Rating: Summary: Too many errors, off topic, too low-brow Review: This book is a very easy read. It would be perfect for air or train travel where it would be difficult to concentrate because of noise or other conditions. Unfortunately the book 1) has many substantive errors 2) treats difficult subjects in a cursory manner 3) includes entries which are entirely unrelated to the Bible 4) betrays Lang's personal views at the expense of objectivity. For those who want a readable but much more scholarly approach to the Bible in a question and answer format, I highly recommend the work of the late Father Raymond Brown. Stephen Lang's book has many errors of substance, such as one entry where he says consubstantion is a memorial while transubstantiation is the actual physical presence of Christ in the bread and wine. Actually both consubstantion and transubstantiation assert the physical presence of Christ, but consubstantiation asserts the presence of Christ is present simultaneously with the real physical presence of the wine and bread. The theories of Christ's presence in the bread and wine of communion are 1) no presence, it's just a memorial 2) a spiritual presence 3) consubstantiation - the real presence of Christ alongside the real presence of the bread and wine 4) transubstantiation - just the real presence of Christ (the wine and bread are transformed physically into Christ). These are very important differences because they relate to the inability of Christians of different denominations to take part in each others' communion sacraments, and the possibility of the different denominations to become one Church. Save yourself some disappoint and either get this book from your local library or buy a better book such as Raymond Brown's.
|