Jared

An interesting, yet fruitless psychoanalytical exploration of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

Reviewed: 12-16-24

I am one who is rooting for JP on God's spiritual journal toward God, but he is not yet a Christian on Christianity's terms. While this book is insightful, I cannot call it fruitful. To paraphrase, he calls God that which embodies all of the best virtues and nearly argues that one's behavior, or behavioral intent, is what puts you on the path of God.

This book is the first of a series, or is at least one that is going to get a sequel. This book wrestles with the Old Testament and the next may focus on the New Testament of the Bible. It seems that JP is preparing us for him to argue that Jesus embodied all the virtues of God fully and that it is by walking the path of Jesus that we can be saved. This is not the same thing as saying that belief in Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life saves us through the resurrection.

JP associates the types of virtues as being God without acknowledging the Archetype from which, according to Judeo-Christian teachings, they originate. I liked the book for its psychological value but cannot recommend it for theological value.

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2 people found this helpful

Excellent and Concise

Reviewed: 05-20-24

an excellent overview of a complicated topic. excellent for getting to know the complexities of the issue from a Christian perspective as well as for relistens to soak it all in.

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Different than the Films

Reviewed: 03-21-24

Different from the films is a given for nearly all adaptations and is true for Alexander Dumas' Count of Monte Cristo.

His vengeance is exacted in deeper avenues than mere money and the faiths of many characters are swapped. I am grateful for the adaptations and the ways I now see that they have sought to redeem the good characters however, it does leave I've feeling that directors who have adapted the book had a bit of distain for Alexander's conclusions. I'm not offended by this as many, I am sure, are offended by the portrayal of the book on film. However, I choose to see the decisions made in the films to be the wishes of many fulfilled who might have wished for good to be further rewarded and the guilty more equally punished.

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Lop-sided Not A-millennialism

Reviewed: 02-22-24

An A-millennial perspective that doesn't wish to be called so, this book encourages readers to embrace Revelation as ancient fantasy that should be used to spark the first century imagination within us.

Unfortunately, the author vomits over the last few chapters with one-sided political commentary while saying that "both sides need to see the Babylon within their own political parties". The authors do not take their own advice, give no evidence of the Babylon or Baal worship of their own party, though they claim neutrality.

I grant that one must not restrict themselves to reading only one layer of the book of Revelation. There is much to be learned from anyone who has the ability to historically accurately dig deep into Revelation. If you wish to learn about how Revelation might be seen through the possible lense of ancient fiction this is a good book for that. However you might have to skip a few of the last chapters that surrender current application for one-sided mud slinging that seemed more cathartic for the author and less introspective for which all Christians must wrestle.

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Who Do We Say Jesus Was?

Reviewed: 07-26-23

This little book covers how contrasting scholars of the last 50-100 years have struggled to place Jesus in his historical context. While some reviewers believe the material to now be dated, I cannot agree entirely. I see this book as responding to important-to-know movements in recent history so that we can respond accordingly. Though we may not know anyone who holds these views, they are out there, and, more importantly, are out there in scholarly circles. Tom addresses the merits and misunderstandings of each view presented in the hope of best answering the question, "Who Was Jesus?"

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