More Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion, & Morality/Book II [Hardcover]

Steve Allen (Author)

Book Description

Series: More Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion & Morality | Publication Date: April 1993

The noted entertainer offers his analysis of the bible in an A-to-Z format using clear, readable prose. By the author of How to Be Funny. 30,000 first printing. $30,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Like Allen's previous volume ( LJ 10/15/90), this one gives us 113 short essays, alphabetically arranged by topic, that range in subject from abortion and alcoholism to ghosts and glossolalia to wisdom literature and women's liberation. This is not meant to be a scholarly study but rather the thoughts of an intelligent person who is well read in the Bible and religious topics. The overall tenor of the work is that of a critique of the literal or fundamentalist approach to the Bible and religion. Allen aims to challenge literal-minded religionists to reconsider their positions. Such people are, however, probably the last who would take up his book. While not an essential purchase, the book is interesting, and the author's fame in the entertainment field will be a drawing card.
- John Moryl, Yeshiva Univ. Lib., New York
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Steve Allen is the author of dozens of books, including HOW TO BE FUNNY and the acclaimed DUMBTH: THE LOST ART OF THINKING. He was the creator and host of the original "Tonight Show," and has written more than 4,000 songs.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 474 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; 2nd prt. edition (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879757361
• ISBN-13: 978-0879757366
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,737,202 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoughtful and intellegent discourse on the Bible., July 20, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: More Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion, & Morality/Book II (Hardcover)

Steve Allen is the rarest of treasures-a comic genius and a deeply profound thinker.

As Allen says in this book, and in its prequel, many of us have been guilty of reading the Bible for years without truly considering the impact of the moral values it expounds .

Written in a "dictionary topical" style, most readers will not likely read it cover to cover in one sitting (though I did). Those who take the time to read its contents, however, will be unable to avoid rethinking and reconsidering their long-held assumptions concerning the teachings of scripture and its impact on Western culture's view of morality.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful, May 12, 2003

By 

Kris (Oxnard, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: More Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion, & Morality/Book II (Hardcover)

This book helped me a lot. Steve Allen is not afraid to discuss the problems with the Bible. He especially made clear that Revelations (Apocalypse) is not really very clear. I never did understand Revelations, but I thought maybe I was missing something, since Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins had made such a big deal with their "Left Behind" series. Allen straightens all that out: basically, what he says, we really can't pay much attention to Revelations, because it really can't be understood, the author is really not known, and so forth.

Allen's basic approach is that God, as an omnipotent, omniscient power, could not have had much to do with the Bible, because the Bible has so many contradictions, errors, descriptions of revenge instigated by God or Yahweh. Allen interprets the Bible literally in order to show how it really doesn't hold together.

But I think, at least for me, Allen's whole book (I didn't read the first volume) tends to increase my faith in God, the omnipotent, omniscient One, that is. I'll have to look a little closer at our current version (one of many) of the Bible. Diximus.

17 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Well-Written and Interesting, but Flawed on Moral Issues, January 17, 2001

By 

Brian Curtis (Johns Creek, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: More Steve Allen on the Bible, Religion, & Morality/Book II (Hardcover)

Allen's second volume addressing facts, history, and morality in the Bible is interesting and well-written, with an eminently compassionate, reasonable perspective. However, it does contain some noteworthy stumbles in his approach.

In addition to numerous mini-essays on morality and the human condition (all thoughtful and well worth reading), Allen takes aim at fundamentalism to expose the flaws and fallacies in fundamentalist reasoning, as illustrated by the Bible itself.

However, this is a hit-and-miss endeavor because he attacks fundamentalism on two fronts, only one of which is firmly supported by reason and logic. He addresses aspects of the Bible which can be loosely grouped into two categories: "logical impossibilities" (such as "The earth is flat," "You can eat any flying creatures with four legs," "This city will be conquered 20 years after it's destroyed") and "moral impossibilities" ("God orders the murder of thousands of innocent women and children captives.")

On the logical impossibilities, Allen is on firm ground: theologians and biblical scholars have long discussed the number of contradictions, scientific and historical errors, and outright falsehoods sprinkled throughout the Bible-which have no effect on its overall moral message, I might add. Even within the framework of the Bible's own statements, many contradictions and impossibilities exist (ranging from counting and name errors to faulty references to other books of the Bible), which Allen addresses in a clear and lucid manner. The fundamentalist perspective has no real recourse but to ignore such blatant discrepancies and pretend the logical flaws and inconsistencies simply don't exist.

When he discusses what I call "moral impossibilities," however, he enters much shakier territory. These are sections and passages of the Bible in which God is portrayed as so capricious, so unjust, so pointlessly vengeful and violent, that Allen cannot accept this depiction as true; therefore, he concludes, the Bible must contain errors and falsehoods that have portrayed the real, loving, just God incorrectly.

In taking this stance, Allen has committed the Argument from Personal Incredulity error (as well as the either-or fallacy of assuming only two possibilities exist). His reasoning boils down to: "If the Bible is literally true in these sections, then God is unthinkably awful, and I can't accept that, so the Bible [and the fundamentalists] must be in error."

This is one of the weakest attacks on fundamentalism you can make; it is unsupported by the rules of reason or logic, and Allen does no service to the skeptic's cause by framing his argument in this manner. He also ignores other possibilities: For example, the humanist conclusion would be that such a god, if he exists, is not worthy of worship. Other possibilities abound: That God has changed his attitude over time; that God is insane; that God is, in fact, evil, and the *positive* depictions of him are the ones in error; etc., etc.

(Allen's reasoning on these points also includes the assumption that *of course* a perfectly wise, just, and compassionate God exists, so any portrayal that shows him to be otherwise must be in error. In other words, Allen is guilty of a little "My perspective cannot be contradicted" fundamentalism of his own here.)

Allen is (was) a talented writer with a strong sense of justice, compassion, and morality. He is on target with his criticisms of the fundamentalist stance that ignore the logical impossibilities of the Bible. He's a clear thinker overall, and bible scholars and skeptics alike would benefit from reading this and his previous book on the subject. However, his take on the "moral impossibilities" (as he sees them) stems from personal preference, not reason and logic. While I applaud most of his moral and ethical positions, I believe Allen made a serious mistake in pretending that his conclusions about the Bible's moral flaws are as rational and inevitably logical as his criticisms of the logical flaws.