The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster [Paperback]

Bobby Henderson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2006

CAN I GET A “RAMEN” FROM THE CONGREGATION?!

Behold the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), today’s fastest growing carbohydrate-based religion. According to church founder Bobby Henderson, the universe and all life within it were created by a mystical and divine being: the Flying Spaghetti Monster. What drives the FSM’s devout followers, a.k.a. Pastafarians? Some say it’s the assuring touch from the FSM’s “noodly appendage.” Then there are those who love the worship service, which is conducted in pirate talk and attended by congregants in dashing buccaneer garb. Still others are drawn to the Church’s flimsy moral standards, religious holidays every Friday, or the fact that Pastafarian heaven is way cooler: Does your heaven have a Stripper Factory and a Beer Volcano? Intelligent Design has finally met its match–and it has nothing to do with apes or the Olive Garden of Eden.

Within these pages, Bobby Henderson outlines the true facts– dispelling such malicious myths as evolution (“only a theory”), science (“only a lot of theories”), and whether we’re really descended from apes (fact: Humans share 95 percent of their DNA with chimpanzees, but they share 99.9 percent with pirates!)
See what impressively credentialed top scientists have to say:

“If Intelligent Design is taught in schools, equal time should be given to the FSM theory and the non-FSM theory.”
–Professor Douglas Shaw, Ph.D.

“Do not be hypocritical. Allow equal time for other alternative ‘theories’ like FSMism, which is by far the tastier choice.”
–J. Simon, Ph.D.

“In my scientific opinion, when comparing the two theories, FSM theory seems to be more valid than classic ID theory.”
–Afshin Beheshti, Ph.D.

Read the book and decide for yourself!

Editorial Reviews

From Scientific American

An elaborate spoof on Intelligent Design, The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is neither too elaborate nor too spoofy to succeed in nailing the fallacies of ID. It's even wackier than Jonathan Swift's suggestion that the Irish eat their children as a way to keep them from being a burden, and it may offend just as many people, but Henderson, described elsewhere as a 25-year-old "out-of-work physics major," puts satire to the same serious use that Swift did. Oh, yes, it is very funny.

EDITORS OF SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Villard (March 28, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812976568
• ISBN-13: 978-0812976564
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (158 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,387 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #54 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Humor

More About the Author

Bobby Henderson holds a B.S. in physics, and although he has received several job offers from Las Vegas gambling interests (really! we're serious), he currently supports himself as a full-time prophet. Bobby got his start as a prophet in 2005, shortly after the Flying Spaghetti Monster appeared before him and disclosed that He was the true creator of the universe. The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is his first religious tome.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

191 of 203 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Too Bad the Publisher was a bit scared of the book..., April 16, 2006

By 

Scott Kozlowski "The Kreeper" (Tennessee) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Paperback)

Let me start by saying that The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a great read in a less than steller book. The quality of the paper and the cover a more like a grade school workbook than anything else I can compare it to. That said, reading the words as written by the Prophet, Pasta be upon his plate, Bobby Henderson is a riot! There are jokes throughout this book that are genuinely Laugh-out-loud funny, like the evolution of the tail bone for fighting or the War of Aggression against pirates wages by the Harri Christnas...

The book is comprised mostly of a satirical look at the ID movement and claims of the religious kooks out there. There are some rather brilliant passages that are really just ID transposed as FSMism, making one think quite often "how do they believe this crap?"

There are some other aspects of the book that read more like "Genesis" than the "open letter" that The Prophet, pasta be upon his plate, is famous for. These are entertaining and serve as a solid foundation for faith in his Noodly presence. But it's the revelation of the FACTS that truly reveal the Glory and prove the existence of our Noodly Master.

Oh, and BTW, DO NOT fall for the review of Mr. John Smith. He's trying to shill his book "God Speaks! The Flying Spaghetti Monster in his own Words."

523 of 595 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Teach the Controversy, March 28, 2006

By 

Lynn's Daughter "Lynn's Daughter" (Albuquerque, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Paperback)

As a science teacher, I believe that if we are to teach the controversy and let children decide, then we should teach ALL alternative theories to evolution, including FSM ideas. In that case, this gospel would provide an excellent teaching resource.

51 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars RAmen, January 1, 2007

By 

Andrew "Radaar" (Chicago, IL, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (Paperback)

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is one of the funniest things I have come across in a while. Bobby Henderson, a physics grad student, has ingeniously crafted a mock religion that effectively parodies the fundamentalist aspects of western religions (especially Christianity) that mainstream Christians and non-Christians find groan-worthy.
Henderson created the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, also known as Pastafarianism, in response to the recent trials over Intelligent Design and whether or not it belongs in a school's curriculum (or whether evolution has no place there). FSM claims that the world was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster, that pirates are His chosen people, and that Earthly problems, such as global warming are a direct result of the shrinking numbers of (actual) pirates in the world (Henderson has a graph that shows there is a direct correlation between the number of pirates and average global temperatures).
Using "facts" and "science", Henderson shows how evolution is wrong and that life can only have been created by the FSM, who obviously has a sense of humor due to certain things that happen in life. He also talks about how FSM heaven is so much better than Christian heaven due to the presence of a beer volcano and a stripper factory.
Other great aspects are the twists on biblical stories and places (such as why the great flood occurred or the Olive Garden of Eden) as well as the 8 Commandments (or is it Condiments) or FSM, commonly known as the "8 I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts", due to the fact that each one starts off with, "I'd really rather you didn't...".
Obviously, this book requires a sense of humor to be enjoyed, because it pokes fun at religion. But if you can see this book for what it is, a great parody of some of the stranger aspects of religion, you will definitely enjoy it.