Hector Avalos (1958–2021)

As usual, Avalos writes well, lucid and interesting. His thesis is also interesting, but I'm not sure he presented enough evidence to sell it. I'm not averse to the idea that Christianity became popular because it offered a simpler, cheaper approach to healing, but I think it's a stretch when you also have the offer of eternal life, coupled with the offer of burning your enemies in hell for eternity. Still, it's worth a look, and worth giving thought to, though it would be hard to ever reach any level of certainty about an event that happened 2000 years ago and left rather spotty records at the time. I recommend it to anyone interested in the history of religion, especially if they are interested in the history of Christianity, though he does also discuss healing in the Jewish and Greco-Roman traditions. I thought that was the most interesting part of the book, myself.… (mer)

This book examines the claims that slavery ended because of Christianity, and traces the biblical verses used to make the claim. The author demonstrates that the Bible is much more pro-slavery than anti-slavery, and supports his thesis with ample argumentation, written lucidly. There is some technical jargon that might send you to the dictionary if you are new to biblical exegesis, but not so much that the book is inaccessible to lay readers. Perhaps more interesting than the way the Bible treats slavery is his discussion of how biblical scholars work, giving the reader an inside look at the moving parts of a scholarly field. For someone who is a scientist, that is a fascinating exploration. The way biblical scholars work ties intimately with the view of the Bible and ethics, and it seems difficult to separate the two. This book is highly recommended.… (mer)

The author calls for the end of Biblical studies, citing numerous reasons why he believes this has become irrelevant in the modern world. He feels not just Biblical studies, but the Bible itself, is irrelevant in a 21st century world, and that the main purpose of Biblical studies is to find some way to maintain the relevance of one particular book over all the many manuscripts remaining from the early days of written history that have yet to be even translated, and may offer as good a historical guide, and at least as good a moral guide, as the Bible. He writes in lucid prose, though occasionally he lapses into jargon, so keep your dictionary handy (and Google; some of these words are not even in the OED). I probably had to look up no more than 4 words; if you have read heavily in this topic, the book will be easy going. If you are just dipping in your toe, this is much easier than many of the other scholarly works, and the author does not give us untranslated Hebrew, Latin, or Greek, so non-Biblical scholars can read this book without being Left Behind (if you'll forgive the pun). I recommend this book for anyone who thinks the Bible is (1) accurate to the original document; (2) the original words of God/Jesus Christ; and/or (3) an important guide for modern living. Since people who believe those things will not likely accept the arguments herein, I also recommend it to people who don't believe those things but are interested in the scholarly controversies over Biblical history.… (mer)

The author examines the scholarship surrounding the ethics of the New Testament, to demonstrate that the ethics attributed to Jesus are neither innovative nor all that great, in many cases. He goes step by step through the New Testament, including comparisons with Old Testament verses where appropriate, and shows that Jesus is not a consistently good, moral guide for modern life. There were some rather inexplicable lacks in his discussion, such as failure to address the verse about killing his enemies, but other than that, it was a good, thorough book. He did include quite a bit of Hebrew and Greek text, but he did usually translate that. The main problem for me was the places where he spent a couple of pages dissecting a very particular Greek or Hebrew word and it's traditional usage. I recognize that as important, but I suspect there are probably ways to do that a bit better (i.e., more interesting and less filled with insider talk, since this book appears to have been written for a lay audience). Overall, satisfying and worthwhile.… (mer)