Rating: 
Summary: Mostly Vitriolic Excrement
Review: "The Book Your Church Doesn't Want You to Read" contains a handful of insightful, informative essays set against a backdrop of vitriolic excrement of questionable academic merit. Filler-pages account for nearly half the book, while the essays themselves are "organized" in a very haphazard fashion, completely lacking in any semblance of continuity (even for an essay compilation). Photos and illustrations are of cheap, black-and-white photocopy quality, and most are of little to no interest or relevance. In short, don't waste your money (even if you're an atheist such as myself).
Rating: 
Summary: just one example
Review: I could write a long review showing how biased this piece of crap is,starting from the title...but i'll point out just one example: the author claims that this god called "virishna" worshiped 1200 years before Christ, had very remarkables similitudes beetween his legend and Crist's one,that would be a interesting data IF wasn't the fact that this god never existed in fact, besides this author's book.I dare him or anyone to show the source where one can read about "Virishna" legend.Don't let this kind of people fool you, read serious scholars as Campbell or Eliade
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Read
Review: I'm glad people are finally able to write books like this. Read this book and see the truth and know what your church isn't telling you.
Rating:
Summary: The least stars, the better the book
Review: The success of a book challenging mainstream religious view is judged by the least stars given to it by the reveiwers who, understanbly, belong to the majority. Thus, my humble contribution.
I noticed that books of this kind attract the most vitriolic, scathing and utterly unfounded nagative reviews. The more successful the book, the more negative the reviews.
Rating: 
Summary: peace
Review: THere's lots of smoke and no real heat here on these reviews. Most people who are against christianity are against the american caricature of the faith (the southern fundamental religion: don't drink, don't smoke, don't dance , ie, don't have any fun.)
No doubt christian religion borrows ideas from the culture around. And what religion or thinker does not? Does that falsify its beliefs? Ideas generated from a cultural vacuum would speak to no one. But be careful with parallels. Samul Sandmel a jewish scholar warned of parallelomania, of finding illegimate parralels between religions. Christianity does not in my opinion appear to be based on pagan concepts. it is a derivative jewish messianic sect and should be treated as such, regardless of what john crossan and the jesus seminar would have you believe (read Dale Allison, Bart Ehrman, John Meier, e p sanders, etc none of whom are even close to fundamentalist).
Rating:
Summary: Not as "objective" as they'd have you believe...
Review: When a book is published by an organization known as "Truth Seeker", you expect that the uncovering of truth (wherever that leads) would be the book's primary aim. That simply isn't the case here.
"The Book.." does contain an interesting compilation of classic and modern essays on faith that are critical of organized religion and fundamentalism. No problem, there's alot to critisize there. And there are many educational passages that are designed to show the cultural and historical influences on Christianity that most Christians know nothing about. No problem there, either.
But the more you read this book, the more you will notice what can only be described as a hositility towards Christianity that has lost the objectivity that a group called "Truth Seeker" should have. Seeking the truth should let the chips fall where they may, even if that means acknowledging evidence that supports the existence of God, the divinity of Jesus, or any other position.
There's quite a bit of enlightening information about history and religion in this book that dispels commonly-held myths and opinion in our society. However, do not go in expecting an objetive, "truth-seeking" book.
Rating:
Summary: from the Mission field...
Review: This is just a reply to the earlier review of "josa". Please don't give me the argument that all Christians are Christians because they grew up in a Christian family. I know plenty of people who are Christians who were never exposed to it while growing up...myself included! Not to mention the millions of other people around the world who came to Christ of their own free will and were never raised in a Church background, many of them from countries where Christianity is outlawed.
Rating:
Summary: Good materials, poor production values
Review: The book contains an excellent assortment of contemporary and historical freethought writings organized into broad categories, including Fundamentalism, Church & Society, and even Dead Sea Scrolls. The book's impact suffers, however, from the poor copy-editing and composition. In particular, I stumbled over a profusion of typo's, poorly reproduced and sometimes crude illustrations, and occasionally slap-dash page design. The editors should better identify the author of each piece and the date it was written, and the source and date of each quotation. The threat to the United States from religious fundamentalism has grown and metastasized since this book appeared in 1993, so perhaps a revised and expanded edition is in order.
Rating:
Summary: another example
Review: Josa's review is another example of forced beliefs...wanna make a bet that josas parents are christian and so are the grandparents and so on. Its like a person pondering if he/she should commit a crime. We dont commit crimes (most of us..lol) because of the fear of going to jail/hell. Get my point?...Josas high and mighty "ill keep my savior" mish mash is a direct reflection of this fear.
Rating: 
Summary: probing, insightful
Review: a powerful collection of articles that makes one want to go out and urge every "Christian" or "Jew" they know to find and read at least one work that contradicts their core beliefs. If their core beliefs are solid, shouldn't they withstand the test? There is diversity here (like in the wonderful book, Rebels & Devils) which brings fresh insights. The articles are tied together by interesting quotes and intriguing, often disturbing photos. I skipped a point because I would have liked the photos to be referenced. I was left wondering about place of origin: what museum, cathedral, etc. In fairness, this complaint is somewhat offert by the inclusion of a highly interesting appendix that includes a list of freethinkers. All-in-all this a probing analysis of religion in a manner that seems to strive for greater understanding - not just a negating of beliefs. Like the best works that open your mind to facts your private school and your church never told you, you come away feeling empowered and enlightened. Whatever your faith, I like when that happens! Breaking down misconceptions is good...
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