The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

If I were to offer any criticism, I would say that the author sometimes comes across as too polemical, which may add fuel to the fire of a fundamentalist dead-set on judging the book on author bias alone. If you're trying to persuade someone, it does no good to insult the very person you're trying to persuade. Be that as it may, however, the author's tone in no way diminishes the facts he uncovers.

Although there are two indexes at the back of the book, both word- and scripture-, one thing I thought may have been helpful would have been a topical scripture index listing all the relevant scriptures under one subject heading.

These two items aside, this book was very good. It made me wonder how and why I ever believed in the Bible in the first place.

(1) Even when situations are completely true, if various human beings from different times and different cultures, were inspired to write works about it, then it would be logical to find errors and contradictions within the work, yet the base theme ought to be strong and clear.

(2) It would be very easy for someone like McKinsey, who is ardently against the 'subject' in the first place, to write a book which focused on 100% of the errors and contradictions that existed within the works. Due to the author's intentions, he would sing and dance about the errors and contradictions, and he would employ an emotive, forceful language in order to convince his readers that the works he is analysing is complete rubbish, and that its core message is utterly flawed.

(3) It would consequently be too easy for someone to pick up that compilation, which was titled 'The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy', and see nothing but a detailed, full account of errors and contradictions. That person would inevitably conclude "The Bible is nonsense! It's just a load of errors and contradictions!"

The fallacy is clear. Adherents of McKinsey (the majority of whom have had no experience of God at all), appear to be oblivious to the fact that there is a lot more to the Bible than errors and contradictions, and moreover, the core message contained in the Bible is very clear and very strong. Adherents of McKinsey may also be oblivious to the fact that many of McKinsey's personal conclusions are themselves deeply flawed and fallacious. (For instance, due to the minor contradictions contained in the gospels, McKinsey claims that the conclusion that Jesus did not even EXIST is "inescapable").

Something that is more important to me than all of this, as a Christian, is that I find throughout my life, God strengthens me, fulfils me, and inspires in ways that people like McKinsey could never undermine. I personally have no doubts that Jesus is the Christ and that God is the reason for why we live.

Unlike some other Christians that I have come across, I am not a narrow-minded fundamentalist who exclaims that the Bible is infallible and that anyone who does not agree with every word will burn in hell forever.

Christians do not believe that God Himself magically wrote the Bible, but that He inspired the prophets to write a works which contained central issues of wisdom and spiritual insights about the Plans of God and about the nature of God. This central theme is clear, and strong.

If people do not believe these Plans to be true, then so be it. I personally have complete respect for other people's beliefs, and I personally DO believe that the base theme contained within the Bible is true.

E-mail me by all means, and we can have a nice, civil discussion about it, but please be more open-minded than to say that my Christian beliefs are "wrong". I would tell you that they are more "right" than you would ever know.