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225 of 251 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great introduction to rational Biblical research., March 9, 2004
This book is an excellent layman's introduction to the "documentary hypothesis" and an excellent starting point for someone interested in a truly analytical analysis of scripture based on it's historical context. The author presents the scholarly debates and questions regarding the history of the Bible in enough detail to understand the arguments and yet maintain a level that is accessible to the layman. He also provides an extensive bibliography that provides an interested reader with ample opportunity to verify the material for themselves. Tim Callahan himself states in this book that this material is well known among scholarly circles and has been debated endlessly and refuted, without success outside their own clique, by apologists. This book is simply presenting core scholarly arguments that have been hidden behind, what the general public sees, as an incoherent and hopelessly daunting mountain of verbose and conflicting and outrageous interpretations of scripture made by apologists and mystics. This is the book the fundamentalists don't want people to see. It is a book that presents the scholarly criticisms, which fundamentalists have fought vainly against for decades, in a format that people can understand. Now people can read this book and use it's bibliographical references to pursue biblical research for themselves and not rely on the fundamentalists' arguments from authority. Now just a few personal words about some of the criticisms I have seen posted. Beware of the arguments of Christian fundamentalists and apologists. These people will argue that any evolutionary biologist with a strong background in evolutionary theory has been brainwashed by being too educated in his academic field to provide an unbiased interpretation of evidence, however, they don't seem to feel that a strong religious background taints scriptural interpretation at all. They feel it is necessary to understand the evidence. The same people that are criticizing Tim Callahan as "unqualified" to present an opinion on scripture because he does not present a dozen degrees from theological seminaries and a long background as a "Christian" scholar will argue endlessly against evolutionary theory without so much as a single respectable class in evolutionary theory. We usually refer to these people as hypocrites. Additionally Tim Callahan is quite correct when he attributes the roots of Christianity to the same roots as modern Islam and Judaism. Christians need to understand that radical Islamic fundamentalists are no different from radical Christian fundamentalists. In spite of the peaceful messages espoused by their mainstream followers religious, social and political extremists can be capable of acts of unspeakable violence and hatred like 9-11, medieval witch and heretic burnings, the KKK, the Holocaust and a million other examples throughout history. The author is not blaming Christianity for 9-11 but is, quite accurately, showing how any form of religious fundamentalism or extremism can lead to this form of horrific behavior. While the majority of Americans are Christians America was never a "Christian country', our constitution is not based on the 10 commandments and our founding father's were not, as a group, more religious than any other randomly selected group of Americans today. Our founding fathers were very careful to keep references to specific faiths or doctrine out of our governments founding documents. Our country was founded during a rebirth of rational thought and humanism and our, sometimes imperfect, adherence to those ideals is why our country is the land of freedom it is today. I defy any Christian fundamentalist to find anything in the 10 commandments that espouse freedom of religion, freedom of speech, right to bear arms, right to trial by jury, and right of The People to freely elect their leaders. The point Tim Callahan is trying to make is that fundamentalist Christians are just as dangerous to the freedoms America holds dear as fundamentalist Muslims. Tim Callahan's book is a rational and entirely American way to look critically at any material that proclaims divine authority. It is a great introduction to the rational and scholarly side of research into the origins of the Bible. It is not complete by any means but it is a very good place to start.
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45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cliffs notes for the rational Bible reader, October 7, 2005
The book's title is a little bit odd, since there's nothing secret about any of the information in the book. In fact, the most important conclusion is obvious to anyone who has ever read the various books of the Bible: The Bible simply cannot be the infallible word of an omniscient being. The reason is that the Bible contradicts itself all over the place, including and especially in some of the most famous passages. One clear-cut example is the existence of two contradictory creation myths, right there for anyone to read.
The fallibility of the Bible will not come as a surprise to most people. Actually, by "most" I mean two-thirds, which means that a terrifying 33% of Americans think that everything written in the Bible should be taken literally. Some of these people work in the highest levels of the U.S. government and have access to nuclear weapons.
As Callahan points out, this fundamentalism is a major problem because the Bible was clearly written by quite fallible human beings to advance a political and philosophical agenda relevant only to a particular time and place. The evidence for this conclusion comes from:
1) comparative mythology, which shows that most of the major stories in the Bible can be found in older myths, only with a different cast of characters and slightly different plotlines.
2) history, which shows that many of the events described in the Bible could not have happened in the reported sequence.
3) science, which shows that a lot of the things that are recorded in the Bible could not have happened on planet Earth.
4) The Bible, which by contradicting itself repeatedly, eliminates the possibility that everything in it is true.
On the first and last of these points, Callahan's knowledge appears to be encyclopedic. He describes a detailed web of correlations and contradictions that places the Biblical stories squarely in the proper historical and cultural context. In fact one of the more enjoyable aspects of the book is that it gives the reader some insight into the Bronze Age mentality that gave birth to two of the world's biggest religions.
Admittedly some of the attempts to explain certain Biblical passages end up seeming like a bit of a stretch; at times I would have been content to accept that parts of the Bible just don't make any sense. But Callahan's penchant for speculation is nothing compared to the sheer wackiness of contemporary theologians who try to extract a coherent narrative from the scriptures.
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108 of 122 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Satisfying delve into mythological origins., November 23, 2002
This review is from: Secret Origins of the Bible (Hardcover)
This is a wonderful book, and packed with research about the mythological origins of the bible. A great read for those who don't want to blindly accept the bible as some mystical holy writ, but as a conglomeration of many different mythological themes that were floating about and/or were created directly by the first city-state of civilization in fertile mesopotamia. All religion can be traced to this wonderous valley of the crescent. Callahan does his work thoroughly in tracing bible origins old and new. His writing is easy to follow and interesting throughout, never too 'scholarly'. Quite enjoyable and not cynical or 'bible-bashing', this book respectfully satisfies any curious mind. It also confirms how detrimentally arrogant the folly and laziness of fundamentalist literalism is.
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