The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Bible

I think I have loved all the Politically Incorrect Guide books that I have read, but I especially like this one on the Bible. It said some things I’ve never even heard in church. Very very good.

I bought this book solely because the adds for it said it covered how "the Bible made modern science possible (which is why it started in the middle ages)". I looked in the table of contents and could not find a chapter that was obviously on this topic, so started reading the book from page 1 and read until I finally came to it on page 137. This chapter was poorly documented, but this may be because the book is intended for laypersons. Nonetheless, the chapter (and the whole book) was well done and presented a good outline in support of the author's position. The book was so engaging that I finished it, and am glad I did, for I normally never would have read a book on the Bible. The chapter on slavery was especially useful, as I had assumed the common stereotype that many Christians were in bed with the slave holders because the Bible condones the modern Western slavery system, and the atheists and humanists were the main persons who opposed this slavery system. This common story, as this book documents (and as my outside reading, such as the book Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World by David Brion Davis (Oxford University Press) also documents, is inaccurate. I have concluded that Hutchinson's account is generally accurate, although incomplete. The section on the rights of women was especially interesting to me. Hutchinson writes that Christianity's stress on human equality (quoting the apostle Paul that there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor freeman, female nor male distinctions in Christianity, as well as historical writings) that "Christianity was undoubtedly the most pro-female religion in history" (page 191). He then discusses why this is true, noting that a large number of women became Christians partly because of how they were treated in the early church. An example is Christianity accorded women greater social status, even administrative positions in the church such as deacon. Hutchinson then lists numerous other reasons why the church was, in stark contrast to the other major religions and social systems of the time, very pro women. The author is clearly an ID supporter and may best be described as a long age creationist, and this shows in several chapters, such as in chapter 6, page 87. Highly recommended. My only concern is documentation is less than ideal, but I could not point to any major points that I found clearly inaccurate.

I bought this with D'Souza's _What's So Great About Christianity_ and read them back to back. They cover many of the same topics, but are aimed at different reading levels. I'd recommend this one to young adults and adults who either hate to read or are too busy to sit down and concentrate for a block of time. Serious well-educated readers are likely to find this book too glib and simplistic; for them, I'd choose D'Souza.

Robert Hutchinson presents a witty, scholarly, and well-documented look at the Bible. A superb wordsmith, Hutchinson treads on holy ground with various topics, including slavery in the bible, homosexuality, origins of universal human rights, elites against the people, today's culture war, and children, blessing or burden. It's a compelling book. I highly recommend it.

Atheists are in full attack. Clinton's Labor Secretary Reich insists darkly that "The great conflict of the twenty-first century" (p 9) will be between secularists and those who believe in God. Dawkins laments that the US is "'slipping towards a theocratic Dark Age'" (p 10). What can the believer do to counter the ceaseless attacks on believers and the bible? Hutchinson sets out the facts. Aimed at the average reader, Hutchinson provides information that the archaeologists found that prove the bible's veracity. He points out that most "problems" atheists claim to find in the bible with the bible are easily resolved (p 49-50). In fact, the God of the early Hebrews was unlike any of the pagan gods, and therefore didn't evolve out of ideas floating through cultures at the time. And the morality embraced by the Hebrews was different in vital elements from any other pagan system. It was a personal morality. It was not class based or based upon what would be best for the state. It would lead to vast improvements for all of humanity. After all, science only evolved under Christianity, as did theories of human rights. Anyone interested in learning how Christianity changed everything will want to read "The God That Did Not Fail: How Religion Built and Sustains the West" by Robert Royal.

What a relief to find a well-informed, carefully crafted, sprightly written explanation of the place of religion in ethics, history, and moral action. Impressive statistics and data, convincing reasoning. I started out somewhat skeptical but found myself drawn in as Hutchison built his thesis step by step. So much of current writing, movies, news, political speak assumes that religion is harmful or irrelevant. Hutchison esposes the dangers of that lie with skill and humor and power.