Biblical Nonsense: A Review of the Bible for Doubting Christians [Paperback]

Jason Long (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 19, 2005

The Bible is not the word of God.

Biblical Nonsense is a broad look at the tremendous problem of associating divinity with the world’s most popular book. This part-philosophical, part-scientific overview explores the Bible’s divine treachery, scientific mistakes, historical errors, false prophecies, and comical absurdities. Biblical Nonsense also expands beyond these standard reasons for skepticism by tackling the rationale behind the emergence and perpetuation of Christianity, psychological and sociocultural reasons that drive Christians to cling to their beliefs, and illogical methods of argumentation invoked in the defense of the Bible.

Author Dr. Jason Long is a former Christian who condenses the most significant biblical problems into this single volume. Unlike other books in the field that delve into only one topic, this manuscript, comprehensible even to those who have never opened a Bible, is a full-fledged attempt to demonstrate that God’s supposed word is a product of human minds, not divine inspiration. Dr. Long’s fresh experiences in the church and advanced levels of educational enlightenment make him the perfect individual to present this vehemently unpopular, yet undeniably appealing topic.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jason Long attended Middle Tennessee State University where he earned a B.S. cum laude in Chemistry with minors in Biology and Psychology. He completed his debut manuscript, Biblical Nonsense, shortly after earning his Doctorate in Pharmacy cum laude from Mercer University. He attended Church weekly for sixteen years.

Product Details

• Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: iUniverse, Inc. (January 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595341829
• ISBN-13: 978-0595341825
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #354,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

201 of 221 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a must have for doubting christians!, August 17, 2005

By 

Tim W. (NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biblical Nonsense: A Review of the Bible for Doubting Christians (Paperback)

After I had done much bible studying as a christian and became gradually overwhelmed by the lack of consistency, out of a desperate need for answers I decided to level the playing field and venture into the world of skeptical biblical scholarship including my study of the writings of former christians, ministers, and pastors who have left Christianity, including this book by Dr Long, Biblical Nonsense. I knew that if the bible is the remarkable document it is heralded to be, surely it can stand up to the most rigorous critical analysis. After pouring over thousands of pages of information from both sides of the issues including this book by Dr. Long, I have learned that the average skeptic has a much deeper and broader knowledge of the Bible than most average people who claim to be christians. An exhaustive reading of the comparative literature from both believers and former believers that is widely available in print and on the internet for all to see, proves this to be true. The real truth of the bible skeptic is that he is ultimately led by a search for the truth, not for the blatantly dishonest reasons parroted by the likes of JP Holding and other christian apologists. I have discovered for myself that Christian apologists will begin with the fundamentalist-driven conclusions or assertions (that the bible is inerrant, the bible is the spirit-written word of god, every word in the bible is true) and try to find any facts or evidence in support of these three assertions(and many others), conveniently ignoring strong and often irrefutable evidence that contradicts their haughty preconceptions. At the very least, this mannner of biblical analysis only seeks to support an intelectually dishonest and uncompromising foregone conclusion.

The hungry truth-seeker reads the bible from an objective, unbiased viewpoint, eventually discovering for himself what the text says, not what smooth talking evangelicals assert it says, thereby drawing his own conclusions and comparing them to a wide range of commentary and areas of well established facts. Considering the many different denominations in the apologetic business that quibble over what they think the bible says and means, this is a very wise approach to bible reading.

Virtually all of Dr. Long's many points raised as to the demonstrable fallibility of the bible just simply cannot be honestly, successfully refuted. The arrogant, highly disrespectful leaders of the modern apologetic movement such as Jason Gastrich and James Patrick Holding(Robert Turkel) can only resort to evasion, circular reasoning, endless question begging, endless how-it-could-have-been scenarios filled with nothing but conjecture, flawed and even intentionally deceptive biblical interpretation, outright dishonesty, and even rank personal insults when attempting to smear any scholars with opposing viewpoints like Dr. Long in their increasingly futile attempts to keep afloat the thoroughly debunked myth of biblical inerrancy. This book is an absolutely must read for any struggling christian not able to believe in the dogma of fundamentalist christianity.

160 of 179 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Irrefutable, October 19, 2005

By 

Savanthar - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Biblical Nonsense: A Review of the Bible for Doubting Christians (Paperback)

This book is simply irrefutable. Dr. Jason Long does an excellent job in substantially proving the Bible is not the divinely inspired "Word of God," but instead of mishmash of humanly inspired words attributed to a god. Dr. Long does an excellent job refuting the Bible on many grounds and he does it in an easy to read style that would even penetrate the hard heads of Fundamentalists should they choose to accept the challenge to their faith by actually reading this book. Dr. Long attacks the Bible from scientific perspectives, logical perspectives and he challenges the common Christian claim that it is infallible. He shows the Bible is rife with contradictions that haven't been effectively handled by Biblical apologists, despite their reaching for straws and claiming otherwise. He also exposes several mistranlslations of the original text that change the whole meaning of the commonly accepted scripture. These errors in translation are still evident in many Bibles to this day. To make the correction to some of these mistranslations would change all of accepted Christian dogma! So much for inerrancy. Some Bibles are translated more honestly than others and Dr. Long goes into this quite well.

This book lays it on the line and in my opinion will put Christian and Jewish apologists out of business. It is simply that good. Read it and find out for yourself. I'm sure you won't be disappointed in the sophistication of scholarship that went into writing and presenting this little gem of a book. Even the "great" Christian apologist J.P. Holding came here to put up a review on this book and his review couldn't even come close to refuting Biblical Nonsense. It makes me wonder how these apologists stay in business and keep fooling the believing masses with their non-scholarly baloney slicing (B.S.) Dr. Long's book will be thoroughly inspiring and thoughtfully absorbing to anyone willing to review the Bible with close scrutiny and a bit of common sense.

In this debate between believers and non-believers, this little book goes a long way to defending the arguments of non-believers against the banal accusations from Biblical apologists of every stripe. Believers certainly couldn't accuse Dr. Long of poor scholarship, because he backs up everything he says with examples and thoughtful analysis of what appears in the Bible. He covers many of the discrepancies between what apologists claim about the "holy scriptures" (prophecies, inerrancy, geneologies, etc.) and what skeptics know about those same scriptures point by point. In short, this is a marvelous read and I encourage any thinking person to buy this book. As Ernest Hemingway has said "All thinking men are atheists," and I'm sure all thinking individuals will really enjoy this book. If you have ever entertained doubt for the authority of the "Holy Bible," then Biblical Nonsense is the best place to start your own scholarly search into the facts about the best selling, but least read and most misinterpreted book of all time. Welcome to reality!

150 of 172 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book will free you from illogical fears based on fantasies, February 8, 2006

By 

Tim L (Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Biblical Nonsense: A Review of the Bible for Doubting Christians (Paperback)

I am 38, have been a conservative Christian all of my life. This book was the first exposure to me of anything concerning the Bible other than what I have been conditioned to believe. Dr. Long makes this simple to understand yet gives totally irrefutable evidence as to why the Bible is a man made fiction. The realization that comes with knowing that Hell is a myth created by men wanting to frighten people into certain behavior is very liberating. I only wish I had the first 38 years of my life back to not waste on fantasies.