Rating: Summary: Is Christianity a Human concept? Review: The one thing that stands out about the Holy Bible is if the whole concept of Christianity can be a human concept? If this is just imagination then it is the best commercial concept ever. It knocks anything Hollywood can put out and is a bigger franchise than Microsoft.... all done 2000 years ago and more. One of the best books you can read on the subject is "Mere Christianity" by C. S. Lewis. In that book he said that Reality is not something that can be created alone by the mind and that Christianity goes beyond what a human mind can come up with and that Christianity is a very real tangable thing. The fact remains that this book is still something which most human beings find hard to grasp in the 21st century.Is this the work of human minds or is it something beyond that?
Rating: Summary: The Holy Bible for some. Review: Those expressing dismay at people writing reviews of the Bible like they would any other book need to remember that not everyone shares their belief and therefore do not see this book as any kind of revelation. The Old Testament, the more graceful of the two, was written long before the appearane of Jesus and is more honest about the cruelty of God (Job being persecuted umimaginably just so God can show Satan how much people love him). The New Testament is more simplistic in a sense, and it offers a much more legible doctrine of how to live. It has more of a real world feel to it, it does not have that old, misty feel to it that the Old Testament does. The first four books of the New Testament, or the "Gospel", lay out the life of Jesus Christ, and they all outline the same thing, but in subtly different ways (Luke does it with the most literary skill). This book has had an enormous influence on history, but it has also had a negative influence, through its unfortunate misuse as well. If you are one of those people who want to have an informed opinion of the Bilbe instead of being ignorantly sceptical of it, then I suggest you read it, and if you are someone who is looking for help in life, Jesus wouldn't be a bad place to start -not all the advice he gives is bad, or outdated. Remember also that there are many other books out there that can also change your life - remember for all the outlandish things Friedrich Nietzche wrote, he did once write to his sister "...if you wish to strive for peace of soul and pleasure, then believe; if you wish to be a devotee of truth, then inquire." There is more than just one book in the world that offers peace of mind and moral advancement.
Rating: Summary: Wacked out! Review: This book is crrrazay! It's long as anything but man it was worth it. Who would have thought everyone in the end DIES!? Geezo, it's nuts. Anyway for those of you who haven't read it (you should!) it's all about these crazy people from like the Middle East and stuff! The main character (Jesus) goes around like doing magic and burning down temples and all this nuts-o shizzy! Anyway, it's such a good book. My favorite part is when all the animals get on this boat and float around looking for a bird! It's sort of hard to keep all the characters straight, but you start to get the hang of it really fast. This is such a fun book and I think you should all buy it and follow the crazy story of Jesus! Oh, did I mention it is hi-larious!? It's so witty and creative. Like sometimes in the book there are lepers! HA. Who puts a leper in a book? Someone writing a funny book is who. Alright, buy this book. It rocks. P.S. The imitation leather looks so real! No one will know it's imitation.
Rating: Summary: A great work of fiction. Review: This book - while a little lengthy - is gripping from start to finish. It is a fantasy novel, the protagonist of which is a guy called Jesus H Christ, who is born with strange magical powers. It's set long ago, in a time when magic tricks were called 'miracles'. Jesus (or 'JC' to his mates) decides that he is going to use his special gift of magic to do good deeds. But he soon comes a cropper, as he wastes his magic energy by turning water into wine for some rich people. The writer must have been quite lazy, since he misses out 20-odd years of Jesus' life, and just ends the story with some bad guys nailing Our Hero to a tree. Certain surreal moments in the story claim that every mother should kill her firstborn son as a sacrifice to God. I think the author must have been pretty drunk when he wrote this. That probably explains why he has chosen to remain largely anonymous (although sometimes he calls himself Matthew, sometimes Mark, also Luke and John). It's probably untrue - but there are rumours of strange cults who actually believe this to be a true story, but that of course would just be ridiculous. If these people do exist, they're probably American, which explains a lot.
Rating: Summary: The 5 stars is for the Bible not the translation Review: The Bible has the greatest circulation in terms of numbers and languages of any book. Yet, I dare say that it is perhaps the least understood, and, as is evident in the reviews, most maligned book in history. Why? Perhaps the fact that it has been coopted by religions claiming to represent it and it's author while carrying out some of the greatest atrocities in the history of humanity. So why should you consider the Bible at all? There are several compelling reasons that I chose to do so, some of which I hope you consider - First, prophetic content. Time and again the Bible provided and continues to provide detailed information regarding future events. For example, consider the naming of Cyrus as the conqueror of Babylon some 200 years before the event in Isaiah 44:24 - 45:4. Second, scientific accuracy. Although this was not the primary purpose of the scriptures, it proves itself accurate in areas where it does touch on science. Take for example the portrayal of a spherical earth in Isaiah 40:22. Or the portrayal of an earth without support (versus the prevailing theories of the time) in Job 26:7. Third, consider that no other book has undergone the attempts to exterminate it to the extent the Bible has. Interestingly enough, many of these attempts were carried out by the clergy of various religions. Fourth, the fact that the Bible we have today is essentially that which was written by the original authors. This was done through painstaking efforts to ensure faithful textual transmission not found to such an extent in any other book. Finally, and I must admit somewhat subjectively, is the power the Bible exerts to change lives for the better. I have literally witnesses hundreds of occasions where an individuals life has been transformed by the power of applying Bible principles in their lives. It is the easy course to dismiss something out of hand without being aware of the full facts. Take the time to examine this book with an open mind. You will not be disappointed.
Rating: Summary: Amazing, Interesting, and Spiritual Review: I read this book for the first time a long time ago when I was 16. I had gone to church all of my life and I always said that I believed the Bible, but someone challenged me about what the purpose of life was. At that point I said, hmm... You can't say you believe something if you've never read it, but, just heard it read in bits and pieces here and there. So, I began reading at Genesis and got part way through Psalms the first part of that summer. The first 3 books were difficult because of the King James version language, but after that I got used to it and it didn't matter. At that time I had an experience in which a Supreme Being revealed Himself to me. I was outside crying one night, and all of the sudden I had a sense that a Supreme Being was in control of my life, and there was nothing I could do that could change that. The thought was both sad, and comforting at the same time. After that a number of things happened that proved something spiritual in nature had happened to me. (I won't go into them.) I became a very confident person after this experience when before I was not. I ended up finishing reading the Bible, and have read it a number of times since. About 10 years later, I went to a kind of church that I hadn't gone to before, and I did a search of the Holy Spirit, a whole lot in the Bible. (Along with some other books and talking with someone about the Holy Spirit.) It happened again. A Supreme Being revealed Himself to me. I was trying to figure out what speaking in tongues was, because some of the people in the church that I went to did that, and most of the chuches that I'd been to all my life didn't teach much about that. One night I was talking with God about something that was troubling me a lot and all of the sudden I was speaking in a different language. That was speaking in tongues. It was a miracle because I didn't know the language that I was speaking. Linguists have studied speaking in tongues and the languages have been verified as actual languages, not just gibberish. Another time when I was 33, I was teaching school in a very rough area in Los Angeles. There was a lot alot alot of bad stuff going on with my students. At night when I lay on my bed and read the Bible, I could just feel positive waves coming up from it as I read it. Another time when I was 40, I had finished teaching school in Los Angeles and I was very depressed because of the experience. I hadn't read the Bible much in a long time, and I crammed reading it by reading this version in a Topical Bible form. I read tons and tons really fast. I felt a burden on me all of the sudden because of the things the Bible asks a person to do, and, I also felt a very great joy from reading it. I love the King James version. I'm writing my autobiography right now and a lot of the chapter titles and even the title of the book are phrases from the King James version of the Bible. The Bible seems strange, but, I have to remind myself that it's about a time 1000's of years ago and it's happening in cultures VERY different than mine also. When I taught school, my students were required to memorize both huge sections of the Bible, and, also huge poems. I memorized these along with my students. I found that the poems were very, very easy to memorize, but, that the Bible sections were much, much, much, much, much more difficult to memorize, and, I believe it is because the Bible says a lot of stuff in very few words. It is very concentrated. I've noticed that some people in chuches that I've gone to have never sat down and read the entire Bible. They're trying to go to church and live by the Bible but they've never read it. It doesn't work. Most of their life is just guessing what they're supposed to do if they are a Christian, and, they get it wrong, plus, there's nothing spiritual going on there if they don't read the Bible, and, find out who God is because the spiritual comes through a relationship with Him.
Rating: Summary: It's a good book, but the anti-climactic ending bugged me Review: At first, I delved into this collection of short stories with a fervency that was only matched by my interest in the Atlus of Human Anatomy, written by Frank Netter. This collection of short stories starts out with a rather unusual mythological take on the creation stories and goes on to discuss political maneuvers and other stories that, to be honest, were quite dull. There were a few interesting stories in the first part of the book, the Old Testement, like Daniel in the Lion's den and Joseph and his Coat of Many Colors (which I think was told better on stage with Donny Osmund, in all fairness... whoever wrote the story obviously didn't see the original production). Of course, most of these tales were fun, even though God does kill a lot of people for pretty much no reason, just on a whim. Of course, things take a turn for the worst in the sequel, the New Testement. It's mostly about Jesus, the baby we celebrate at Christmas (hence the name... Jesus CHRIST - CHRISTMAS, get it) and his adventures. While he does a lot of wonderful things for others he...SPOILERS... Is killed at the end. This was a big bummer and I really didn't feel like reading more after the fact. I knew it was going to be a dark book in many ways, but this was even darker than Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I mean, they NAILED HIM TO A CROSS! How gross is THAT?
Rating: Summary: the greatest book ever written Review: I dont know... am I the same person now? knowing what I know now I would have to say no. anybody who said they read this and arn't move to live or arn't saved are not telling the truth!!! Lying is a great sin/ kinda an interesting this when you use those 2 words in the same sentence. any who... good book love the Lord and Love you thats life nothing else to it. love living! its all good stuff. havn't found a lie in it yet :-)
Rating: Summary: Review of the Bible Review: I bet dozens of my Catholic ancestors would be shocked now (I can almost hear the shouting from up there: "You're writing critics about the Bible? Annie, what do you think you're doing???") but when I saw that people can write a review here about the Bible just like about any other book I just couldn't resist. :) I've read the Bible several times for different reasons, at first because I was Catholic at that time, later because I wondered whether Ezekiel really traveled on an alien spaceship, and later because I was into ancient history. Actually, now I read it only because it is interesting. I don't think this whole book should be the holy book of any religion, that must be only the four gospels in the New Testament, because the true teachings of the religion are in that part of the Bible. (Actually the Old Testament and the New Testament are so different that they're even contradicting each other, so no religion can be based on BOTH.) However, I think this is really an outstanding book. I mean, you have here the life and teachings of Jesus AND you've got also a book that tells the whole history of a nation and shows the forces creating the world and atmosphere Jesus lived in. It's almost like reading a book about the life of, for example, Einstein, after you've read a book about the complete history of Germany before his birth. I feel that the whole Old Testament was left in the Bible only to make the readers understand the world of Jesus better. However, I also feel that lots of things were left out of the New Testament when the final edition was made (where can the apocryphal writings be found? I'd really love to read them), especially the things around Jesus and his family, as far as I know, much info about his brothers and sisters were edited out when in the Middle Ages the Church decided Mary will be a virgin forever, and also, references to Mary Magdalene, the possible wife of Jesus were erased. If these things about Jesus were widely known, he would seem even more human, so would be even more close to our hearts. Anyway, I think any educated person of our culture shoulsd know the Bible, knowing it is also necessary to the understanding of many pieces of art including paintings, novels, etc.
Rating: Summary: Thank you Review: At times I found this piece of fiction entertaining. I cannot possibly explain how stupid religion is.
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