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59 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Christianity Exposed, upcoming 2nd edition, March 30, 2002
The Bible is the "Holy Book" upon which Christianity is supposedly based; yet the vast majority of Christians would be surprised to find out what is really in "The Good Book". In Christianity Exposed, Dr. Solomon Tulbure uses the Bible to reveal little known facts about Christianity that your Sunday school teacher probably never told you. Rather than taking selected passages out of context to support his arguments, Dr. Tulbure explains the context and how it relates to the passage in question.One might think that a thorough, intense gathering of knowledge about a particular worldview would precede the dedicating of one's life to that worldview. Before becoming a Christian, for instance, it would be wise to read and understand the Bible. However, the vast majority of Christians become Christians because that is how they were raised and they were not taught to consider other points of view. Indeed, many are taught that it is sinful to consider other points of view. In Christianity Exposed, the truth about the Bible is revealed. This book explains, in a straightforward manner, that Jesus was a Jew in every sense of the word. Jesus never intended for Christianity to be a new religion, but instead he saw it as a new sect of Judaism. As such, Jesus also had no intention of revoking the Law of Moses by dying on the cross. The New Testament does not cancel out the Old Testament. Christianity Exposed provides compelling arguments that modern Western Christianity is based on the Biblical writings of Paul, not Jesus. Ideas such as salvation by faith, the Trinity and the "virgin birth" came from Paul, and not Jesus. Jesus claimed to be "the son of God", but only in the way that everyone in Judaism is a son or daughter of God; Jesus never claimed to be "God-the-Son". The Hebrew word in the Bible interpreted as "virgin" really means "young lady". Yet even as he attacks Paul's views, Dr. Tulbure points out that Jesus' teachings were not all that great, either. Not only were none of them unique, but also some of them were unethical and/or foolish. Also, the actions of Jesus depicted in the Bible were not that of a divine or perfect role model. Further, Jesus could not have been the Messiah, as he did not fulfill the prophesied Messianic expectations. God's character, as depicted in the Bible, is also challenged in the face of numerous chapters and verses in which God orders and/or helps carry out violent atrocities against men, women, and children, or demands harsh punishments against people for minor infractions. The author also uses Biblical text to challenge the idea that God, even as depicted in the Bible, is omnipotent. You may be surprised to learn that what you were taught about the Crucifixion, the Resurrection and doctrine of Original Sin isn't true, either. Dr. Tulbure also argues that religion is the root of evil and needs to be opposed, and that we need an alternative. In addition to religions that do not have gods, such as Theravada or Zen Buddhism or some forms of atheistic paganism (in which the deities are mere metaphors), there are many secular philosophies such as Secular Humanism, the Agnostic Church, Ethical Culture, and others. In Part II of this book, the author discusses his favorite alternative to religion, Ayn Rand's Objectivism. It is not my favorite, and I also do not agree with all the aims of the Illuminati Order, which the author also discusses in the appendixes. However, it is clear that Dr. Tulbure knows the Bible inside and out, and reveals things about the Bible that might shock the average Christian whose understanding of the Bible is normally limited to what his/her clergy teaches him/her in church...
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