44 of 54 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
True Teachings, December 12, 2002
By A Customer
Is this a "love it or hate it" book? Let's look at some of the negative reviewers assertions.
True, the writers ARE biased. They are Christians comparing other beliefs to Christianity. There are "non-judgmental" books on world religions out there, if you like. This book isn't one of them, nor need it be. A bias does not mean what they are saying is wrong, by the way. A "bias" is not necessarily or automatically a bad thing.
Some say the book contains errors and so is untrustworthy. In Autumn 2002, most news outlets reported that in 200 years, there would no more blondes; it was reported without question. But for this to occur ALL blondes would either have to choose to or be forced to mate only with dark hair partners. The likelihood of this happening? Zero.
Soon, the extinct blonde claim was found to be a hoax, which, strangely, did not get the coverage of the hoax itself. One assumes the reviewers who were so outraged by errors in FFOFT were canceling subscriptions left and right: daily paper, Time, Newsweek, US News, Foxnews, CNN. Why stop there? There are errors everywhere. Bye-bye to college text books. Adios to the encyclopedias. And forget user manuals.
Does the book espouse "hate," as one reviewer said? No, but some people are threatened by anything they don't agree with. That doesn't make it hateful. Here's an example of what I consider hateful speech. On 19 November 2002, this news item was on Worldnetdaily.com, "Sheik Abu Hamza, with London's Finsbury Park mosque, tells an audience that non-believers should be killed or sold into slavery `If a kafir person (non-believer) goes in a Muslim country, he is like a cow, anybody can take him. That is the Islamic law. If a kafir is walking by and you catch him, he's booty, you can sell him in the market. Most of them are spies. And even if they don't do anything, if Muslims cannot take them and sell them in the market, you just kill them. It's OK.'"
Another FFOFT reviewer said, "This wreaks havoc in the minds of many, sabotaging the hopes and dreams of those of us who want peace in this world, who want all people to live together in harmony, whatever their religion, race, ethnicity, etc. It brings to mind previous Christian atrocities such as the Holocaust, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Crusades, and I quail to think of what will happen if too many read and ignorantly believe the filth written in this book."
How can one have world peace when one can't even write a book without being denounced and ridiculed? The Holocaust "a Christian atrocity"? That's just a lie. The Holocaust cost 11 million civilians, 6 million of them Jews, but also homosexuals, intellectuals, political enemies, gypsies, and other undesirables, including Christians (especially Christians harboring Jews). Nazism, like Communism, is an atheist regime. It has nothing to do with any religion except atheism.
The Spanish Inquisition was not "Christian," it was political (there's not a jot of scripture that can be used to support it). A segment of the church then was more interested in power and politics than in Christ.
As for the Crusades, Christians fought Muslims. Muslims Fought Christians. Christians fought Christians. Muslims fought Muslims. The Crusades occurred as only part of wars and conquests that lasted centuries. It was not a case of all of the bad ol' Christians beating up on all the poor old Muslims or vice versa (note: crusaders killed more fellow Christians than they did Muslims). It was certainly a pathetic period no one should be proud of. And it was a looooooong time ago. If all nations held grudges like some in the Arabic world, Britain would still be ticked at the Boston Tea Party. The Crusades was also a time when even enemies could act respectably, as when Saladin sent a basket of fruit to the dyeing Lionheart (I don't think Sheik Abu Hamza will be shopping at Harry and David's for his perceived enemies this year, but wouldn't it be great if he had the heart and mind to do so?).
FFOFT is an excellent and well presented book, but it should not be read in place of the Bible. Before I became a Christian, I thought I knew plenty about the Bible. I'd read a verse here, a chapter there, but most of what I "knew" was gleaned by listening to others (whether they were right or wrong) or my own muddled thinking. What cleared this up for me was reading the Bible cover to cover and applying it to my life. The Bible does have the answers. Truly. Nearly every question I had about Jesus, faith, and how to live life were addressed in the Bible alone. Books like FFOFT, good as they are (and I recommend it), are peripheral.
Are you new to the Bible? Want to find out what it's all about? I recommend, "The Daily Bible: New International Version: With Devotional Insights to Guide You Through God's Word." The traditional Bible is not presented chronologically, but this one is and makes for a better, easier read. To supplement your reading, I recommend Zondervan's Pictorial Bible Dictionary which gives excellent illustrations and additional information on the people, places, and events of the Bible, everything from what the wore to what they ate, to how they made things. Both of these books are available here on Amazon.com.
If you want to read books by former non-believers, people who set out to prove the Bible was false, only to find themselves converted by the truth of it, I recommend two by C S Lewis with a fantasy edge that are entertaining and stimulating, The Great Divorce and The Screwtape Letters. If you're a fan of legal drama and good detective work (who doesn't like CSI and Columbo?), then The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith, both by Lee Strobel should not be missed. And a short, but challenging read by McDowell is More Than a Carpenter. Again, all available on Amazon.com.
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