Customer Reviews

The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

For those of you who are interested in an actual evaluation ofthe book then by all means read this review. If you would prefer tosimply read about people preaching their religious views on-line then skip this review.

The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy is certainly controversial. The language is clear and the author is familiar with the subject manner. Most of the Biblical quotations are honest and not out of context. The index is also very good. I generally found the organization of the book to be well done except at certain points where the author needlessly restates an alleged contradiction. The author tends to be argumentative at several points in the text especially his concluding chapter. The book probably would have received five stars if the author had not included the final chapter. [Some of] the basic premise[s] of the book [are] as follows:

1)There are statements within the Bible that when examined together cannot be believed at the same time by the same individual without a gross amount of intellectual dishonesty.... 2) There are statements within the Bible which are violations of scientific principles (besides the miracles) found in astronomy; biology; mathematics; physics; and medicine (among others).... 3) There are certain acts of the characters found within this book, especially God/Jesus, which are ethically questionable and in many cases would easily be condemned as unethical acts if they had been committed by any other individual [such as war, assault and slavery].... 4) The main character God and/or Jesus is assumed by the author to be both incapable of error or contradiction; and unwilling to have ever committed an unethical act.... 5) Based upon these various violations of science, logic and ethics, the author states that the books of the Bible cannot be considered the infallible Word of God. Since God, being incapable of error, would not have given his human instruments incorrect information. Furthermore God would not have acted in such a way that his actions could be seen as morally repulsive. A further problem develops when one considers that God admits to decieving prophets in the past. How would one know if the inspiration one is receiving is God being deceptive or telling the truth? Or if it is God or Satan doing the inspiring? [And so on.] ...Since the Bible cannot be shown in its entirety to be the Word of God. Each statement found within the text must be examined for its truth or falsity and should only be believed if sufficient evidence supports it. The author finds little if anything in the way of supporting evidence to believe the claims found within the Bible are true. The author claims that the errors are so numerous in the text that there is strong reason to doubt that there is any truth to the Bible.

While this book seems to have gotten rave reviews from other readers, I was disappointed with the text (keep in mind I am not a Christian, either). I think the other reviews may be largely influenced by other *bad* books in this area, or by personal biases.

This book was not worth the price for several reasons. For one, it is not nearly in-depth as it should be. McKinsey brings up a vast selection of errors but rarely addresses appologetic responses... and if he does, he does not address appologetic rebuttals to his response. Many of the things he brings up as points have reasons behind them that appear to be equally as valid as some of his reasons against them (metaphors, cultural explainations, etc).

Furthmore, he appears to be reaching on many of his points. As one example, McKinsey makes the claim that the Bible cannot be true because one parable refers the mustard seed the smallest seed when it is, in fact, not. This seems just silly as the reference appears to be more of a litary hyperbole than a statement on botany. There are other examples similar to this one throughout the book.

This book succeeds to showing good evidence that the bible is fallible, but because most of his arguments are far too shallow. Atheists who purchase this to gain "ammunition" are going to be frustrated when they receive appologetic responses for nearly every point he brings up (some rather logical, admittedly some not). Biblical scholars purchasing this book are going to be disappointed at the lack of depth.

This books serves as a useful tool for basic arguments and a nice summary of biblical contradictions, but is in no way the be-all-end-all of biblical errancy books.

Isn't it funny that some of the critics of this book that give it one star when obviously by their comments have not read it. In fear they try to bring the ratings down without trusting their logic to challenge the issues addressed. Unfortunately, they only show how biased and ignorant people can be when they believe in faith (or just because).

The author could present the information in a more professional manner. However, there are points he makes that prove to me that the bible is to say the least poorly written and the old testament hardly supports the new testament. If the bible is poorly written then how can that be the word of God? After reading this book, the bible can only be perceived as well written to an individual does not read it seriously from an unbiased viewpoint. One of the issues Mckensy brings up is how Jesus refers to Isaiah as refering to him (page 409). When you read what jesus says and what Isaih really says it becomes apparent that the verse was manipulated to make it appear as a prediction of jesus. When one reads the chapter it is obvious it isn't about Jesus. Jesus changes the words and adds statements of healing the blind. If this is what Jesus, authors, and christians have to do to make people believe in their belief then I want no part of it. I want the truth for real and it amazes me how people who supposedly base their life on truth can convience themselves of obvious lies.

I was not sure of my faith when I began to read this book and other books by the christian author McDowell. It appears the ones who claim to have the truth are the ones who are ignoring IMPORTANT well argued issues as if they never existed in defense of thier emotional attachments to their crazy beliefs. I simply want the truth and do not see how one can be convienced the bible has it after reading this book.

I have actually read this book, and I recommend you keep it handy to debate door-to-door evangelists. I now invite them into my home and sit down and talk with them. Using McKinsey's book, I have yet to lose an argument about the bible. I am amazed at how many people are able to shrug off the problems and fall back on "God said it, I believe it, that settles it" in spite of the fact that McKinsey rarely (if ever) goes outside the bible to prove it false. As he says in the EBE "...the Bible is its own worst enemy." One need only to read Genesis with an open mind to see this. It seems some people are able to take one weak argument from McKinsey's book and claim it invalidates the entire book, yet the bible has hundreds of mistakes in it that somehow are irrelevent. The EBE has mistakes in it, but Mr. McKinsey doesn't claim to be infallible, he leaves those claims to the fundementalists.

I would like to note one thing, book reviews are to review the book, not list 15 other books in some vain attempt to try and debunk everything presented in the title. I found the one listing by a christian offensive and distasteful. As a Christian, (pentecostal if anyone cares) I had never really looked into my faith book for errors. This book was on a friends table, and i began to read it. I found it to be exactly that, a book dealing with errors in the bible. There was no preaching of his views, or anything. I felt it was somewhat biased in its approach, but honest nonetheless. Curious, i ordered a copy, and have read it almost top to bottom. needless to say, I was at first a bit disheartened by it, but then i realized my belief was unaffected. In fact, i felt like the pharisee in me had been washed away. I was still a Christian, but i didnt believe the bible was perfect any longer. I no longer had to feel trapped by my religious beliefs. I felt liberated, to follow love, and not some of the passages that condemn others i found so disagreeable before, but had just grudingly accepted. This book was very valuable to me. I will consider buying another copy for a friend of mine. Thank you.

Did you ever wonder why the God of all Creation would choose a small tribe of nomadic peoples known as the Israelites to reveal the Truth to, and not reveal it to others at the same time? Ever wonder how a lifetime of 80 or 90 years could justify an "eternity"of reward or punishment?

If so, the discrepancies and faulty logic of the Bible are nowhere better pointed out than in this eye-opening book. McKinsey is cooly brilliant in his exposé of the many contradictions and downright "un-Truths" to be found in the Bible by anyone who can step outside of its brainwashing influence long enough to read what's "really" there! And you will be shocked! The hundreds of thousands of murders and other atrocities commited by the self-admitted angry and "jealous" god of the Hebrews puts him in the company of such villains as Hitler, Mussolini and Ghengis Khan! McKinsey utterly devastates the Fundamentalist claims of Inerrancy in the New Testament as well by alerting us to the numerous points where the four Gospel writers not only disagree, but actually contradict each other!!

I'll not attempt to fill you in with point by point examples. McKinsey does that well enough to ensure that any sincere reader will come away with a new understanding of the Bible and how it's being used by Fundamentalists to control the thoughts and behaviors of others through selectivly quoting the verses that support their agendas and hoping none of us will notice the ones that this book points out.

The author of this outstanding work has totally proven the Bible for what it is - a collection of false promises, contradictions, absurdities, lies and cruelty. He has proven beyond doubt that the writers of the Bible could not have been inspired by a good and benevolent God. Every person of faith must read McKinsey's book. We have all been brainwashed by our church fathers and spoon-fed only portions of the Bible, very small portions, as the reader will learn. What you don't know can hurt you. Why do Christian leaders tell their constituents to break the 1st and 4th commandments? Why did Jesus break most of the commandments? McKinsey shows us the dark side of the Bible and topics that good Christians would never discover in church-sanctioned bible study; passages that children would not be allowed to read. He proves that 90% of the bible is contradiction and myth. The truly remarkable aspect of McKinsey's work is he stays INSIDE the Bible to disprove itself. He uses the Bible's own words to discredit itself. How can a perfect God contradict himself? How can God say, "Do not lie" and then lie himself? How can the "Creator" get simple laws of science and biology wrong? Without giving away anything else, you should get McKinsey's book and your own bible and compare verse with verse. Compare what you know about biology and science with what the writers of Scripture supposedly know. What you will learn will open your eyes.

I am somewhat acquainted with Mr. McKinsey's prowess in going head to head with major-name bible apologists on the radio. These people often vilify him yet Mr. McKinsey beats them back with logic, common sense and the very words of the Bible. As far as I know he has never refused to face anyone (on radio or in print) in discussing bible errancy. These very same big-name apologists avoid and completely run away from better than half of McKinsey's refutations of the bible. They avoid the "hard" stuff like the plague simply because they cannot explain away the "contradictions" McKinsey is so adept at uncovering. I have read his defenses in the newsletter he published for 16 years or so and he totally destroys every one of his detractors. The same cannot be said of those cowards who would challenge him behind his back. I am greatly amused by those unknown critics that would condemn his work, claim to be able to refute every challenge made by McKinsey, yet hide from him. To them I say "step up to the plate!" Anyone can talk the talk and demonstrate their own brand of self-righteous smugness but prove nothing, relying totally upon pontification and church propaganda without a single verse of scripture to back them up. I dare any johnny-come-lately who thinks he can "slay the dragon for Christ" to purchase this book, then contact the author on the Internet (yes, he can be found!) and refute all you want - I guarantee one in the loss column. The book is that good. McKinsey's book shares the wealth of his many years of research and study with all who care to seek that knowledge to better themselves.

The book is presented in a manner that is easily understandable by all. There is no need for outside documentation to prove his case because the bible itself and common sense are all that is needed. Those critics who advocate knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew is necessary to understand scripture are wrong and they only use that argument (ruse is more like it) to deter knowledge-seeking men and women from trying to understand the bible themselves. These hypocrites want to tell their neophytes what to believe - but don't buy it. Let The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy help you. You don't have to be a scholar of Greek and Hebrew to understand the Bible. Every translator of at least 15 versions of the Bible knew Greek and Hebrew more than any apologist of today and even they didn't agree amongst themselves! McKinsey shows you in simple English how to read and understand the Bible. Everything McKinsey says is backed up by scripture, there is absolutely no speculation.

MUST READING for those who are not afraid of the truth. The truth will really set you free. If you don't want to know the truth then don't buy this book. I recommend this book for Christians and non-Christians alike. For Christians I recommend because your naive belief in "what have I got to lose by believing in Christ?" is very FATAL thinking if you believe in God. This book will reveal the truth to you. I recommend The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy for non-Christians because McKinsey's work will prepare you well for refuting the ignorance and superstition presented by the pens of holy men inspired by God and will enable you to go head to head with anyone who blindly defends the Bible to their own demise. The sum of all McKinsey's knowledge is shared in this book and should be considered a national treasure for freethinking individuals. It changed my life and I cannot sing the praises of this book loudly enough! I read Mckinsey's newsletters and this book; the book is better. FIVE STARS.

If you can only own one book of Biblical study and/or commentary, this is the one to have. Every topic is thoroughly, comprehensively explored.

If I were to offer any criticism, I would say that the author sometimes comes across as too polemical, which may add fuel to the fire of a fundamentalist dead-set on judging the book on author bias alone. If you're trying to persuade someone, it does no good to insult the very person you're trying to persuade. Be that as it may, however, the author's tone in no way diminishes the facts he uncovers.

Although there are two indexes at the back of the book, both word- and scripture-, one thing I thought may have been helpful would have been a topical scripture index listing all the relevant scriptures under one subject heading.

These two items aside, this book was very good. It made me wonder how and why I ever believed in the Bible in the first place.

This book doesn't mince words. Although a few of the errors it exposes might be explained away by biblical fundamentalists, the grand majority of what this book has to say is simply too true to be disputed. If this book doesn't wreck the theory of biblical inerrancy, I don't know what will. Read it yourself, and see how many of the errors the author exposes you can actually defend. Good luck. You'll need it.

There is little doubt that this book is hostile to the Bible. One only has to read the last chapter that is dedicated to exposing the Bible's mistakes and covers such topics as "Tactics," "Strategy," and "What's Needed " to accomplish getting it thrown into the heap of mythology. This chapter even contains lists of strategy items that the author has found effective in his debates with pro-religious figures, and the author encourages readers to use his time-tested strategies to expose the Bible. The author's articulate attack is precisely the reason it should be read by both sides of the religious debate.

The title of this book, "The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy," accurately identifies it--an encyclopedia! I have studied religious issues for several decades, and there were very few major contradictions or issues that were not covered. If there was a flaw, it would be the shallow coverage of issues that had many repetitive examples of the same issue, but the book still approached 600 pages of information. In most instances it filled those pages with straightforward, precise information with very little commentary, making it a highly valuable tool for either side of the debate.

No serious religious scholar can afford to not have this book in his/her library. Those defending the inerrancy of the Bible must know the arguments that will be used against them, and this book is literally the encyclopedia for those arguments. For those who find the Bible more a book of superstition or mythology than the literal words of the Creator of heaven and earth will find this book highly entertaining. Because of my interest in religion, it was literally a page-turner for me and as entertaining as any best-selling novel.