Ken's Guide to the Bible [Paperback]

Ken Smith (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 143 pages
• Publisher: Blast Books (September 18, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0922233179
• ISBN-13: 978-0922233175
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #288,660 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Christianity > Reference > Criticism & Interpretation
  • #74 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Entertainment > Humor > Love, Sex & Marriage

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

87 of 93 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intentionally Unhistorical, August 25, 2000

By 

P. Gunderson (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ken's Guide to the Bible (Paperback)

Critics of this book argue that it is not scholarly--it takes passages out of historical context and absurdly applies contemporary values to ancient scripture. This criticism is entirely correct, but I think Ken means to do just that in order to counter all the Bible-beating-bigots (like Dr. Laura) who just love to cite the Bible out of historical context and pretend as if it were the repository of incontestable truths. Ken's just fighting fire with fire--albeit he has a better sense of humor than any Christian I've ever met.

The book is somewhat modeled after the "Idiot's Guide to..." series, with short introductory sections and little pictures in the margins to indicate what topics are being addressed. A quick read, Ken's Guide to the Bible gives you plenty of ammunition against Bible Studies people (not students of the Bible) who know only the Bible that they want to know.

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Value-for-money summary of the Bible, January 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Ken's Guide to the Bible (Paperback)

Ken's Guide to the Bible is a very concise and yet fairly complete book-by-book summary of what's happening in the Bible - and also what's not happening.

It is certainly not an interpretation or a theological analysis of the Bible. It focuses on highlighting passages that must seem bizarre, especially to people who insist on taking the Bible literally. It is thus a valuable source for arguments against fundamentalists. But even beyond that it is informational and a time- (and money-) efficient way of learning about the Bible's contents (but again, not its meaning - that wasn't the purpose of the book and it shouldn't be judged based on this as other reviewers have done).

The symbols used to identify "weirdness", "the big picture", "bunk" etc. may seem like a gimmick at first, but they are actually a pretty good idea and allow the author to refrain from commenting a lot - he mostly lets the Bible speak for itself and marks his own opinion with the "two cents" symbol. In addition, the "bunk" paragraphs point out erroneous beliefs people hold about biblical events. For example, it is not said anywhere in Genesis that Eve ate an apple.

Ken's Guide to the Bible is basically a (much) shorter version of Asimov's Guide to the Bible (and the author gives the latter as one of his sources). If you have enough time to read the whole Asimov guide, go for it - it's certainly "better" in the sense that it digs deeper and has a wealth of information. But if you want the 150-page summary, Ken's Guide is perfect.

53 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ken's Guide to the Bible, July 23, 2004

By 

B Safe "dugerman85" (Harrisburg, PA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Ken's Guide to the Bible (Paperback)

Religious fanatics have been selectively quoting the Bible for two thousand years. It is about time this ambiguous book, written and promoted by zealots for so long is exposed for what it really is - an implausible, unverifiable explanation for what men couldn't and didn't understand about the workings of the universe. People who fantasized about a Supreme Being and later His "Son," deities who were somehow supposed to be in charge of all things - but for some reason had to permit mortal men to kill the Son to save mankind?
Ken exposes the Bible as a collection of stories, many of which have nothing to do with one another, none of which can be verified independently and all of which have been translated and changed to suit the translator's version of events, many times over the centuries.
Ken?s Guide to the Bible is excellent, accurate and easy to read.