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gemmadee's review against another edition
3.0
Arguments about the existence of god bore me. I know my own opinion, and I don’t care about yours.
I’m ambivalent about books based on blogs. Part of me feels gypped; it’s just a a bunch of prewritten material lazily recycled. Another part of me thinks, “Way to go fellow writer! Way to build on a platform and add a book to your bio. I wish I was smart enough to do that.”
I often found myself arguing with the book – not with the arguments per se, because Myers pretty much only shoots at targets too big to miss – but arguing with his approach. And usually, within a post chapter or two, he responded to my complaints. I’m not sure if this reflects the careful ordering of ideas, or the flow of the online conversation that the book documents, but it did create a nice dialogue effect.
“The Proper Reverence Due Those Who Have Gone Before” is an almost lyrical meditation on bones and books and the lost stories that make up human history. It is the most potent piece in the book, and to me, the most important. If people want to believe that one book tells the only story worth knowing, they are and should be free to do so. But if they do, they reject all the vast history of humankind’s struggle to reach the present. To quote another sage, they are looking at the finger, and missing all the heavenly glory.
I’m ambivalent about books based on blogs. Part of me feels gypped; it’s just a a bunch of prewritten material lazily recycled. Another part of me thinks, “Way to go fellow writer! Way to build on a platform and add a book to your bio. I wish I was smart enough to do that.”
I often found myself arguing with the book – not with the arguments per se, because Myers pretty much only shoots at targets too big to miss – but arguing with his approach. And usually, within a post chapter or two, he responded to my complaints. I’m not sure if this reflects the careful ordering of ideas, or the flow of the online conversation that the book documents, but it did create a nice dialogue effect.
“The Proper Reverence Due Those Who Have Gone Before” is an almost lyrical meditation on bones and books and the lost stories that make up human history. It is the most potent piece in the book, and to me, the most important. If people want to believe that one book tells the only story worth knowing, they are and should be free to do so. But if they do, they reject all the vast history of humankind’s struggle to reach the present. To quote another sage, they are looking at the finger, and missing all the heavenly glory.
jmanchester0's review against another edition
3.0
Probably the most difficult thing about this book is that what he spends most of his time with are exact same issues I have with religion today.
I believe in God, but sometimes I wonder what's the point when so many who claim to follow him are silly at best, and evil at worst.
"Lately [God] has become a devotee of football, and players and spectators beg for his divine favor in helping to get a ball from one side of the field to the other."
"Jehovah is the god of sanctimonious killjoys. How else to explain people who think the greatest threat to their happiness right now is the existence of people of the same sex who fall in love with each other? At the same time, we have priests raping children, and their defenders are most irate at the people who ratted out the pedophiles..."
That's just the first chapter. (Or section, they're not exactly numbered.)
I believe in God. I see art. I see beauty. I see love. I believe that these were created by God.
But the biggest argument against the existence of God is how many awful people He has as ambassadors.
Misogyny in the church is rampant. Historically, and now. It's important, but too big of an issue to get into in this review.
And how Christians represent the afterlife? I don't know what happens after we die - but I don't think it's the same picture painted by popular evangelicals - the Bible doesn't even agree. (I talk about this a lot in my review of Heaven is For Real.)
And the importance of the afterlife? It seems like we weight that so much, we don't have to worry about this life. But this is where we are supposed to be bringing Heaven to Earth! This is where we are supposed to treat people right. Care for people. And, yes, care for God's creation. Bible scholars have been debating for years about Heaven and Hell, and to pretend we know exactly how things will work after death is a bit crazy. Yet, we still focus on a few petty points of doctrine to try to determine where people will go at the end.
Logic and science are thrown out the window. If you don't think so, look at the Apologetics Press magazines with pictures of people using dinosaurs as beasts of burden. Creation scientists have arguments with holes big enough you could drive an ark through. (Like how I did that?)
There's a fair amount I disagree with in this book. But there's so much that resonates with me. How do I keep a faith in God that chooses so many hateful people to share His love? How do I keep faith in a God that chooses so many misguided people to share His Gospel? I so rarely see the Gospel Jesus preached coming from the pulpits and members of today's Western church. I think it's reasonable for people to turn away from God because of it. And whose head will that be on? I don't think it will be the people turning from God. It will be on the people pushing people away.
In the end, Myers uses a lot of good arguments, asking, How can people believe in a God like this? Or, How can people believe in a God that these people profess? I have to answer that I don't know - because I don't believe in the God that most of these people preach either. It's the crux of my struggle.
I believe in God, but sometimes I wonder what's the point when so many who claim to follow him are silly at best, and evil at worst.
"Lately [God] has become a devotee of football, and players and spectators beg for his divine favor in helping to get a ball from one side of the field to the other."
"Jehovah is the god of sanctimonious killjoys. How else to explain people who think the greatest threat to their happiness right now is the existence of people of the same sex who fall in love with each other? At the same time, we have priests raping children, and their defenders are most irate at the people who ratted out the pedophiles..."
That's just the first chapter. (Or section, they're not exactly numbered.)
I believe in God. I see art. I see beauty. I see love. I believe that these were created by God.
But the biggest argument against the existence of God is how many awful people He has as ambassadors.
Misogyny in the church is rampant. Historically, and now. It's important, but too big of an issue to get into in this review.
And how Christians represent the afterlife? I don't know what happens after we die - but I don't think it's the same picture painted by popular evangelicals - the Bible doesn't even agree. (I talk about this a lot in my review of Heaven is For Real.)
And the importance of the afterlife? It seems like we weight that so much, we don't have to worry about this life. But this is where we are supposed to be bringing Heaven to Earth! This is where we are supposed to treat people right. Care for people. And, yes, care for God's creation. Bible scholars have been debating for years about Heaven and Hell, and to pretend we know exactly how things will work after death is a bit crazy. Yet, we still focus on a few petty points of doctrine to try to determine where people will go at the end.
Logic and science are thrown out the window. If you don't think so, look at the Apologetics Press magazines with pictures of people using dinosaurs as beasts of burden. Creation scientists have arguments with holes big enough you could drive an ark through. (Like how I did that?)
There's a fair amount I disagree with in this book. But there's so much that resonates with me. How do I keep a faith in God that chooses so many hateful people to share His love? How do I keep faith in a God that chooses so many misguided people to share His Gospel? I so rarely see the Gospel Jesus preached coming from the pulpits and members of today's Western church. I think it's reasonable for people to turn away from God because of it. And whose head will that be on? I don't think it will be the people turning from God. It will be on the people pushing people away.
In the end, Myers uses a lot of good arguments, asking, How can people believe in a God like this? Or, How can people believe in a God that these people profess? I have to answer that I don't know - because I don't believe in the God that most of these people preach either. It's the crux of my struggle.
soundgirl3's review against another edition
3.0
This was interesting, but nothing ground breaking for me. I listened to the audio, though, and I was not a fan of the narration.
noveladdiction's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't bad. Parts were very interesting. He definitely gets his point across, but I dunno... I wasn't wowed. Amused sometimes, but not wowed.
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