Scott Graham
This anthology of popular Christian belief topics examines the Biblical source texts for support. As you would guess from the title of the book, the author, popular social media scholar of ancient Hebrew and Christian texts Dan McClellan, finds shaky evidence for some of the beliefs, but argues against God inspired sources for such as the virgin birth, the condemnation of abortion and homosexuality, Satan as God’s enemy, and Hell as the place of eternal punishment. If this was already your bag*, there isn’t much new here, but the running citations are an invaluable reference. The book loses a point for its dense prose, and lack of almost any definitive answers. Mr. McClellan provides a verdict for each questionable belief, but the justification is rarely absolutely convincing. Believers will walk away believing and doubters will leave the exercise continuing to doubt.
*with apologies to Mike Myers as Austin Powers
This anthology of popular Christian belief topics examines the Biblical source texts for support. As you would guess from the title of the book, the author, popular social media scholar of ancient Hebrew and Christian texts Dan McClellan, finds shaky evidence for some of the beliefs, but argues against God inspired sources for such as the virgin birth, the condemnation of abortion and homosexuality, Satan as God’s enemy, and Hell as the place of eternal punishment. If this was already your bag*, there isn’t much new here, but the running citations are an invaluable reference. The book loses a point for its dense prose, and lack of almost any definitive answers. Mr. McClellan provides a verdict for each questionable belief, but the justification is rarely absolutely convincing. Believers will walk away believing and doubters will leave the exercise continuing to doubt.
*with apologies to Mike Myers as Austin Powers