For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs

Book Description

July 12, 1939 Perry Nelson is driving along the palisades when suddenly another vehicle swerves into his lane, a tire blows out, and his car careens off the road and over a bluff. The last thing he sees before his head connects with the boulders below is a girl in a green bathing suit, prancing along the shore....

When he wakes, the girl in green is a woman dressed in furs and the sun-drenched shore has transformed into snowcapped mountains. The woman, Diana, rescues Perry from the bitter cold and takes him inside her home to rest and recuperate.

Later they debate the cause of the accident, for Diana is unfamiliar with the concept of a tire blowout and Perry cannot comprehend snowfall in mid-July. Then Diana shares with him a vital piece of information: The date is now January 7. The year...2086.

When his shock subsides, Perry begins an exhaustive study of global evolution over the past 150 years. He learns, among other things, that a United Europe was formed and led by Edward, Duke of Windsor; former New York City mayor LaGuardia served two terms as president of the United States; the military draft was completely reconceived; banks became publicly owned and operated; and in the year 2003, two helicopters destroyed the island of Manhattan in a galvanizing act of war. This education in the ways of the modern world emboldens Perry to assimilate to life in the twenty-first century.

But education brings with it inescapable truths -- the economic and legal systems, the government, and even the dynamic between men and women remain alien to Perry, the customs of the new day continually testing his mental and emotional resolve. Yet it is precisely his knowledge of a bygone era that will serve Perry best, as the man from 1939 seems destined to lead his newfound peers even further into the future than they could have imagined.

A classic example of the future history that Robert Heinlein popularized during his career, For Us, The Living marks both the beginning and the end of an extraordinary arc of political, social, and literary crusading that comprises his legacy. Heinlein could not have known in 1939 how the world would change over the course of one and a half centuries, but we have our own true world history to compare with his brilliant imaginings, rendering For Us, The Living not merely a novel, but a time capsule view into our past, our present, and perhaps our future.

The novel is presented here with an introduction by acclaimed science fiction writer Spider Robinson and an afterword by Professor Robert James of the Heinlein Society.

Download Description

From Grandmaster Robert A. Heinlein comes a long-lost first novel, written in 1939 and never before published, introducing ideas and themes that would shape his career and define the genre that is synonymous with his name. July 12, 1939 Perry Nelson is driving along the palisades when suddenly another vehicle swerves into his lane, a tire blows out, and his car careens off the road and over a bluff. The last thing he sees before his head connects with the boulders below is a girl in a green bathing suit, prancing along the shore.... When he wakes, the girl in green is a woman dressed in furs and the sun-drenched shore has transformed into snowcapped mountains. The woman, Diana, rescues Perry from the bitter cold and takes him inside her home to rest and recuperate. Later they debate the cause of the accident, for Diana is unfamiliar with the concept of a tire blowout and Perry cannot comprehend snowfall in mid-July. Then Diana shares with him a vital piece of information: The date is now January 7. The year...2086. When his shock subsides, Perry begins an exhaustive study of global evolution over the past 150 years. He learns, among other things, that a United Europe was formed and led by Edward, Duke of Windsor; former New York City mayor LaGuardia served two terms as president of the United States; the military draft was completely reconceived; banks became publicly owned and operated; and in the year 2003, two helicopters destroyed the island of Manhattan in a galvanizing act of war. This education in the ways of the modern world emboldens Perry to assimilate to life in the twenty-first century.

Customer Reviews:

Poor Economics But OK Read If Fan Of Heinlein.......2007-10-08

.....Keeping it mind its apparently his first stab at a book and judging it as a Heinlein fan while considering its insight into his future ideas its OK. The economic system he envisions is hideously idealistic. Based on his later writings he apparently learned a bit more about economics in the 5-10 years after this novel. (If you don't love Heinlein then do not read this!)
.....I was glad they explained some of his political background in the end and with that and the timeframe of the novel (people assumed the banks caused the great depression and overproduction) I can give him some leeway on being horrendously wrong.
.....His writing in 1939 on how the coming war in Europe would be avoided and how history would go are so off its embarrasing. How could you write this 6-9 months prior to the invasion of Poland and so totally miss what was about to happen.
.....Nevertheless, it was an interesting story and I enjoyed it for what it was. I enjoyed how the lead character gets to the future for its subtlety. *SPOILER ALERT* - I am glad he did not have the main character changing the future social or economic system, let alone save them from something.
.....I must admit that I did come away with more appreciation for Winston Churchills predictive abilities. It is fascinating to get others views of things prior to the war, even if its a sci fi writer with a love of engineering.

The Beginning Of A Great Career.......2007-07-25

Robert Heinlein qualifies as one of my favorite authors of all time, and certainly my favorite science fiction author. Part of the reason for that is the quality of his writing and depth of his characters -- you can't get any deeper and more complex than Lazarus Long, a man who cannot die -- and part of is because, as a recent Reason Magazine article pointed out he was willing to challenge conventional thinking in politics, religion, social customs, and just about every other topic. Since I encountered Heinlein right around the time I was first becoming interested in libertarian ideas, the attraction was quite obvious.

Which is what makes For Us, The Living so interesting. It was Heinlein's first novel-length work and, until 2004, it had gone unpublished largely at the request of the author and his wife Virginia. It was only after Virginia Heinlein died in 2003 that the Heinlein estate approved the release of the book.

The plot of the book is similar to many other science fiction novels of the early 20th Century. A man from the past, in this case 1939, finds himself catapulted nearly 150 years in the future to the year 2086. The majority of the book, which consists largely of dialogs between our time traveler and other characters, takes the form of dialogs where the man of 1939 attempts to understand the many ways in which the world has changed. This allows Heinlein to put forward his ideas on issues ranging from politics to religion to banking, male-female relationships, and individual rights.

If you're familiar with Heinlein, there's alot about this book that will seem familiar to you. There are elements of Time Enough For Love in his discussions about social customs and male-female relationships in 2086, elements of Stranger in a Strange Land in his discussion about religion, and elements of The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress in his politics.

There are some differences too, though. This isn't the same Robert Heinlein who called himself a radical libertarian in the 1960s. This is the guy who had spent time with, and was a fan of Upton Sinclair, and avowed socialist, and there are elements of this early version of Heinlein's political and economic views in what he has to say about economics and banking.

You may have noticed that I haven't talked much about the plot. That's because it's really pretty thin. For the most part, the characters and the environment they are in serve as a stage upon which Heinlein can put forward his early version of a utopian society. For that reason, this is not the novel to read if you've haven't read Heinlein before. This is really something that will be of interest mostly to fans of Heinlein who will recognize in this first novel elements of what was to come. And, if the writing isn't up to par in some places and the characters are thin, maybe that explains why Heinlein choose to never have it published even after he had achieved fame.

For Us, The Living is best viewed, then, as the beginning of what was to become a truly amazing writing career.

There was a reason it wasn't printed before........2007-06-15

This is an exploration of Heinlein's philosophy very thinly disguised as fiction. The plot would have made a fairly good short story, but..... There are certainly many things pointing at the stories making up his Future History, but the only reason to add this to your library, or even to read it is a dedicated drive to read everything he wrote.

As a life long Heinlein fan, who owns nearly everything he wrote (even the juveniles), I am glad that I did not see this before his any masterpieces. Get a copy of Stranger in a Strange Land, Man Who Sold The Moon, Starship Troopers, or The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress instead.

"Seminal" doesn't necessarily mean "good" but worth the read anyway.......2007-02-04

I've rated "For Us the Living" as three stars, in a dismal attempt at a compromise between its historical importance/interest (five stars), and the quality of the book itself (one or two stars).

From a historical point of view, those of you who are RAH fans will find this, his first novel, to be a fascinating work. Though written in the late 1930's, it was only published posthumously (in 2004). In it you will find most of the themes that pervade his later novels.

What appears to have sunk this book in the eyes of his potential publishers (and you will agree with them), is that this book was written mainly as a platform for the exposition of Heinlein's rather radical (for the time) theories and convictions: it also had too many ideas, too thin of a story, and too little character-development to be a good novel.

I agree with Spider Robinson (the writer of the Forward in this edition), that from this experience Heinlein learned if he was to successfully put his ideas across, as well as make a living as a writer, he first and foremost had to tell a good story. His subsequent career vividly illustrates how well he learned that lesson.

bad,really bad.......2007-01-21

This book is about a man who died in 1939 and was transported in to the future.Sounds like it could be a good read,well it's not.Most of the book deals in reeducation.History,math,economics,customs.Long on education and very short on storey.I read for entertainment.Been to school once didnt like it then dont like it now.No wonder he never sold this storey when he was alive.This book can be summed up in 5 words,got insomnia read this book!

Average customer rating:

For Us the Living a Comedy of Customs
Robert A Heinlein
Manufacturer: SIMON & SCHUSTER
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCUKH6

Average customer rating:

For Us, the Living: A Comedy of Customs
Robert A.; Robinson, Spider; James, Robe Heinlein
Manufacturer: Pocket Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NXZ12G

Book Description

He has a way with women...

Thomas Ashe, the brooding Viscount Blackfield, is a man any lady would shun. But Patience Harrington, try as she might, has never been a proper lady. Her bumbled London season left her with no marital prospects and no recourse but to accept her father's invitation to travel to gloomy Blackfield Castle. Surely, spending a few nights in the presence of priceless antiques and a devilish viscount can't be as bad as facing the ton gossip.

Focused solely on his secret government project, Thomas cares little for the valuable antiques he's recently inherited. The troublesome young woman who has come to assess them, however, stirs his senses in every way. Patience is a distraction Thomas can ill afford – a beautiful temptation that makes him ache with desire. For a spy is threatening to destroy all he has built, and Patience is hiding something. With so much at stake, Thomas must do whatever it takes to seduce the truth from Patience's lips before lives – and his own heart – are lost.

Customer Reviews:

COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER.......2006-11-05

The story line was interesting, but the characters left a lot to be desired. It just dragged on without much meaning or romance.
I could barely get to the end fast enough.

BORING.......2006-06-28

I read romance to escape like everyone else the drudgery that which is the everyday. Boy, was I disappointed, sorry but she is definitely not a skilled writer because the characters were 1 demensional and plot and dialogue so cliche I was fighting to stay awake. And the sensual scenes? What sensual scenes??? No romance, no plot, and no sensuality.

Sweet Romance.......2006-06-01

I love Anne Mallory novels and this one had the mix of romance and mystery. It was a little less steamy but I loved the social lessons. The main female character goes to the Viscounts castle to collect items for the museum with team of specialist. She hears rumors about a 'monster' so she starts investigating and the Viscount thinks she is a spy! Sparks fly - Enjoy.

Wanted to give it 5.......2006-04-03

I wanted this book to be a 5 star one, but little things kept it from being that for me. I loved the story and, as always, the writer got the hero right. Thomas was everything a romance novel hero should be. Patience, the heroine, fared a little worse. I lost some patience with her. At times, she bordered dangerously close to TSTL territory for me. I found her social blunders a little monotonous. She surely should have known what to say and how to behave. Just a minor quibble, but it did bother me. Also, things seemed a bit rushed. Just when Thomas and Patience seemed to be getting somewhere, poof!, the scene was over. I felt the transitions were a bit rough. All in all, I liked this book, but felt the characters were not developed as much as they should have been, and the pacing seemed a little off. It was sort of like--Gothic Light.

fun gothic historical romance .......2006-03-29

Patience Harrington has never been able to behave to the standard of the Ton. So when she fumbles her Season, Patience is left with one option offered by her father. She is to visit ominous Blackfield Castle to appraise and catalogue the antiques.

Viscount Blackfield, Thomas Ashe, does not want any visitors especially one as distracting as the lovely Patience even for a few nights. He wants her to leave, but she refuses insisting she will first finish her task of assessing the antiques he inherited even though he does not seem to care about anything except brooding and glaring at her. In reality, Thomas struggles to stay focused on uncovering who endangers so many lives. Still for the first time since he became a spy, Thomas is unable to keep alert and concentrate on his inquiries as he desires Patience who he believes has been sent by his enemy to spy on him. Perhaps he can kiss the truth out of her lips.

This is a fun gothic historical romance that uses amusing scenarios to refresh and lighten the usual serious tone of the sub-genre. Thomas is out of patience with his desire that he fears hides his unwanted guest's nefarious activities while Patience ponders whether her host is the Frankenstein monster. Fans will enjoy this gender war starring two terrific combatants who misconceive everything about the other except love.

Harriet Klausner

Average customer rating:

VISCOUNT'S WICKED WAYS
ANNE MALLORY
Manufacturer: Avon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000Q95ZM8

Book Description

In this unprecedented collection of science fiction and fantasy quotations, the reader revisits the stunning moment when Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein monster first comes to life; witnesses the transformation of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde; is present when Bruce Wayne resolves to become Batman; and overhears the cosmic conclusions of The Incredible Shrinking Man. Drawing upon two centuries of the vast and provocative literature of science fiction and fantasy, this comprehensive book presents more than 2,900 quotations from wide-ranging sources, including science fiction and fantasy stories, novels, films, and television programs.
The quotations are organized by topic—alien worlds; darkness and light; robots, androids, and cyborgs; machines and technology; weapons; and more than one hundred others. The reader will encounter the wit and wisdom of renowned authors (H. G. Wells, Ray Bradbury, J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin) along with definitive versions of such important statements as Isaac Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics and Star Trek’s Prime Directive.
With its thorough index, this book is both an invaluable resource for the writer or scholar and an irresistible page-turner for the curious browser.

Science Fiction Quotations : From the Inner Mind to the Outer Limits

Average customer rating:

Science Fiction Quotations : From the Inner Mind to the Outer Limits
Arthur A. Clarke
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSGUTS

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel

Average customer rating:

An Excellent Reference on Ancient History for Evangelicals!
Atop the Stronghold (Proverbs 21:22)
Poorly thought out
From a well-read reader
Biblically contradicting

Kingdom of Priests: A History of Old Testament Israel
Eugene H. Merrill
Manufacturer: Baker Academic
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Israel | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

Palestine | Middle East | History | Subjects | Books

General | Christianity | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

General | Bible & Other Sacred Texts | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Religion & Spirituality | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Literary Structure of the Old Testament: A Commentary on GenesisMalachi
An Introduction to the Old Testament
New Bible Atlas
Old Testament Survey: The Message, Form, and Background of the Old Testament
Readings from the Ancient Near East: Primary Sources for Old Testament Study (Encountering Biblical Studies)

ASIN: 0801021030
Release Date: 1997-02-01

Book Description

Integrates the political, social, economic, and religious factors related to the history of ancient Israel.

Customer Reviews:

An Excellent Reference on Ancient History for Evangelicals!.......2005-04-30

I've read this book twice now, and I keep it on hand as a reference particularly when I am doing studies on the prophetic books of the Old Testament. It is a good concise reference for the historical background in which the Old Testament was written, but there are a few things that some of the other reviews did not seem to realize:

This book is not an exhaustive study of Israelite history. It appears to be written for a well-read lay audience. The footnotes are particularly helpful for nonprofessional Bible 'scholars,' as they point the reader to more in-depth sources of information that they might otherwise be unaware of. It is also written for Evangelicals (this is explicitly stated in the introduction). Those looking for a 'critical' history will be disappointed at his tenaciousness in reconciling ancient history with the Biblical narrative, but he is perfectly honest about what he is trying to do.

On a related thought, the two reviewers who claimed that Merrill was ignorant or intentionally ignored the Biblical account in place were sorely wrong. They either have not read the entire book, or grossly misunderstood what he was saying. For instance, it is true that he talks about the theory that several of the tribes of Israel were already in Canaan prior to the Exodus, but he then rejects that idea, and provides reasons why it does not make sense historically.

Merrill also presents a compelling system of chronology for the Exodus and for the period of the Kings. Personally, I disagree with his chronology, but he is consistent and does an excellent job of presenting his own views, and it is still a good system for obtaining an overall grasp of the approximate times that various events in the Bible took place.

With that said, the reason that I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because I felt that Merrill would at times arbitrarily dismiss opposing views in favor of his own. I do believe from looking at his other works that he has a deep understanding of these other views and could refute them at length, and so my only disappointment is that he did not choose to devote more time to explaining why some of the opposing views are invalid, rather than quickly glossing over them and moving on to his own theories.

The second time that I read this book, I was also reading Wolfram Von Soden's "The Ancient Orient" and the two books complemented each other very nicely. Merrill is concerned primarily with chronology and political history. Von Soden's work is more of a social and cultural history (although it is on Mesopotamia and not Israel). They went very well together because one explained 'what happened' and the other explained 'what ordinary life was like' in the ancient Near East. I would thoroughly recommend reading these two books together as an introduction to the study of Old Testament history.

Atop the Stronghold (Proverbs 21:22).......2001-10-01

Merrill's work is certainly well-done. Although the work is obviously scholarly, the reader is not lost in a morass of technical jargon. Footnotes are generoulsy sprinkled at the bottom of every page and Merrill is always careful to include a reference to the work of other scholars, even those who do not agree with him, for the sake of those readers who might wish to do a little more research and receive both sides of the argument. At the same time, he gives cogent arguments for his own conservative stance on controversial issues and I must say that, barring one or two, I found his arguments very persuasive and, overall, whether I always agreed with him or not, he certainly provides a strong defense of his own position. Throughout the work I was consistently reminded of the experience, learning and concentrated insight that any reader can gain from a true scholar. Merrill did a fine job.

At times, because he is fair in his representation of differing opinions among certain historio-literary schools of thought (even going so far as to make explicit the fact that some of his views are in the minority among scholars), he might fool some of his readers into thinking that he holds certain views which he, in fact, does not. This is why I must disagree with the first reviewer who mentions Merrill's supposed belief that three or four tribes of Israel left Egypt at once and met the others later... In truth, Merrill was relating the views of another and not his own.

The crucial fact to consider in this work is that Merrill explicitly states that his position stems from the assumption that the Bible is the revealed Word of GOD (itself a minority view among "Biblical scholars"). Because of this, Merrill looks to the accounts rendered in the Old Testament first and compares what is found there with the claims of his peers. I found this approach extremely refreshing and of the utmost integrity.

All in all, it is quite obvious that Merrill is right in the thick of things and brings an up-to-date approach to the study of the Old Testament and he provides references for on every page. If you desire to know more about the economical, political, religious and geographical influences which helped shape the thoughts and actions of GOD's first covenant people from a well-written, conservative Christian perspective, "Kingdom of Priests" is an invaluable guide.

Poorly thought out.......2001-03-13

I would have to agree with a previous "reviewer" and say that the book itself is written quite well, but Merril states certain things that are obviously not true and can be picked up by almost any sunday school student. For instance, he states that three, maybe four, of the twelve tribes of Israel left Egypt at once and met up later, before the Ten Commandments were given. This, obviously cannot be true because the book of Exodus itself that all twelve tribes left together. His Biblical flaws aside, his writing was good, making the book easy to read and I believe that most of his dates were right on target. It could be hard for some people to ignore his Biblical ignorance, however, and I suggest that those people do not read this book looking for an indepth study, survey and education of the Old Testament.

From a well-read reader.......2001-03-09

One wonders if the previous "reviewer" simply did not like Merrill's conclusions, which are more in line with conservative Biblical scholarship than the (questionable in my view) documentary hypothesis school of Biblical studies... Merrill has a useful ability to take a great deal of information - hundreds of years of history - and make it manageable wihtout losing the humanity of it. Granted this is done at the expense of increased detail (my reason for 4 stars, instead of 5), but the work is made more accessible by doing so. His language is understandable, which is all the more laudable as he is overtly a scholar. One might prefer different emphases than Merrill, but he can't be faulted for not consulting "me" before he wrote the book! I can recommend this without qualms or hesitation.

Biblically contradicting.......1999-07-03

I found the writing style in this book very well developed but the theology and Biblical ideas of it were glaring contradictions of specific things in the Bible. This book is not one that a serious theology student should consider to be a good source of knowledge.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books