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Summary: THe dark side of Ludemann
Review: At first point, it seemed to be a good idea. But after a few pages it becomes quite clear that Ludemann's opus is a comlete failure. Bad anti-apologetics which is just as poor, ideological and biased, as the narrowest minded old apologetic. The worst bit is the part about NT. To make a long story short, here is an example of Ludemann's type of "reasoning": he just lines up a sample of antijewish polemic out of the NT (ignoring completely the context), puts it along with some nasty bits by Eusebius and Luther, and here we go. And this man (who, nervetheless, did some good job in the past) pretends to be a serious historian! Obviousely the poor man is undergoing deep psychological problems. One more ageing teenager desperatly trying to "kill the father"... What a pity.
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Summary: A very disappointing book
Review: If you have read much about the Bible and Christianity, you will find nothing new in this book. The author concentrates on the violent God of the Old Testament, ordering the Israelites to slay the foe and cut off foreskins -- that's Part I -- and then switches his focus to the anti-Judaism of the New Testament -- and that's Part II. There are only two parts. These are hardly new issues!There are much better books out there. I wouldn't waste your money on this.
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Summary: An Oppurtunity to Rethink Your Understanding of the Bible
Review: It is true that there are a number of texts that catalog scandalous events recorded in the Bible. ( The Encyclopedia of Bible Errancy by McKinsey, The Bible Handbook by The American Atheists, The Bible According to Mark Twain, The Age of Reason by Thomas Paine, as well as the wonderful stuff by Robert Ingersoll) It is also true that showing inconsistency and immorality in the Bible is not a particularly difficult task. It may also be a fool's errand since believers are unlikely to be swayed, and non-believers already recognize the brutality and immorality frequently portrayed in the Old Testament. Nevertheless, I recommend this book for two reasons: Ludemann describes the scholarly methodology that allows passages to be understood in context and his analysis of anti-semitism in the New Testament. His discussion of anti-Judaism in the Gospels was new to me and very enlightening. Note that Ludemann spends some time discussing Martin Luther and is discussing Luther's translation, rather than the King James or other English translation. Well worth reading along side the other works that I have listed above.
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