Review Date: 1/9/2019

Although a far worse attempt could have been made, the book's central thesis of environmental essentialism is a mistaken one. Diamond makes a compelling argument for the importance of environmental factors in determining human history, but takes that truth and stretches it to false heights, to the point of making incorrect and bizarre statements, such as the "fact" that zebras cannot be trained and domesticated (they can) and that a contributing factor to China's decline was the fact that the Chinese coastline is not convoluted enough for dissidents to hide in.

Again, not a terrible book, but unfortunately in trying to make a case for the importance of surroundings (which it does), it started making incorrect claims.

A good counter to this book is Wade's "A Troublesome Inheritance" (ISBN 9780143127161).

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Review Date: 1/9/2019

A high mark for narrative journalism that hasn't been surpassed since its release.

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Review Date: 1/6/2019

Overall a good overview of the Orthodox doctrines relating to God and how they relate to the faith as a whole, with first half of the book tackling topics relating to God directly, with the latter half delving into the implications of that. The reader is left with a fairly clear outline of belief and reasoning of the Orthodox Christian.

Nothing exceptional, but a more than adequate introductory work on the subject.

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Review Date: 5/1/2020

Even though I am not entrenched in apologetics, I have heard recommendations from all sorts of people for 'Tactics' for years, and after reading it, it's clear why. Koukl plainly yet eloquently lays out, well, tactics for addressing challenges to Christian arguments. Although the concepts seem obvious (for example, the 'Colombo' tactic, which makes up the bulk of the book, revolves around simply asking your adversary questions), when laid out as they are, it is very clarifying.
The most pressing concern I have is that the book is written from a plainly Protestant perspective, and makes typical theological errors, especially in regards to soteriology. That said, they do not detract from the overall practical advice given. Frankly, this book would be a benefit for anyone engaging in debate, regardless of viewpoint.

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Review Date: 1/6/2019

Succinctly, this book is one of the most laughable attempts of non-fiction regarding Jesus published in the past several decades. Practically all of the theories Aslan posits have been debunked by scholars of every persuasion for years, with the remaining cruft being nothing noteworthy. The central thesis that Jesus was a revolutionary leading an army against the Romans may have been respected a century ago, but any modern historian (Aslan's degree is in sociology with no formal historical training) will laugh at such a notion. Frankly, this book sits on the history-theory-respectability scale somewhere between the "new chronology" and JFK assassination conspiracy theories.

The one redeeming factor is that Aslan's creative writing professorship shows through in the book; much talent must have been required to weave a web so intricate, yet so fictional!

If you wish to ACTUALLY learn about the "historical Jesus" I would recommend the reports published by the Jesus Seminar: The Five Gospels (ISBN 9780060630409), The Acts of Jesus (ISBN 9780060629793), and The Gospel of Jesus (ISBN 9781598151589). While flawed, these three works constitute an actual good-will effort by multiple scholars in the field.

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