Is it God's Word [Facsimile] [Paperback]

Joseph Wheless (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1992

An Exposition of the Fables and Mythology of the Bible and the Fallacies of Theology. Contents: The Menace of Religious Intolerance; Genesis of Christianity; A Sketch of Hebrew Scriptures; The Patriarchs and the Covenants of Yahveh; Wonders of the Exodus; Forty Years in the Wilderness; The Ten Commandments and the Law; Conquest of the Promised Land; Hebrew-Heathen Religion, Sex Worship and Idols; Pagan God-And Gods-Of Israel; Yahveh-The Terrible God of Israel; Holy Priests and Prophets of Yahveh; Bible Theology and Modern Truth; The Prophecies of Jesus Christ; The Inspired Harmony of the Gospels; More Harmony of the Gospels; The Sacred Doctrines of Christianity; The Christian Plan of Salvation; Revelations of the Hereafter; Cesset Superstitio! And Then?

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Product Details

• Paperback: 504 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing, LLC; Facsimile edition edition (January 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156459226X
• ISBN-13: 978-1564592262
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #608,932 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

121 of 130 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud- biblical criticism., February 23, 2000

By 

Post enlightenment "Rationalist" (London, England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Is it God's Word (Paperback)

This book combines wit erudition humour and devastating textual comparison to catch the bible writers out in their contradictions and self serving invented laws and prophecies. If I had read this book 20 year ago I could have saved myself 18 years in the cult of evangelical christianity. Reading this book played a decisive part in my deprogramming there from. No doubt modern higher biblical criticism could tidy up some of the details in Wheless' book but who wants to rewrite David Hume or Bertrand Russell? Perhaps an annotated edition could be bought out by the Jesus Seminar or Gerd Ludeman. Meanwhile buy this and read it for shear enjoyment of the prose and the humour that can be had from critical study of that looney book the bible.

40 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Flawed, but valuable and entertaining, April 4, 2002

By 

Jason Randall Nash "HawkeyeGK" (Council Bluffs, IA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Is it God's Word (Paperback)

...In a nutshell, this book is a flawed, but comprehensive exploration of the contradictions in both the old and new testaments. The underlying premise of the book is this: "The texts of the Bible are contradictory and factually erroneous. If there are errors and contradictions in the Bible, then the assumption that the Bible texts were divinely inspired cannot be held. If the Bible texts in their entirety are not divinely inspired, then one cannot be sure which parts of the Bible are divinely inspired and which are not. Therefore, the Bible as a whole cannot be word of God."

...I bought this book hoping for it to meet two goals.
1. An examination of early Christianity
2. A reference for casual atheistic/theistic debate.

In regards to the first goal, the text was moderately successful. Wheless does not set out to examine early Christianity per se, but in his efforts to discredit portions of the Bible, he does point out some of the pagan traditions that gave rise to modern Christian traditions. For example, he examines the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs as symbols of fertility used in pagan Celebrations of the Spring Equinox. He gives the reader some valuable incites into ties between early Christianity and Egyptian and other pagan gods.

That being said, I find the book The Jesus Puzzle a far better examination of early Christianity. Wheless' primary goal is not to examine the foundations of Christian dogma. He simply throws a reader with that goal an occasional bone in defense of his other arguments.

As far as a debate tool goes, this book is more successful. It provides a plethora of contradictions that an atheistic debater can draw upon. I find it a very successful technique to lay out blatant contradictions in the inspired text and to watch apologists form weak explanations. Wheless' use of the original Hebrew where appropriate is very eye opening.

I found Wheless' most interesting argument centered on the story of Adam and Eve. He contends that if you do not accept the fable as truth, then the original sin of mankind did not take place. If it didn't happen, then there is no reason for Jesus to die to redeem the original sin. The keystone of the Christian religion crumbles and brings the rest of the dogma with it. Trap a theist into admitting the story is a fable and then lay that argument on him!

Wheless also provides some quick fun barbs like the stupid fish you see on the backs of people's cars is really the symbol of a pagan Cyprus sea god. That is just classic.

This book is flawed, however. In his attempts to find contradictions and absurdities in the text, he asks the reader to stretch his willingness to be convinced. He reaches on several points. Also, there was several times where we are simply asked to take Wheless' interpretation of facts, translations, and history. It simply made me too uncomfortable to buy what he was selling more than a few times.

Call me wimp, but I found this book very laborious to read. I realize he is writing in the style of his time, but holy cow! This guy writes like a lawyer attempting Shakespeare-speak. It put me to sleep more than one night.

All in all, this is a worthwhile read. You simply will not find a more exhaustive examination of Bible contradictions anywhere. Its tongue in cheek style is frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and the book is full of great debate tools. Its totality is greater than the sum of its parts, oddly enough, the exact opposite of his assessment of the Bible...

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars belief in the bible is the problem, this is the cure, April 5, 2002

By 

Kristofer R. Key (lithia springs, ga United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Is it God's Word (Paperback)

What Thomas Paine started, is finished by Joseph Wheless. Best debunking of the bible ever!! He goes through the bible with the eye of a lawyer and demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that God did not write the bible. Ignore the negative rating below, its obvious he did not read the book if he thinks it can be dismissed as easily as he did