I bought this book because I read a glowing review. I soon became concerned that much of it seemed to be based on supposition and conjecture, but I continued. At the page 44, where the author says taking trees are referenced in the Bible, specifically in Genesis 12:6 and 18:1. I looked at those verses and they say nothing about talking trees. So the only passages I was able to fact check are clearly erroneous. This destroyed the author's credibility for me. I would say don't buy it.
Mr. Aslan sojourn into finding God is truly not a spiritual experience. He attempts to humanize Christian Jewish scripture and relates his conclusions to felonious, dubious scientific hypothesis (Darwinism). Throughout his book, the author has you believe that man is the creation of his own fears, dreams, illusions; and mans' own need for a God. In reality, the author has revealed nothing more than his prejudices, his own anti-semitism, and secular science to justify his hypothesis. Secular science: data that is not fact; is not irrefutable (not concrete for you layman). Hell? Yes!: ...and Other Outrageous Truths You Can Still Believe No Mr. Aslan, Genesis is true ... perhaps told as a setting in life, but Adam and Eden is true. And no, we are not God. If that were true, we could raise the dead, cure the paralyzed and blind. Or, are you labeling Jesus a fraud too??? If you are attempting to quote Psalms, "we are Gods" when we talk about our souls and destiny in this life/ world. Mr. Aslan got one thing right, "God is the Universe."
Ungrounded conclusions and sloppy scholarship abound. A quick and lazy (and short) survey of Western religion designed to lead to the author's conclusion, that the only religion that makes sense is a tepid, new agey panentheism. Don't bother!
Mr. Aslan sojourn into finding God is truly not a spiritual experience. He attempts to humanize Christian Jewish scripture and relates his conclusions to felonious, dubious scientific hypothesis (Darwinism). Throughout his book, the author has you believe that man is the creation of his own fears, dreams, illusions; and mans' own need for a God. In reality, the author has revealed nothing more than his prejudices, his own anti-semitism, and secular science to justify his hypothesis. Secular science: data that is not fact; is not irrefutable (not concrete for you layman). Hell? Yes!: ...and Other Outrageous Truths You Can Still Believe No Mr. Aslan, Genesis is true ... perhaps told as a setting in life, but Adam and Eden is true. And no, we are not God. If that were true, we could raise the dead, cure the paralyzed and blind. Or, are you labeling Jesus a fraud too??? If you are attempting to quote Psalms, "we are Gods" when we talk about our souls and destiny in this life/ world. Mr. Aslan got one thing right, "God is the Universe."
Ungrounded conclusions and sloppy scholarship abound. A quick and lazy (and short) survey of Western religion designed to lead to the author's conclusion, that the only religion that makes sense is a tepid, new agey panentheism. Don't bother!
Saba S. (broucek) reviewed God: A Human History (Random House Large Print) on + 48 more book reviews
The author wrote about that which he has no knowledge. I only want to address 2 of Mr. Aslan's arguments.
1. That Adam and Eve did not die after eating the fruit of the tree, because, well, they did not die in the physical sense.
Death, as far as the Bible is concerned, never means cessation of living. Death always means "permanent separation", either from "the land of the living", or from God Himself, who is the source of life. Once a human is conceived, they never "die" in the sense of ceasing to exist.
And Scriptures mentions three types of deaths:
a) Physical death. This is what most people mean when they speak of death. But even this does not mean cessation of existence, but merely separation from those living on earth. The "dead" person transitions into another world, and continues to live, forever. This death happens to everyone, including godly people.
b) Spiritual death. This is a state of being out of touch with God the Creator. People in this state of death cannot perceive or understand sipiritual things. To them, God and His claims are a work of fiction. They do everything to avoid being in the presence of God, either out of fear, hate, or shame, or all of the above. This was the death that Adam and his wife experienced, and that explains why they hid themselves in the garden when they heard God's voice as He visited them. Most people on earth are spiritually dead, though they are physically alive, just like Adam and his wife Eve were.
c) Eternal death. This is permanent separation from God, and occurs to all those who experience physical death while in a state of spiritual death.
No one alive is eternally dead. As long as we are alive, we can receive eternal life by turning from sin and accepting God's offer.
2. That Adam and Eve were not created in God's image, because, after they sinned, God said "Now the man has become like one of us".
Here's the full verse:
"And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:..." Gen 3:22 (KJV).
Only Mr. Aslan would interprete this passage to mean what he said it meant.
1. That Adam and Eve did not die after eating the fruit of the tree, because, well, they did not die in the physical sense.
Death, as far as the Bible is concerned, never means cessation of living. Death always means "permanent separation", either from "the land of the living", or from God Himself, who is the source of life. Once a human is conceived, they never "die" in the sense of ceasing to exist.
And Scriptures mentions three types of deaths:
a) Physical death. This is what most people mean when they speak of death. But even this does not mean cessation of existence, but merely separation from those living on earth. The "dead" person transitions into another world, and continues to live, forever. This death happens to everyone, including godly people.
b) Spiritual death. This is a state of being out of touch with God the Creator. People in this state of death cannot perceive or understand sipiritual things. To them, God and His claims are a work of fiction. They do everything to avoid being in the presence of God, either out of fear, hate, or shame, or all of the above. This was the death that Adam and his wife experienced, and that explains why they hid themselves in the garden when they heard God's voice as He visited them. Most people on earth are spiritually dead, though they are physically alive, just like Adam and his wife Eve were.
c) Eternal death. This is permanent separation from God, and occurs to all those who experience physical death while in a state of spiritual death.
No one alive is eternally dead. As long as we are alive, we can receive eternal life by turning from sin and accepting God's offer.
2. That Adam and Eve were not created in God's image, because, after they sinned, God said "Now the man has become like one of us".
Here's the full verse:
"And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:..." Gen 3:22 (KJV).
Only Mr. Aslan would interprete this passage to mean what he said it meant.
