Average customer rating:
- Makes a great Christmas present
- Smart, hip, fun to read!
- Flesh, sex, drugs...and some swimming.
- Dire Playfulness
- 100 Percent Palahniuk approved
|
Angel Dust Apocalypse
Jeremy Robert Johnson
Manufacturer: Eraserhead Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Dark Fantasy
| Horror
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Contemporary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
Literary
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Fantasy
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Extinction Journals
-
Satan Burger
-
The Menstruating Mall
-
Punk Land
-
Razor Wire Pubic Hair
ASIN: 0976249839 |
Book Description
Meth-heads, man-made monsters, and murderous Neo-Nazis. Blissed out club kids dying at the speed of sound. The un-dead and the very soon-to-be-dead. They're all here, trying to claw their way free.
From the radioactive streets of a war-scarred America, where the nuclear bombs have become self-aware, to the fallow fields of Nebraska where the kids are mainlining lightning bugs, this is a world both alien and intensely human. This is a place where self-discovery involves scalpels and horse tranquilizers; where the doctors are more doped-up than the patients; where obsessive-compulsive acid-freaks have unlocked the gateway to God and can't close the door.
This is not a safe place. You can turn back now, or you can head straight into the heart of . . .
The Angel Dust Apocalypse
Customer Reviews:
Makes a great Christmas present.......2007-10-08
My brother gave me a copy of this book last Christmas. I had never heard of Johnson, but gave it the once over. I quickly discovered that Johnson is one sick puppy, but he's also an excellent writer. I've read plenty of work by people who are purely pushing stuff out for shock value, and Johnson definitely rises far above them. Mainly this is because, while most of his stories have some sick and twisted ideas at their core, he doesn't depend soley on them. His skills as a writer and as a storyteller turn those dark seeds, into great stories that are quite enjoyable, in a queasy sort of way. He never seems to forget that the people in his stories, however perverse, insane, or just screwed up they are, are still people, even if they do go around bitting other people's noses off.
Smart, hip, fun to read!.......2007-10-04
This is a great short story collection. I enjoyed all of the stories for different reasons. The writing style is crisp and vivid, the story ideas are original and fresh and the book was thematically dark and beautiful. I will definitely look for more work by this author.
Flesh, sex, drugs...and some swimming........2007-09-01
A nice collection of (mostly)weird stories. Here's a quick rundown of each one.
"The League of Zeroes" Interesting take on the future of body modifications and the implications of the extreme desire to be a trendsetter.
"Dissociative Skills" Graphic tale of teenager body exploration.. reminiscent of Chuck Palahniuk's work.
"Amniotic Shock in the Last Sacred Place" Interesting take on adult infantilism. The gruesome process of malformed birth..and birth and birth.
"Precedents" The author (in his afterword) makes mention of the similarities between this story and movies like Memento and Irreversible. He also compares it to the classic locked door murder mysteries. Yes, this short tale is like that (told backwards..) but compared to the preceding stories, it's not that impressive.
"Stanley's Lips" Very short piece about a person's obsession with something they detest. Definitely relatable.. at least for me.
"Snowfall" Picturesque post-nuclear apocalypse story through the eyes of a deaf child. Very nice.
"Ex-Hale" Funny story about a professional "corpse" actor. Excellent.
"Working at Home" Parasite-ridden bio-horror tale in the style of David Cronenberg. Good imagery and suspense.
"Priapism" Weird story of a father talking about masturbation and punishing him for it. Will probably shock the casual reader. Kind of reminded me of a Chuck Palahniuk story.
"Luminary" Sort of like an Amazing Stories or Twilight Zone tale. Nice but I'd rate this lower compared to the other stories.
"Saturn's Game" Pretty crazy tale of mental illness and the ramifications of child abuse.
"Branded" Very short story about brand names and oral sex.
"The Sharp Dressed Man at the End of the Line" This is the story that leads up to his novella Extinction Journals. Basically concerning WWIII, nuclear war, and a suit made of cockroaches. Oh, and a suit made of twinkies. Guess who survives?
"Two Cages, One Moon" A kidnapping tale with an ironic twist. Still, not that unique especially compared to the rest of the stories (many which are in the bizarre genre). If I read this one in a magazine, I'd probably be more impressed but I've read similar stories before.
"Sparklers Burning" A bizarre burn on Martha Stewart and the arts/crafts thing. Interesting imagery but lacks a certain OOMPH!
"Last Thoughts Drifting Down" A short piece of WWIII through the eyes of (I think) death or nuclear death or something.
"Swimming in the House of the Sea" A pretty straightforward tale of a young guy and his mentally challenged brother. Though it is not weird at all, this is a solid story. Again, I'd say this would appeal to Palahniuk fans. The description is excellent and I'd like to see JRJ tackle more stories taking place in motels in the desert. He handles detail wonderfully. And I like motels. And deserts.
"Wall of Sound" A three part story in the style of Hubert Selby. Drug-addled narrative of raves (and all sorts of electronic music), neo-Nazi sabotage, and mental & physical deterioration. The first part is especially frightening. I was never a big drug user but I always found the idea of buying drugs scary considering you don't exactly know what you're getting. Just imagine this situation at its worst and that's what the first part contains. Excellent stuff. It closes the collection beautifully.
In conclusion, I liked the more bizarre material in this collection the best. There were a few stories that I felt were out of place but perhaps for purposes of pacing, the author felt the need to include them. Still, this is a satisfactory book of short stories that'll impress anyone who enjoys cutting edge takes on drugs, body modification, medical horrors, and the end of the world.
Dire Playfulness.......2007-07-12
Flicking between beautiful, unsettling, funny, and downright weird (sometimes all of those plus a whole lot more), this is a great collection of memorable (as in "I ate something odd and it was tasty but now it's sticking to my insides and sort of hurting but in a nice way") short stories.
Whilst some are not for the squeamish ("Dissociative Skills" immediately springs to mind, as does "League of Zeroes"), I myself don't have an aversion to the sort of Cronenbergian fascination of playing with flesh. "The League of Zeroes" has that dire playfulness about it, the sick concept of outer beauty is twisted back upon itself, and there's a ridiculous sympathy that goes along with that.
Maybe it's just me, but I really enjoyed that there was a childlike quality to the stories, which is NOT to say they are childish. There's a big difference between those two words. There's an innocent, curious, innovative, uncensoring quality in each story, which I always appreciate in adult fiction.
My favourite stories: Hard to pick, I didn't dislike any of them (a pleasant surprise, for I am picky), but I'll go with "Snowfall" and "The Sharp Dressed Man At the End of the Line". Superb. The latter had me in stitches for a very long time, and even still giggle when I recall it.
100 Percent Palahniuk approved.......2007-07-04
Like skim milk draped about your hysterectomy, Mr. Johnson hugs the womb with piercings big enough to kill a horse. The brain metal jewelry transposes sharp enough to have your lobotomy on, and you will enjoy each sliding inch of the stiletto. Put your ten into the g-string of a Bizarro god. Throw the book at a school bus and its occupants will croak. Shoot the fine art of its cover and send the bullet back into the gun barrel. Hide it in a corner and your tears always leak in that direction.
Book Description
An anonymous author has turned English society upside down, and only one man can protect her identity from being revealed, and her life from being destroyed, in this sexy new romance from reader favourite Jacquie Dာessandro.
The scandalous book, A Ladies߇uide to the Pursuit of Personal Happiness and Marital Fulfilment has taken English society by storm. The slim but erotically explicit volume was penned by an unknown author, and now all of London is trying to discover the mysterious writer's true identity. But the search doesn't scare Catherine Ashfield, Viscountess Bickley, the proper woman who transcribed the book for her dear friend, a very elderly and experienced widow. Disgusted by the shallow values and morals of the town, Catherine was excited to help her friend and set the uppity nobility on its ear. And maybe by giving women a little more knowledge they could finally have happier marriages, instead of loveless unions as she had her with her own late husband.
But Catherine didn't anticipate the violent backlash against the book. With threats being made against the unknown author, Catherine fears for her safety and that of her son. When she is the victim of a near fatal accident, she wonders how hidden her identity truly is.
Knowing she needs protection, she turns to her brother's best friend, an accomplished pugilist and fencer. She invites him to stay at her country estate under the guise of a simple visit, not realizing that she has invited a fugitive with a dangerous past into her home––a man she soon finds herself powerfully attracted to...
Customer Reviews:
This is one of my favorite books........2007-02-07
This is a romance story, a love story, not a mystery story. It's slower than most, because you have to see the characters develop. If you expect this to be a quick jaunt (like "Whirlwind Wedding", "Whirlwind Affair" or "The Bride Thief", all of which I liked), then you probably will be dissappointed. But from simply the standpoint of a love story, it's sweet and kind.
Just because I'm a bit partial to this book, I'm going to address a couple of things people have written about. First, as other people have mentioned, Catherine is the daughter of an Earl and entitled to be called "Lady", not to mention being a viscountess. Secondly, she IS an heiress. She is a marriagable lady with a significant amount of money from her marriage. Thirdly, while a club foot might not limit each and every person, the reason that it so adversly affected Spencer was because of the way his father treated him and the blame that her husband placed on her for the dissapointment of Spencer's birth.
Andrew is devoted, sweet, kind, and in love with Catherine enough to let her go when it was apparently what she wanted. Why did they have to dance around their love? Catherine had spent years in a terribly unhappy marriage and was determined not to subject herself and Spencer to the whims of another man. Remember, while Andrew had loved her for years, SHE hadn't loved him for years and didn't really know him very well at the beginning of the book. So when confronted with Andrew, she (being a woman of conviction) didn't just immediately change her mind and jump at the chance to bind herself to another man. However, once she truly realized the person he was she was willing to make that compromise. Andrew, loving her as he did, was willing to take whatever she would give (crumbs though it may be) until he couldn't bear the thought of not at least trying to have her. When he nearly lost her, he couldn't bear not letting his love flow freely. What a man!
Enjoy this book, and the characters, and learn a bit more about love, not just lust.
Very Enjoyable.......2006-11-08
I really liked this book. Not only did I enjoy Lady Catherine and Andrew as main characters, but I loved the interaction between Catherine's son and Andrew. You do become frustrated at one point like most novels tend to do, but the ending will definitely leave you feeling complete.
disappointment.......2006-08-24
I was disappointed with this book because I happen to like this author a lot and I go through each of her books within a day and yet this one just dragged. Lady Catherine just irritated me. She was such a shrew!! Andrew seemed to be too good for her. In A'Lessandro's previous book, "Who Will Take This Man", Lady Catherine just seemed so much nicer as Phillip's sister but yet right at the start of this book, she seemed almost mean. I would recommend A'Lessandro' other books before recommending this one.
Beautiful!.......2006-07-19
This book was beautiful. The heroine Catherine was sweet, lovely, alittle opionated but overall a worthy heroine. But the hero Andrew I just don't know where to begin - he's just wonderfull. His character came to life for me in this book making what would have been a good book, great. The love I felt he had for Catherine was so beautiful. He was sensitive, sweet and above all had such a intense love for Catherine it just flowed off the pages. And his interaction with the son Spencer showed just another wonderful side. The ending where he says my heart, my soul are yours. Tell me what you want to do with them. Oh my God it does not get any better than a hero like that. Well Done!
It doesn't get any better than this -- Andrew is one of the BEST heroes ever written.......2006-01-08
You talk about books for a 'keeper shelf' -- well, this one is one of those for me. I loved this book. I loved most of the characters, their story, the only teeny-tiny gripe I have would be that it took Catherine WWWAAAYYY to long to accept Andrew's proposal.
Andrew is one of my very most favorite heroes ever. For me, he's 2nd only to Rafe Bancroft in "Taming Rafe" by Suzanne Enoch.
Andrew is totally loving, unselfish, self-sacrificing, dedicated, comitted to only one woman, the woman who got him through a rough time in his life and she didn't even know it: Catherine.
I also loved the way Andrew took her son from her previous marriage under his wing. I just loved & adored everything about this book!
On a 1-10 scale, this, for me, is a solid 10. I wish all heroes could be as great as Andrew!!!
Book Description
2040: Ruins of ancient civilization uncovered on Mars reveal startling truths about the creation of humankind.
2042: In the gray dust of the Earth's Moon, an extinct enslaving race left behind more answers, more questions...and a grim warning.
2067: As Earth's warring factions clash in space for scraps of alien technology, a strange artifact lies trapped beneath the ice-locked oceans of Europa: a machine that holds the key to the final human destiny.
It is called "The Singer" for the eerie tone it emits. An artificial intelligence built eons ago, it may ultimately solve the mystery of the vanished alien races responsible for the birth and development of humanity. But after decades of war, the hostile nations of Earth care more for power than for knowledge. And now all that stands between the coveted Al and an all-out Chinese assault is a vastly outnumbered contingent of U.S. marines, dug in beneath the baleful red eye of Jupiter. As terrifying events light years distant begin to converge---with confrontation imminent and annihilation inevitable---a secret history of creation and doom must at long last be contended with...if humankind is to finally claim its glorious heritage among the stars.2040: Ruins of ancient civilization uncovered on Mars reveal startling truths about the creation of humankind.
2042: In the gray dust of the Earth's Moon, an extinct enslaving race left behind more answers, more questions...and a grim warning.
2067: As Earth's warring factions clash in space for scraps of alien technology, a strange artifact lies trapped beneath the ice-locked oceans of Europa: a machine that holds the key to the final human destiny.
It is called "The Singer" for the eerie tone it emits. An artificial intelligence built eons ago, it may ultimately solve the mystery of the vanished alien races responsible for the birth and development of humanity. But after decades of war, the hostile nations of Earth care more for power than for knowledge. And now all that stands between the coveted Al and an all-out Chinese assault is a vastly outnumbered contingent of U.S. marines, dug in beneath the baleful red eye of Jupiter. As terrifying events light years distant begin to converge---with confrontation imminent and annihilation inevitable---a secret history of creation and doom must at long last be contended with...if humankind is to finally claim its glorious heritage among the stars.2040: Ruins of ancient civilization uncovered on Mars reveal startling truths about the creation of humankind.
2042: In the gray dust of the Earth's Moon, an extinct enslaving race left behind more answers, more questions...and a grim warning.
2067: As Earth's warring factions clash in space for scraps of alien technology, a strange artifact lies trapped beneath the ice-locked oceans of Europa: a machine that holds the key to the final human destiny.
It is called "The Singer" for the eerie tone it emits. An artificial intelligence built eons ago, it may ultimately solve the mystery of the vanished alien races responsible for the birth and development of humanity. But after decades of war, the hostile nations of Earth care more for power than for knowledge. And now all that stands between the coveted Al and an all-out Chinese assault is a vastly outnumbered contingent of U.S. marines, dug in beneath the baleful red eye of Jupiter. As terrifying events light years distant begin to converge---with confrontation imminent and annihilation inevitable---a secret history of creation and doom must at long last be contended with...if humankind is to finally claim its glorious heritage among the stars.
Customer Reviews:
Europe and Marines.......2007-06-01
Just when you thought the plot had ended in part two, Ian Douglas pulls us right back with a big twist, the UN may be disbanded and reformed into the Confederation but China is not keeping still especially with the discovery on that icey moon of Jupiter called Europa. An excellent end to this trilogy which I enjoyed reading.
Great Finish to a great series!.......2005-12-18
This has got to be one of the best sci-fi stories ever written. I was amazed. Normally, I like casual sci-fi, if even that. I picked up this series as a fluke. Just kinda curious about it, I figured, hey, This one has gotten pretty good reviews. So I picked up all three, and started reading. By the time I was only a hundred pages into the first book, I couldn't stop. By the time I was really aware, I had read all three books, and looking for the first of the Legacy series. Let me say, anyone who likes military fiction, like Clancy or Brown, or any type of Sci-Fi, PICK UP THIS SERIES!!!!!!!
Absurd plots and technologies, inadequate character development, and too little action.......2005-10-29
The third book of this series fails to live up to its predecessors. This book focuses more on sci-fi and (often improbable) technology than on the marines and their battles.
There is no logic to the Chinese attacks to gain control of Europa: the unknown potential technology gains are unlikely to outweigh the devastation of a war with the U. S. Absurdly, Congress is afraid to confront China over its acts of war, though America and its allies are far more powerful.
The human technologies are unrealistic: an incredibly long space rail gun accelerates stealthy and smart bowling balls at one million gravities. The balls strike targets millions of miles away with perfect accuracy. Later, the space marines assemble their own rail gun from a downed microwave tower. Manta-shaped submersibles with flexible "wings" can withstand pressures greater than 1000 atmospheres. Brain implanted virtual reality jacks resonate to sounds transmitted from an alien AI deep in Europa's oceans and cause fear, paranoia, headaches, and alien dreams.
I could have forgiven all of the above if there was decent character development and well-paced action sequences. Neither are present in this book.
"Is there anything we can provide?" "Send us more Chinese!".......2005-08-16
"Europa Strike" is an excellent finale for the Heritage Trilogy and lead-in for Douglas's Legacy Trilogy. Some of the alien mythos developed in the first two books come together, but yet again, more questions are brought up than answered.
Once again, the combat is fantastic. The story provides interesting parallels to both the Battle of Wake Island and the Korean War (Chosin Reservoir in particular).
Despite taking place 25 years after "Luna Marine," Douglas once again manages to use characters from the previous two books while introducing new ones. Unfortunately, this is the last time you'll see any of them, as the next book takes place another 71 years into the future.
If you enjoyed the previous two books, this one probably won't disappoint unless you're looking for all your questions to be tied up perfectly.
Excellent space opera!.......2004-07-21
One of the most exciting space operas I've read in a long time with a believable timeline in regards to the future events that lead to all-out war near Jupiter. Another really good space opera with exciting events taking place in the 28th Century is "Advent of the Corps".
Book Description
Learn how to defend the authority and inspiration of Scripture. Writing in a problem/solution format, the authors cover every major Bible difficulty from Genesis to Revelation.
Customer Reviews:
A Great Resource and Reference Book for Students of the Bible.......2006-12-18
This book addresses and provides concise solutions to just about every conceivable problem, apparent contradiction and supposed error in the Bible. The authors demonstrate the reliability and trustworthiness of the Bible by citing historical facts, quotes from ancient sources, archaeological discoveries, etc. I highly recommend that all serious Bible students have this on their shelf.
Preschool logic, ignores some of the most difficult texts.......2006-09-17
In the Preface, Geisler supports biblical inerrancy by stating that: "The Bible has withstood the criticisms of the greatest skeptics, agnostics, and atheists down through the centuries, and it is able to withstand the feeble efforts of unbelieving critics today." It's evident that this same exact argument can be made in support of the Koran. Either Geisler is ignorant of this or he uses the argument dishonestly.
Secondly, I was pleasantly surprised to see an argument in logical form. It's presented in the Intro as: 1. God cannot err. 2. The Bible is the word of God. 3. Therefore, the Bible cannot err. This argument is deductive so if the premises (1&2) are true, the conclusion (3) is necessarily true also. But how does Geisler show that the premises are true? In a classic case of circular reasoning, he appeals to what he's trying to prove as support for his premises. To the question: How do we know that God cannot err? Geisler tells us that the Bible tells us so! To the question: How do we know that the Bible is the word of God? Geisler tells us that the Bible tells us so!
So in actuality Geisler is proclaiming that The Bible cannot err because it says so! Geisler's 40 years of learning were apparently not enough for him to learn elementary logic. How stupid do you think your readers are Mr. Geisler?
Thirdly, he quotes St. Augustine favorably when it comes to dealing with difficulties in the Bible: "If we are perplexed by any apparent contradiction in Scripture, it is not allowable to say, the author of this book is mistaken; but either the manuscript is faulty, or the translation is wrong, or you have not understood." The skeptic or the critic can answer to this: If we think that we have identified an error in the arguments of the critics as written in book XYZ, it is not allowable to say, the author of this book is mistaken; but either the manuscript is faulty, or the translation is wrong, or you have not understood.
Fourthly, in one of the weirdest and most ludicrous explanations given by Geisler, one of the reasons he gives as justification for the slaughter of children in Jericho is that those children went to heaven so it was actually an act of mercy on God's part. I'd like to ask Geisler if he ever considered killing his own children to ensure that they go to heaven. I'm sorry to be so brutal but the stupidity of the argument calls for it.
Lastly, Geisler simply ignores some of the most difficult passages of the entire Bible. Some of these are: Exodus 21:7-11 where God explicitly grants fathers permission to sell their daughters into lifelong slavery, Exodus 21:17 where God orders the execution of children who curse their parents, Exodus 21:21 where God says that a slave is the "property" of the owner, Exodus 22:18-20 where God orders the execution of those who sacrifice to other gods. Apparently Religious Freedom was foreign to the God of Love, Numbers 15:32-36 where God orders the execution of a man for gathering firewood on the Sabbath, and Deuteronomy 21:10-14 where God gives Israelite soldiers permission to take female prisoners of war as "wives" and to discard them if they don't please well.
I give it 2 stars instead of 1 for attempting to answer some of the difficult questions.
Refreshing and englightening... a good read for Christian or Skeptic.......2006-08-29
Norman Geisler has once again done a fantastic job of defending the Bible as the inerrant word of God. Although, this book will definetly not convince most skeptics (not surprising considering nothing usually does) nonetheless it is and excellent resource for laymen to well-seasoned apologists alike.
In a very systematic fashion Geisler simply treats nearly all of the supposed "contradictions" in a head-on shoot from the hip manner. And while he doesn't claim to have all the answers, he generally offers very plasible explanations for supposed Bible contradictions and mistakes.
If one has ever been attacked by skeptics(as I have)and wasn't quite prepared to "give an answer" as the Bible commands, this book will be right up your alley. In fact, one of the most uplifting aspects of this book is that it demonstrates the near desperate tactics that critics take to discount the Biblical text. Being somewhat of an analytical thinker myself I understand the natural tendency to downgrade the supernatural and uplift 'natural"' thinking. So it was no surprise to me to find that the vast majority of the so-called contradictions listed in this book could easily have been resolved with a little more critical reading of the text. However, as I so often find, skeptics will INTENTIONALLY see mistakes simply because they are looking for a reason to disbeleive. I encourage you, if you are seeking and somewhat skeptical, this book will offer explanations for some tough Biblical texts in the Bible. If you are a flat-out critic I hope this book will urge you to rethink some of your previous beleifs.
For the rest of this review, I would like to respond to a couple of the general negative arguments I have read concerning this book. First, it seems abundantly clear that most of the skeptics simply from the tone of their review have already decided in their minds that Geislers explanations are wrong and that the Bible cannot be trusted. This is called an axiom and it is perfectly okay to have an axiom. However, an axiom must always be corroborated with strong evidence if it is to be held onto in light of plain reason. It is utterly foolish for a reviewer or skeptic to blast Geisler for holding to Biblical inerrany as an "a priori" commitment when the skeptics does the same with naturalism. Although, few admit this, it is abundantly clear that most skeptics have concluded that naturalism is a correct philosphy and therfore the Bible is not completely true or inspired by God. This is a perfectly valid assumption. Notice however, that the key word is assumption. Naturalism cannot be proven, and neither can Biblical inerrancy. However, what one can do is start with an assumption and see what assumption be fits the evidence. I would argue that the Bible's explantion of past present and future makes more logical sense than any other worldview. (read works by Francis Shaeffer if you want to learn more about the superiority of the Christian worldview).
Second, what most skeptics have blasted in reviews is a TINY sampling of Geislers explanations which they have found to be the least satisfying. If those critics intimidate you from buying this book I urge you to reconsider. Most of these skeptics are making unsound generalizations because their sampling is far too small. If one reads this book with an open mind I am convinced that one will find nearly all of Geislers explanations satisfactory. Not to mention I beleive one will note the absurdity of most of the critics claims. Which brings me to another point. Simply because not every explanation Geisler offers seems legitimate is not a reason to reject Biblical inerrancy.
The Bible is a large book, that covers a vast period of history and we as modern day Americans are not anywhere near the cultural context of the ancient middle-east. Therefore, it would be fairly audacious to presume that we would not find any Biblical text that is somewhat confusing and may on the surface seem contradictory to other parts of the Bible. In fact, the opposite is true. We should expect to find a small amount of Biblical texts that are troubling. If we didn't that would be a good reason to suggest that the text was edited so that it would look more complete. And what do we find? We find a small amount of Biblical texts that are troubling. And while yes, Geisler has listed over 800 texts, as I stated previously if one reads the book, one will find that most of the supposed contradictions exist in the overly active imagination of the critic rather than in the text itself. If one examines the text with an open mind and legitmately tries to understand the nature of the context and literary genres a in which the authors of each book wrote. Most of the "contractictions" dissapear.
All in all, this book is fantastic and I would encourage any Christian or skeptic to buy it.
A son of the King,
Joe
Good for believers to indulge in the illusion of "inerrancy" but the skeptics still unanswered.......2006-05-06
Norman Geisler is a prominent apologist which had written many theological and apologetic books. In this book, he tried to tackle considerable amount of problems that the critics of bible raised concerning the validity of the scripture. I was interested in this book because I had just brought McKinsey's Encyclopedia of biblical errancy and I would want to form a balanced view on the scripture. My general comment to Geisler's book is that this is good for believers to consolidate their faith by the "answers" or "solution" to these problems.
Geisler had also done mostly a great job in tackling the problems. That is the level expected for a theologian and apologist. However, some of the solution may not be convincing enough for the critics.
Take an example of the Jerico massacre in Joshua 6:21. Geisler argue the importance of the massacre (slaying of everyone including suckling infants) by explaining the Canaanite were "far from innocent". They are "defiled with every kind of abomination, including child sacrifice". As we know, child sacrifice is one of the ritual practiced by ancient pagan religion. They are surely not ethical. However, does it morally justify approve total extermination? How about slaying all Mormons, Buddists or Hindu to please your God? When faced with problem of slaying of infants, Geisler give the most outrageous explanation: "Given the cancerous state of society into which they are born, they had no chance of avoid it fatal pollution, 2) children who die before the age of accountability go to heaven (2 Sam. 12:23). This was an act of God's mercy to their soul to take them into His holy presence from such an unholy enviroment" even worst, the last explanation given as "God is soverign over life and can order its end according to His will and in view of the creature's ultimate good". Does it reasonable. According to his logic, we should kill all the babies after they are born because it is "an act of God's mkercy to their soul to take them into His holy presence from such an unholy environment". The bottom line of Geisler logic is "God is soverign, so we cannot question His justice or decision". Is this a plausible explanation that can confort the skeptics? I don't think so.
Some contradictions are not tackled. Example include the conflicting reference of the women that Jesus was talking to in Mattew 15:22 and Mark 7:26 (Mattew said that she was a Canaanite while Mark said that she was Greek). Surely he would not dare to tackle the point the the New American standard bible and New revised standard version wrongly translate the Greek word for "Greek" of the original text into "Gentile" in Mark's verse. Whether this translation is intentional to cover an alleged discrepancy is still speculative, but Geisler failed to give answer this interesting question.
Moreover, the Geisler is also not very kind to critics. He made a statement "The bible is without mistake, but the critics are not. All their allegation of error in the bible are based on some error of their own." This is already an unfair presupposition. When we want to examine a book as if it is errant, we should not assume that it is without mistake at first! This is violating the logical way of deduction. Surely the critics are not very happy to read this claim because you are also condemned erroneous when you raise doubt on the validity of scripture.
In general, this is a well-written book for reference. But as a skeptic christian, I don't think Gielser do a great job in supporting the doctrine of biblical inerrancy in this work.
Excellent Beginning Reference Work.......2004-07-14
I've used this book to teach a seeker's bible study. Most people seem to really appreciate the honesty. The cumulative effect of looking up entries is to realize how bible difficulties arise. This is as valuable as any particular entry. Some difficulties are treated more in-depth than others. Some can be thoroughly dealt with in a short entry, others solutions can only be gestured at. This book is not meant to be the end-all-be-all of bible difficulties but it is a comprehensive overview of Bible difficulties. At first, the size of the book might be discouraging: this is a big book. However, it becomes encouraging when you see how-time and time again-there are simple solutions or natural explanations for the Bible difficulties, it's just that it takes longer to explain a solution than it does to raise a problem. This should go next to his _Encyclopedia of Aplogetics_, _General Introduction to the Bible_, and _When Skeptics Ask_ on your reference shelf.
Books:
- Annie John: A Novel
- Ashenden Or: The British Agent
- Behold the Many: A Novel
- Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea
- Charlie Russell Journal
- Chasing Rumi: A Fable About Finding the Heart's True Desire
- Cloudsplitter: A Novel
- Colorist: A Practical Handbook for Personal and Professional Use
- Der Kleine Prinz (German)
- Dust Tracks on a Road: An Autobiography (P.S.)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Chasing Ghosts: A Soldier's Fight for America from Baghdad to Washington
- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
- The Aesthetics of Resistance, Volume 1: A Novel
- Real Men Don't Rehearse: Adventures in the Secret World of Professional Orchestras
- Simple Church: Returning to God's Process for Making Disciples
- Scientific Computing
- The Disappearance of the Universe: Straight Talk About Illusions, Past Lives, Religion, Sex, Politic
- The E-factor: The Bottom-Line Approach to Environmentally Responsible Business
- Random Reminiscences of Men and Events
- Dead Broke Financial Planning for Women: Overcome Anything!
