Before I begin, let me be the first to admit that my longstanding interest in Christianity is purely from a historical and sociological standpoint. I have never had a theological interest in The Bible, and don't want anyone to assume otherwise.That being said, I have read extensively across the board by prominent biblical scholars such as Dr.Bart Ehrman, James A. Sanders, Karen Armstrong, Dr. Bruce Metzger, Albert Schweitzer, Johannes Weiss and more. I am voracious in devouring just about any text which details (with logic and evidence, not rhetoric and theological agenda) the plight of early Christians, particularly in regards to how proto-orthodox Christianity developed subsequent to Christ's death. Just as one doesn't need to be a communist in order to understand Marx, one needn't accept Jesus Christ as their personal saviour in order to study his teachings, or the teachings of his followers.
Putting that aside, I wasn't expecting much from this book, due to its sensational title. I envisioned page after page of cherry picked bible verses, obscure interpretations of Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation, some trite commentary on the middle east, speculation about a forthcoming Antichrist and the occasional dig against Islam and Judaism. What I wasn't expecting was for full out racial, religious, and cultural bigotry.
This book profoundly disgusts me, and were it not for my obligation to review this book, I would not.
Here's just a few of my issues with the text. When possible I will directly quote from the text:
"The Bible has proven to be absolutely dependable" (pg xv)
Bad start, and simply untrue. The consensus among every prominent biblical scholar (apart from evangelicals and hard-nosed conservative baptists) is that The Bible is full of errancies, contradictions, historically inaccurate statements, conflicting reports, and more. Take just one piece of evidence into account: as of today we have a little over 5000 copies of The New Testament. Some of these copies are no greater than a shred of paper the size of a credit card, while others are in full completion; the vast majority are somewhere in between. Of these 5000 texts available, no two are identical. None. Not only are the texts subject to criticism today, they haven't been transmitted to us unblighted. Quite the contrary, there are more differences among the New Testament manuscripts in existence than there are words in the New Testament itself. So to open with "The Bible has proven to be absolutely dependable" is both factually untrue, and theologically motivated.
This is not shocking information or the product of a left winged nut. This information has been known to biblical scholars for over two centuries. It is the public that is widely uninformed. For more information about biblical errancy check out the following work by the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor of Chapel Hill, Department of Religious Studies, Dr. Bart Ehrman. There are countless outstanding resources on this subject, but this is a good starting point from one very knowledgeable biblical scholar.
"Oil explains why the Bible focuses its end-time attention on the Middle East." (pg. 26)
Dr. Jeremiah is overlooking one tiny little detail...the Bible focuses on the Middle East because the New Testament authors were situated in the Middle East! The vast majority of writers of the New Testament came from Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and so forth. These stories were written by people completely unaware of Australia, North America and other geological landmasses. Quite simply, the texts reference deserts, small rural villages, Rome and so on because that's where the early authors lived, it was the land in which they had a vested interest. While Christianity would grow exponentially in the centuries after Christ's death, its roots are firmly planted in the desert sands.
"The question is, are you heeding the warnings? Are you prepared to stand before God? Have you accepted His offer of salvation?" (pg. 69)
This is the underlying message of the book, don't be fooled. My advice to the author is that if he wishes to expand his audience he'll stop preaching to the converted and begin examining things more objectively.
"Last year Fox News aired a special called "Radical Islam: Terror in Its Own Words," which revealed "the evil aims of radical Islam." (pg 73)
Not only does the author reference Fox News (Fox News is used as a source on several occasions) but he actually agrees with them. Anyone capable of cognitive function knows this is a red flag.
"If this diatribe does not give you reason enough to believe that Islam is the enemy of America and Christianity, consider that today, as I write these words, there is not a single one of the fifty-five predominately Muslim nations on earth today where Christians are not persecuted." (pg. 81)
This reeks of stupidity. Let's set aside the obvious racism and ethnocentrism in his writing for a moment and focus on the argument itself. A question for my readers, how do you think Muslims are treated in America? What are the problems facing Muslims in Georgia, Texas, and Mississippi? Are they regarded kindly, or even reasonably tolerated to practice their own faith in peace? The answer is quite obviously no.
This is a common occurrence all across the world. Minorities find themselves ostracized, ridiculed, and persecuted by the majority. In America you see this in the treatment of homosexuals, Muslims, women, atheists, socialists and more. Conversely, in predominantly Islamic nations is anyone surprised that Christianity is persecuted? Is it fair? Most certainly not. But is it an unusual phenomenon limited to their nations? Not a chance.
Additionally, if your book continually whines about the mistreatment of Christians within larger non-Christian countries, why is it that your book seems to do nothing but attack minorities in your country? Why all the pointed attacks against feminism and homosexuality? Why all the paranoia about the Jewish population, or the amount of Muslims in France and England?
"The doctrine of Satan is that all religions are equally valid."(pg. 91)
For once this retarded rhetoric isn't coming from the author, but a certain Hal Lindsey. Nonetheless, the author agrees with Hal, and helps set diversity and equality back another century or two.
The author believes that God personally directed Christopher Columbus to America in order to found a religious nation that would be blessed above all other lands and have a role in Armageddon. (pg 119-139)
My head hurts. Just read the chapter for yourself (Does America Have a Role in Prophecy?).
Dr. Jeremiah agrees with the 1947 text Family and Civilization, which identifies eleven "symptoms of final decay", (allegedly) responsible for the decline of Greece, Rome, (and according to Dr. Jeremiah) America. (pg. 136)
So what are these symptoms?
1. No-fault divorce
2. "Birth Dearth"; increased disrespect for parenthood and parents
3. Meaningless marriage rites/ceremonies
4. Defamation of past national heroes
5. Acceptance of alternative marriage forms
6. Widespread attitudes of feminism, narcissism, hedonism
7. Propagation of antifamily sentiment
8. Acceptance of most forms of adultery
9. Rebellious children
10. Increased juvenile delinquency
11. Common acceptance of all forms of sexual perversion
In other words, social decay happens when you have people who question authority, social mores, gender roles, and preassigned identity. By this point I'm fuming.
In Appendix A there is a chart detailing Jewish population growth from the period of 1970 to the projected growth of 2020. (pg. 239)
There is no explanation for this. Presumably Christians must keep an eye on those scheming Jews, lest they kill Christ again at his second coming (If you cannot detect my sarcasm, please leave this blog immediately).
Lastly, the book is endorsed by Tim LaHaye, co-author of the Left Behind series, homophobe, and avid supporter of George Bush. If that's not reason enough to hate this book, I don't know what is.
I debated burning this book in a similar manner to how many church leaders have called for the burning of "heretical" texts. Not being able to bring myself to such a low, I've altered the cover slightly. This is the only way that I can allow this thinly veiled antisemitic, anti-egalitarian text to remain in my home:
I hope my next post will be less venomous. Just curious, have any of my readers come across this book? What are your thoughts?
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