Steve Wells (1)

A snarky, irreverent look at the violence of the Bible, focused on the Old Testament, which is where God himself is at his most violent. The author digs up more than 2 million killed listed specifically in the Bible, and many more where the number is unspecified. The author makes a point of estimating strange round numbers, often 1000, for large killings, with 100 for smaller killings, and occasionally a small number, such as 5, for single family killings of unspecified number. With these show more admittedly non-scientific numbers, he comes up to a total of over 25 million killed. In at least one case, he notes that the number of Ethiopians the Bible says were killed in a single day was several times the entire population of Ethiopia at the time, punctuating his tally with mocking rationality. Overall, a decent book, but a bit too much parroting of the exact words of the Bible right before putting the verse in toto, and a few too many editing errors. Overall, an interesting book, with plenty of reference points if you are in an argument, because he lists Chapter and Verse. One of the best features is that he includes the Apocrypha, something often ignored by lay scholars who think the Protestant Bible represents "The Bible". show less

It's a nice distillation of the Skeptic's Annotated Bible website, a good print edition for the shelf. As to the content, most of the so-called biblical "contradictions" are as old as the Romans or Tom Paine, and easily refuted or reconciled. It drips with a bigoted, anti-religious condescension. But, still, I think it is a good reference for the Christian who wants to be on his toes about "contradictions" in the Bible and strengthen the faith. 3.5 stars for its usefulness and construction, show more not for its content. (Uses the KJV.) show less