The Bible – a book review

I know you generally can’t rely on the book reviews on Amazon. But sometimes they can be humorous.

I came across some funny examples  in the reviews for The Holy Bible King James Version

Here’s one from Todd W. Hemphill:

After being told that this was a “Good Book” I was really looking forward to reading it.

Alas, it lost me almost immediately. For example; After several “days” of light the sun suddenly appears in the sky on the fourth day? I looked for a footnote to explain this obvious inaccuracy but found that the story lacks any supporting references what-so-ever. I Looked back at older versions of the book hoping for some explanation and only became more confused when it became clear that the earlier text has both the sun and the moon somehow wedged between two layers of water!

I also found many parts of the “Old” Testament downright insulting. For example, in the section called Leviticus we are told not to trip blind people or swear at deaf people! (Lev 19:14) Just who was this book written for that they needed to be told that it’s not cool to trip blind people!? And why is a woman “unclean” twice as long after giving birth to a female child than she is after giving birth to a male child? (Lev 20) I’m guessing a guy wrote this stuff!

So I skimmed through the first section of the book, which was filled with endless rituals involving sacrifices and other barbaric practices, and moved on to the “New” testament, hoping for the best.

What a disappointment! I found the main character, Jesus, was all over the map. One moment he was all forgiveness and the next he was telling people that they had to hate their families if they wanted to follow him. (Luke 14:26). In the chapter entitled Matthew, Jesus succeeds in removing demons from two locals only to cast them into the town’s herd of pigs who then race down a hill and drown themselves. The townies, who are naturally more than a little distressed at the loss of all of their pigs, ask Jesus to shove off and who can blame them! (Matthew 8:28-34)

By the time I read the part about Jesus berating a fig tree for not having figs on it I’d had enough. (Matthew 21:18-19)

To call this a “Good” book is truly a stretch. Don’t waste your time!

There are are few others reviews there which adopt the same approach.

James Version.