Well, the Fresno Library finally delivered my first book for the Creation Science Challenge on Monday. I was able to pick it up on Wednesday. The book is, "Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? Why Much of What We Teach About Evolution is Wrong" by Jonathan Wells.On Wednesday, Amazon also delivered two other books that I wanted. "Misquoting Jesus : The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why" By: Bart D. Ehrman and "The Malleus Maleficarum of Kramer and Sprenger" By: Montague Summers. (Read it online)
I haven't even cracked open Icons of Evolution because I've almost completed Misquoting Jesus already! (Not bad for a half-hour a day since Wednesday! Have I mentioned that I read fast?) Perhaps I'm putting off the inevitable a little bit, but I'll be reading Icons of Evolution by Sunday. I plan to read it through once, and then read it again for research / note taking. I should finish reading and taking notes, even with my schedule, by the 13th.
I'll save Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches) for later. It's been around since the late 1400's, I guess I can wait a couple of weeks before I start reading about all the charming ways the Catholic Church tortured little old ladies who's only crime was to be a bit odd.
I'm still taking submissions for other Intelligent Design / Creationist books to report on. As I've said in my last update, I'm not exactly swimming in submissions! Hey y'all, if you just let me pick what I want to report on, how will you know I haven't 'stacked the deck' in my own favor? Pick some good books for me!
As for "Misquoting Jesus":
Oh My! If you're the type of Christian who believes the Bible is infallible, I highly recommend that you STAY AWAY from this book. This book is Kryptonite, Wolf's bane and a stake through the heart to Bible literalists.
Dr. Ehrman describes how the original Biblical manuscripts don't exist, that the copies don't exist, that the copies of the copies don't exist for several generations of manuscript! He explains that the earliest New Testament gospels that DO exist in Greek don't contain some of your favorite Biblical Jesus stories - those stories were made up and added later, in the Latin manuscripts!
The only way you could read this book and keep faith in a literal bible is to assume that the author is lying. That may be hard to do since Dr. Ehrman backs up everything he says with well-researched evidence.
If you've based your beliefs on a literal interpretation of the Bible, then you're using a rickety scaffolding to prop up your faith. The slightest push will cause your support to crumble and put your faith in jeopardy. This book would give you quite a shove!
2 comments:
I have just finished Misquoting Jesus as well and agree it is a good book. I must admit although I think it is pretty sound I am not sure it is always backed up with evidence. I noticed that whenever Ehrman commented on those who would maintain a literalist understanding he would often paraphrase their argumenent but often not give any actual references to where a recent evangelical scholar has said it. It is a good book though.
If you're still looking for books to review, I have the perfect submission: Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing edited by William A. Dembski. This book will probably surprise you in several ways. First, when the authors in this collection of essays mention Darwinism they do not mean evolution. They mean something much more specific and relevant: purely naturalistic evolution. By these terms, the majority (likely all) of the authors consider evoultion to be true, but they consider Darwinism to be false.
The book contains fourteen essays, each by a different professional. The authors are well-known in the international scientific community and their credentials are solid.
I'm on my second pass through this book, myself. I have a relatively new blog of creationist/ID book reviews and discussions here where you might possibly find a few additional books you would like to review.
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