Rating: 
Summary: ONLY FANATICS CAN DISREGARD THE TRUTH OF THIS BOOK!
Review: Thank you very much, Mr. McKinsey!McKinsey has offered a great service to humankind in that he has made it easier to refute the nonsense of religion. True Believers a la Hoffer (THE TRUE BELIEVER) cannot be saved from their own bigoted ignorance, however McKinsey makes it almost possible. Those less then TRUE believers who claim to worship truth and have an open mind will have a hard time reading this book without throwing out the Bible afterward. Unlike many might think, I am not an atheist. And although I am an ex-Catholic and ex-fundamentalist Christian I continue to very much believe in God. But now I embrace Deism, the religion of our American Founding Fathers. Unlike atheism or agnosticism, Deism takes the enlightened position that there is a God and then shuts up and sits down. McKinsey's book obliterates Christianity, Judaism and starts to go to work on Islam and Mormonism as well. Only a bigot that cannot stand the truth can fail to agree with McKinsey's logical conclusions and reasonable arguments. Even though his distaste for the charletans that sold us "revealed religions" shows through, his logic cannot be disputed logically. Of course it may be disregarded by those it threatens. However, this book can't touch Deism simply because Deism makes no outlandish claims of miracles, contradictions and supernatural beings. And it doesn't claim to have a body of "revealed scriptures" that have been handed to it by God or one of his angels or agents. McKinsey points out the ludicrousness of this "revealeed religion" nonsense beautifully. Unlike what many Fundamentalist Christian mouthpieces might say Jefferson, Paine, Washington, et al were most definitely Deists and NOT CHRISTIANS. Jefferson even edited out the nonsense from the gospels in producing his Jefferson Bible, hardly the work of a Christian who can "neither add nor take away from the word of God!" Yet that doesn't stop Fundamentalists from dropping names in an attempt to "prove" that Christianity is the religion of America. Too bad, Jefferson simply was as much a Christian as McKinsey. McKinsey's E.of B.E. greatly simplifies the task of uncovering the many contradictions, incorrect "facts" and hypocrisy of the Bible. It is well worth the list price as it is a hardbound quality book that will last longer then the average Bible. I hope it lasts longer for more than one reason. Joseph Francione, author, HOW TO SAVE AMERICA AND THE WORLD
Rating:
Summary: A Tool for the Sane and Reasonable Human
Review: This book is most useful in confounding the superstitious wretches who worship the Bible as an Idol. But it really is not necessary to show the errors in the Bible. Most of them are obvious and McKinsey does an excellent job in collating them and presenting them in a logical format. What is most frightening is that any reader of the Bible who believes that every word is true would choose to worship such an irrational, mischievous, spiteful, bloodthirsty, hateful, inconsistant, tyrannical, disputatious and sullen God.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting and fun
Review: This book is well-organized and to-the-point. It's been very helpful in my Biblical Studies courses and in exegesis courses as well. I found it actually assists me in making more informative papers and in hermeneutical studies because it gives those preparing their work an alternative perspective that others may have. For example, when debating whether or not men can or cannot "see" God, some people turn to Isaiah 6:1, Exodus 33:11, Acts 7:55-56, 1 John 1:1, etc. to say that one can actually view the personage of God. In turning to some of these verses, we can find counter arguments against actual theophany like Exodus 33:20, John 1:18, etc. So even though the title of this book may be misleading, it actually HELPED me present more educated counter-arguments in my exegesis. The only complaint I have about this book is the sections on scripture that is not biblical (like the Qaran). I think the author may have a bur under his saddle against certain religions that use other scripture besides or in addition to the Bible, but the title of the book is "Biblical Errancy," so perhaps he should have named it "Scriptural Errancy" or something of the like... who's to say. Nonetheless, the "apparent" contradictions within the Bible and the other books' contexts may assist those who use all these books to help defend themselves against polemic attack, which for me is the most useful thing for the book's genesis. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Best list of unarguable errors
Review: Though I've owned this book for years, each time I pick it up I find nondebatable biblical errors I hadn't focused on before. This book could serve as a sanity test for anyone claiming to be a biblical inerrantist, since so many hundreds of clear-cut errors, blatant contradictions and dramatically preposterous absurdities are quoted with complete references and commentaries. Though I was a Christian missionary, and have a doctorate in linguistics from Georgetown, a Catholic university, I nonetheless am amazed by the sheer quantity of clear errors that McKinsey catalogues. I rate the book at five stars even though the author occasionally throws in unnecessary, emotional harangues that detract from the otherwise scholarly treatment. Also, a few of his examples of errors are in themselves erroneous or overly stretched to make his point. That is, McKinsey is not an emotionally detached person. He makes it clear that many of the Bible's absurdities, contradictions and blatant injustices make him angry. On balance, though, the book is in a class by itself, being the overall best and most complete listing of outright mistakes and even crazy nonsense (by sensible standards of today's educated person). It is a testament to people's need for inspiration that the Bible has survived as a best-selling inspirational book while, along with the good material, also containing so much stuff that is so easily demonstrated to be utterly wrong and flat-out wacky or worse.
Rating:
Summary: If you want ammunition, buy this book
Review: While certainly provoking intense controversy, this book is nonetheless a very useful source of information for skeptics and exploring Christians alike. Don't expect a novel. This book is a collection of biblical errors, problems, fallacies, etc., some of which (few) are repeated throughout the book. It serves best as a stuffed-full ammo box from which the skeptic or debater can take what he/she finds to be good arguments to use in debates with ignorant Christians. The book is _full_ of biblical errors and problems, the sheer weight of which essentially (and easily) destroys the validity of the bible. Many people (Christians) deride this book without ever having read it. That's not a surprise. Nonetheless, it poses some _very_ tough questions for the believer honest enough to face the issue head-on, although many will explain away this scathing biblical critique as some sort of message from the Devil. Whatever.
Rating: 
Summary: Thorough yet Disappointing Coverage.
Review: While this book seems to have gotten rave reviews from other readers, I was disappointed with the text (keep in mind I am not a Christian, either). I think the other reviews may be largely influenced by other *bad* books in this area, or by personal biases. This book was not worth the price for several reasons. For one, it is not nearly in-depth as it should be. McKinsey brings up a vast selection of errors but rarely addresses appologetic responses... and if he does, he does not address appologetic rebuttals to his response. Many of the things he brings up as points have reasons behind them that appear to be equally as valid as some of his reasons against them (metaphors, cultural explainations, etc). Furthmore, he appears to be reaching on many of his points. As one example, McKinsey makes the claim that the Bible cannot be true because one parable refers the mustard seed the smallest seed when it is, in fact, not. This seems just silly as the reference appears to be more of a litary hyperbole than a statement on botany. There are other examples similar to this one throughout the book. This book succeeds to showing good evidence that the bible is fallible, but because most of his arguments are far too shallow. Atheists who purchase this to gain "ammunition" are going to be frustrated when they receive appologetic responses for nearly every point he brings up (some rather logical, admittedly some not). Biblical scholars purchasing this book are going to be disappointed at the lack of depth. This books serves as a useful tool for basic arguments and a nice summary of biblical contradictions, but is in no way the be-all-end-all of biblical errancy books.
| 
