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Rating: 
Summary: Flawed, but valuable and entertaining
Review: ...In a nutshell, this book is a flawed, but comprehensive exploration of the contradictions in both the old and new testaments. The underlying premise of the book is this: "The texts of the Bible are contradictory and factually erroneous. If there are errors and contradictions in the Bible, then the assumption that the Bible texts were divinely inspired cannot be held. If the Bible texts in their entirety are not divinely inspired, then one cannot be sure which parts of the Bible are divinely inspired and which are not. Therefore, the Bible as a whole cannot be word of God."...I bought this book hoping for it to meet two goals.
1. An examination of early Christianity
2. A reference for casual atheistic/theistic debate. In regards to the first goal, the text was moderately successful. Wheless does not set out to examine early Christianity per se, but in his efforts to discredit portions of the Bible, he does point out some of the pagan traditions that gave rise to modern Christian traditions. For example, he examines the Easter Bunny and Easter eggs as symbols of fertility used in pagan Celebrations of the Spring Equinox. He gives the reader some valuable incites into ties between early Christianity and Egyptian and other pagan gods. That being said, I find the book The Jesus Puzzle a far better examination of early Christianity. Wheless' primary goal is not to examine the foundations of Christian dogma. He simply throws a reader with that goal an occasional bone in defense of his other arguments. As far as a debate tool goes, this book is more successful. It provides a plethora of contradictions that an atheistic debater can draw upon. I find it a very successful technique to lay out blatant contradictions in the inspired text and to watch apologists form weak explanations. Wheless' use of the original Hebrew where appropriate is very eye opening. I found Wheless' most interesting argument centered on the story of Adam and Eve. He contends that if you do not accept the fable as truth, then the original sin of mankind did not take place. If it didn't happen, then there is no reason for Jesus to die to redeem the original sin. The keystone of the Christian religion crumbles and brings the rest of the dogma with it. Trap a theist into admitting the story is a fable and then lay that argument on him! Wheless also provides some quick fun barbs like the stupid fish you see on the backs of people's cars is really the symbol of a pagan Cyprus sea god. That is just classic. This book is flawed, however. In his attempts to find contradictions and absurdities in the text, he asks the reader to stretch his willingness to be convinced. He reaches on several points. Also, there was several times where we are simply asked to take Wheless' interpretation of facts, translations, and history. It simply made me too uncomfortable to buy what he was selling more than a few times. Call me wimp, but I found this book very laborious to read. I realize he is writing in the style of his time, but holy cow! This guy writes like a lawyer attempting Shakespeare-speak. It put me to sleep more than one night. All in all, this is a worthwhile read. You simply will not find a more exhaustive examination of Bible contradictions anywhere. Its tongue in cheek style is frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and the book is full of great debate tools. Its totality is greater than the sum of its parts, oddly enough, the exact opposite of his assessment of the Bible...
Rating:
Summary: An invaluable reference for debuncing scripture
Review: Primarily, this book is an outstanding resource. Mr. Mckinsey has given problematic scriptural references for just about any topic you may wish to examine. Upon reviewing the contents, you are able to discover some of the most probelematic areas without having to comb through all the tedious chapters of the Bible. The only real problem I have with the book is McKinsey's style of prose. He ends many of his arguments with flimsy statements and rhetoric. Overall, however, the volume glitters with the knowledge that must have been gleaned through years of research. A beneficial read for anyone who was ever curious about the validity biblical scripture.
Rating: 
Summary: cum grano salis
Review: There were some good points that Wheless brought up in this book. It is unfortunate, though, that he has to loose credibility (in my eyes) for his poor attitude. After reading the introduction it is impossible to assume that he came at this exposition with an objective mind. He constantly makes blanket statements about all theology (not just Christianity) making such accusations as all priests and clerics throughout all of history, no matter what religion they were from, all knowingly and willingly deceived the people (paraphrase). Other things that really cut against my grain were the fact that a good 75% of the quotes that he used or references to (so called) facts were undocumented. There was rarely a citation to where he got some major piece of information, but then he would readily cite newspaper clippings for trivial information. And in these quotes, there is great use of emphasizing certain words and phrases. Was this emphasis that HE added? We don't know because he never declares, "emphases added". And this IS a big deal because emphases can change the whole meaning of a sentence (i.e. 'Take HIM the ball' .. or .. 'Take him the BALL'). Another instance of loosing credibility that a casual theist/atheist may not really appreciate or even notice was his frequent use of pulling numerous texts from scripture out of context in order to give support to a claim. I have no problem reading and understanding objective biblical criticism, but this was hardly objective. Anyone that would actually quote from Wheless in a debate would mostly likely find himself laughed at by any knowledgeable person... on EITHER side of the table.
Rating:
Summary: cum grano salis
Review: There were some good points that Wheless brought up in this book. It is unfortunate, though, that he has to loose credibility (in my eyes) for his poor attitude. After reading the introduction it is impossible to assume that he came at this exposition with an objective mind. He constantly makes blanket statements about all theology (not just Christianity) making such accusations as all priests and clerics throughout all of history, no matter what religion they were from, all knowingly and willingly deceived the people (paraphrase). Other things that really cut against my grain were the fact that a good 75% of the quotes that he used or references to (so called) facts were undocumented. There was rarely a citation to where he got some major piece of information, but then he would readily cite newspaper clippings for trivial information. And in these quotes, there is great use of emphasizing certain words and phrases. Was this emphasis that HE added? We don't know because he never declares, "emphases added". And this IS a big deal because emphases can change the whole meaning of a sentence (i.e. 'Take HIM the ball' .. or .. 'Take him the BALL'). Another instance of loosing credibility that a casual theist/atheist may not really appreciate or even notice was his frequent use of pulling numerous texts from scripture out of context in order to give support to a claim. I have no problem reading and understanding objective biblical criticism, but this was hardly objective. Anyone that would actually quote from Wheless in a debate would mostly likely find himself laughed at by any knowledgeable person... on EITHER side of the table.
Rating: 
Summary: Laugh out loud- biblical criticism.
Review: This book combines wit erudition humour and devastating textual comparison to catch the bible writers out in their contradictions and self serving invented laws and prophecies. If I had read this book 20 year ago I could have saved myself 18 years in the cult of evangelical christianity. Reading this book played a decisive part in my deprogramming there from. No doubt modern higher biblical criticism could tidy up some of the details in Wheless' book but who wants to rewrite David Hume or Bertrand Russell? Perhaps an annotated edition could be bought out by the Jesus Seminar or Gerd Ludeman. Meanwhile buy this and read it for shear enjoyment of the prose and the humour that can be had from critical study of that looney book the bible.
Rating:
Summary: belief in the bible is the problem, this is the cure
Review: What Thomas Paine started, is finished by Joseph Wheless. Best debunking of the bible ever!! He goes through the bible with the eye of a lawyer and demonstrates beyond a reasonable doubt that God did not write the bible. Ignore the negative rating below, its obvious he did not read the book if he thinks it can be dismissed as easily as he did
Rating:
Summary: More than a little looney and often bigoted
Review: With the five-star ratings and rave reviews here, it was surprising to see what the book turned out to be. Perhaps no one actually read it? The book starts out quoting a 1924 newspaper article in which the Mayor of Buffalo urged Catholic action against the Ku Klux Klan to protect itself and the country from this "un-American organization" (the KKK). Wheless, speaking from 1926, when the Klan was mainstream in many parts of the country, wrote ... Wheless: "This flagrant incitation to civil war for protection of a minority religious sect (Catholic) under foreign supreme control (Pope) in any other country might be high treason ... but the point is not that now, but to illustrate the acute menace of religious bigotry and intolerance in our country today". Wheless sees sexual symbolism in everything. If it is elongated and has three parts, it is obviously masculine in meaning. Or if there is reference to a door or container, it is actually feminine. Here's the analysis that results: Wheless: "The very Christian emblem, the 'cross of Christ' is simply the ancient conventional emblem of the 'phal--s' and 't--tes' ..." (apparently archaeologists misled us by indicating it was the structure historically used by Romans for crucifixion) Wheless: "Another favorite Hebrew and universal Emblem is the Triangle, the perfect representation of the p---c hairs on man and woman. The famous "Six-pointed Star of David", the National symbol of Israel ... is formed by superimposing the male on the female p---c triangle and is of very sacred significance." If you are interested in the subject of Biblical inerrancy, see things like "When Critics Ask" (Geisler) or "Evidence that Demands a Verdict" (McDowell), "Historical Reliability of the Gospels" (Blomberg). These books discuss the issue in a gracious and informed manner, without an author's emotional problems intruding. This is one of a very few books I would think a normal person would throw away, assuming they were tricked into buying it.
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