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129 of 139 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Both fun and scary, June 29, 2001
"The Bible Tells Me So: Uses and Abuses of Holy Scripture," by Jim Hill and Rand Cheadle, is a compelling book. The co-authors have collected excerpts from a huge body of historical documents in order to show how the Judeo-Christian Bible has been used to support a variety of positions, many of them contradictory.As Hill and Cheadle show, verses from the Bible have been used to justify both slavery and its abolition, to promote persecution of the Jews, as tools in the deadly witch hunts in the 16th and 17th centuries, to both persecute and empower homosexuals, to support both Afrocentrism and white supremacy, to both justify and oppose war, to "prove" that the earth is the center of the universe, and more. The book includes numerous quotes, sidebars, and illustrations. There are extensive bibliographic notes on each topic for those interested in further research. This book should be required reading for all Christians (and for those non-Christians who may find themselves the targets of Bible-justified bigotry). Sadly, the narrow-minded ideological fundamentalists who use the Bible to justify their positions will probably not be moved by this book; they will probably write it off as a Satan-inspired deception. But for the rest of us, this is a fascinating resource. Next time you hear someone use the phrase "But the Bible says..." in an argument, whip out this book.
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34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Painless Introduction to the Real Bible, June 22, 1999
Want to encounter the Bible minus the funda-babble of televangelists (and the guy at work who thinks the Authorised Version was written by Saint James)? Here's a great place to start. Innoculate yourself against the wiles of biblical-literalists. Even better, lend a copy to a young person who might otherwise be easy prey to the siren call of the legions of self-proclaimed authorities who tout their wares in the media marketplace. You'll never see Oral Roberts or Benny Hinn in quite the same light again.This isn't a densely written scholarly work. In fact it's extremely readable. You can dip into it at your leisure and still learn a lot. Thoughtful Christians won't be offended by this book, but they may be challenged to think a little more deeply about the way they use the Bible, and the assumptions they've inherited.
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37 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
For what it is, it's wonderful, November 17, 2004
This book isn't meant to be a scholarly, detailed account of all of the various ways the Bible has been "used and abused" to justify various activities. It's really not fair to criticize it for not being such. What this book is is a solid, well-researched basic overview of the most common ways the Bible has been used in various social causes. It's presented in a fun, easy-to-read layout, with some really great historical illustrations that help bring home the messages.
Reading this relatively small book will give you as much "fuel" in arguing scripture as most fundamentalist Christians -- "The Bible Tells Me So" gives you all the various passages that these folks have conveniently forgotten or never been taught. It will probably whet your appetite for more detailed books (I know it did for me).
But if you are a Christian, don't be intimidated by this book, don't think it's something you shouldn't read, and don't think it's an attack on Christianity. While this book will bring to your attention Bible passages that might make you very uncomfortable, and ways these passages have been used to oppress people, it will also bring to your attention many verses of the Bible that may give you a lot of comfort and increased strength in your faith, and some verses that may surprise you, such as the verses that support homosexual marriage (yes, that SUPPORT such).
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DVD ~ Gene Robinson
by Bart D. Ehrman
