? Here is a readable, informative and entertaining guide to the history and compilation of the Bible and an examination of bible prophecies.