Farewell to God : My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith

Rating:
Summary: Best layman's first critique of Christianity.
Review: Charles Templeton's FAREWELL TO GOD is the best layman's first introduction to the problems of orthodox Christianity I have yet read.

The book is divided into forty-six brief and nontechnical chapters, ideal for the average Mortimer or Jacqueline on the street, who can spare no more than a few minutes a day studying something as unimportant as religion.

Although Templeton covers many subjects, he places heavy emphasis upon the Bible. This will be informative for the average Christian, who is likely to have only passing familiarity with most of the Good Book, and will no doubt be astounded to discover some of its contents. In his chapters on the Bible, Templeton usually spends a few pages recounting a story from the book, and then comments upon its implausibility or barabarity. The commentaries are, for the most part, quite obvious, but their value for novices should not be underestimated -- tradition has built such an aura of sacred immunity around the Bible, that most people are in desperate need of someone willing to call a spade a spade.

It is important to emphasize the introductory nature of the book. Templeton does not by any means come close to offering the last word on anything he discusses. He does not even attempt to interact with standard apologetic responses to the kinds of worries he raises. There are also a handful of errors in Farewell to God, such as the staggering mischaracterization of atheism as the claim to absolute certainty (17), without argument (18), that there is no god, or the glaring self-contradiction in which Templeton denies the Bethlehem birth of Jesus in one chapter (85), and presupposes it in another (96). Seasoned fundamentalist apologists, then, will surely consider Farewell to God naive and simplistic (though they will hardly object to the caricature of atheism). Experienced infidels will likewise learn nothing new from Templeton, but they will be more liable to appreciate his eloquence and pointedness. Infidels will also recognize the great value of a forceful initial critique of Christianity: it is surely a good thing for novices not to get bogged down in endless rebuttal and counter-rebuttal during their first steps; for novices, accessibility is the key, and Templeton more than delivers on that count.

In short, I heartily recommend FAREWELL TO GOD as informative to anyone who has yet to read a critique of Christianity, and as enjoyable to experienced religious skeptics. Dedicated fundamentalists, however, should not read it without an ample supply of blood-pressure medicine.

Rating:
Summary: Well-reasoned thoughts, sure to upset some "faithful"
Review: I bought Templeton's book at the same time I bought Les Strobel's "A Case for Faith," to aid me in my quest for understanding of religion. Templeton's book uses simple logic to raise questions about Biblical stories (i.e. if God is all-knowing, why at sometimes does he know all and at others he has to "come down" to the site?; did Noah really save two of every insect?; if God is all-loving, why does He chose to save less than one-sixth of all humans ... is that the act of a loving god?).

His logic is solid. It does not need to use much historical fact because the Biblical and religious stories he discusses don't, either. Their only source is the Bible (naming historical figues who lived or historical, non-Biblical events that occurred doesn't count as "proof" of religious stories). In fact, I am somewhat puzzled by some of the reviews here that dismiss Tmepleton because he doesn't have some magical insight into Biblical history, complete with facts and figures. Templeton is asking only that the reader consider what is being said or done in the Bible, look at an historical context (i.e. how many other religions there are that have similar or different stories), and apply logic.

For example, could the nation of Israel, some hundreds of thousands strong, have wandered the desert for 40 years and leave NO SIGN of it in today's archeological record? Could humans of the B.C. era build an ark actually big enough for all the animals, their food, etc., and yet build it with one door and one window?

Those who rate Templeton's book poorly seem to be craving some source of "proof" that shows the Bible is not true. They also seem to overlook the fact they have no proof that the Bible IS true. They just choose to believe in it. Templeton asks that the reader use his/her mind to consider the events described in the Bible, and ask, "Could this have happened? Or is the story more likely a story designed to foster a particular point of view?"

Rating:
Summary: The best theological/spirtual book I ever read
Review: I don't understand the other "reviewers" criticisms of this work. I do not find this book inconsistent at all. Quite simply this is the best Christian critique I have ever read. I have never found (all in one place) a book that articulates so well, the many concerns and problems I have had with Christianity my entire life. I do have to criticisms, however. One, it lacks a scholarly approach. Two, his seeming conclusion that there is NO God does not, to my mind, follow from the analysis that the Christian perception of God is often incorrect. However, this was truly a wonderful book that I recommend to everyone who feels, deep down inside, that there is something definately wrong with the Christian faith, and in particular, the believe that the bible is the divinely inspired, infallible word of God - it just isn't, couldn't be and Templeton does a wonderful job of explaining why!

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Summary: Response to reviewer
Review: I would just like to apologize to the reader from CA and to everyone else who read my review, because of the offence caused. My review was disgusting and unwarranted. I in no way find Hell funny, and I do not want anyone to go there, neither does God. My review was written in haste and emotion and in no way reflects my inner views or beliefs. The reader from CA, if you accept my apology, I ask you please to send me an email at [e-mail], so that I can get in touch with you and perhaps explain further why God has to send people to a place as awful as Hell and how such a terrible fate can be avoided. Once again, I offer my sincere apology and I hope for forgiveness from anyone who read my review. Thank you.

Rating:
Summary: Templeton Misses the Point
Review: Templeton has written an interesting book, documenting his own spiritual journey. However, many Christians who face the questions he raises about the Bible and Christian beliefs have been able to think through them without jettisoning their faith but by rethinking and renewing their faith. Templeton raises nothing new. All the criticisms have been raised before and reasonable explanations given. Obviously, T. does not accept the explanations others have given. The Bible is a very human book and thus T's criticisms. What T. fails to see is that many Christians have come to accept the Bible's humanness. The miracle of divine revelation is that God has revealed himself through a very human book, warts and all. Many Christians do not need to affirm the Bible's inerrancy, infallibility, etc. T. fails to see this. T. critiques the Bible as if it were written by a modern scientist or philosopher. The authors of the Bible thought differently. To expect them to have thought like modern scientists/philosphers and then to criticize them for it is to ignore the cultural conditioning of both the Bible and modern ways of thinking. T. elevates modern scientific/rational-pholosophic ways of thinking as an absolute world view by which he judges the ancients -- what hubris! T. reads the Bible like the fundamentalist literalists he criticizes. He fails to recognize that every type of literature must be interpreted according to its type. Mythology must be interpreted as mythology, not as scientific or philosophic writing. Legend as legend. Poetry as poetry, etc. All these kinds of literature can reveal truth. T. leaves little room for intuition as a means to understanding reality. Science and reason cannot explain everything. T. makes a lot of wild generalizations, using statments such as "an unbiased reading of the biblical account will clearly show" (p.38). T. sets up "straw dogs" or caricatures of what Christians believe and then tears the "straw dog"/caricature to pieces. T's caricature of Christian theology and biblical interpretation is basically that of a narrow-minded fundamentalism; it is not what most thinking Christians believe. Uunresolved anger appears to underly a lot of what T. says, e.g. the many perjorative adjectives used to describe the people and the caricatured beliefs that T. doesn't like. Quite a bit of what T. asserts about the Bible and Christian theology is factually incorrect and unfortunately the reader untrained in Bible or theology will not know this. An objective presentation would have debated the various viewpoints on an issue; T. only gives his own position and does not allow those he criticizes to speak. The objectivity T. espouses is lost in emotion, perjoratives, misinterpretations, and factual errors. A much better defence of agnosticism could be, and has been, given by others. T's book is useful as an insight into his own spiritual pilgrimage. Many of the criticisms he raises need to be raised, but he does not deal with all the positive things which have come as a result of belief in God or a responsible interpretation of the Bible. T's book might be more accurately titled "Farewell to Templeton's Construct and Caricature of Who/What God Is and What the Bible Means." If God is what T. thinks God is and if the Bible means what T. thinks it means, then farewell, but thankfully there are other options.