Hard Sayings of the Bible

I often like to engage people in real time debates on the internet. As a Christian, I find that one of the main challenges in such a situation is countering the many supposed Bible "contradictions" that the non-Christian is able to cut and paste into the conversation.No matter how much you read, at some point they will present to you a supposed "contradiction" that you've never heard, and in some less civil discussions, such a situation would be seen as a victory for person who is "hurling the elephant."This book presents well written articles on all sorts of "Hard" passages, and provides explanations from a Christian perspective. It's a great quick reference guide if you need a prompt answer, but it is also deep enough to act as a springboard into further study on any of the covered issues!This is a great book that I would recommend to any Christian!

Excellent resource for pastors, Sunday school teachers, or any student of the Bible. It does not provide dogmatic answers for questions such as "Who married the daughters of men?" or "What was the curse of Canaan?", but offers possible interpretations with strengths and weaknesses of each. "Hard Sayings" refers to statements in scripture that are hard to understand, rather than hard to live by. I found the title a bit unclear, and would not have anticipated the content unless I had not seen a pastor's copy before I purchased my copy. Information is easy to find since it is scripture referenced and in Biblical order. I have found this book an invaluable resource as a Sunday school teacher of 5th and 6th graders.

This is such a helpful book. When I'm doing my Bible study and I come across a verse I'm not sure I understand, or seems kind of odd, I go to this book and look up and see if there are any commentaries about it. I've found it to be extremely helpful in clarifying tricky scriptures.

Even as a holder of a Master of Divinity degree from a prestigious theological school, I'm often stumped by complex passages of the Bible. When I'm looking for a quick answer, I first turn to this book. I keep next to my Bibles for easy access. From there I'll pursue other resources. One of the refreshing aspects of this book is that it presents a few possible interpretations. Some seem more plausible than others, but it's good to have all the options. This is a great addition to any teacher's library.

This lengthy book provides a good introduction to the many hard passages and sayings of the Bible in a manner that makes it simple to understand the opposing viewpoints of the passage. This book was not written to deal with the seemingly discrepancies in the Bible, though it does cover many of these so called discrepancies, but the hard sayings as perceived by the authors. As a result some of the sayings covered may not be difficult to understand for many people more grounded in the Word.Since the sayings were based on the difficulty level and not on it being a supposed discrepancy, the authors dealt with each saying from their perspective that was subject to their theology and presuppositions. As a result, many people will disagree with some of the conclusions presented in the book since they are based on a particular interpretation of the passage and the viewpoints of the authors.Overall this book is a useful resource to gain a basic understanding of the hard sayings in the Bible and I plan on using it in the future as a reference book that details the different approaches to a difficult verse. Unfortunately, the book often lacks in substantial explanations that provide a comprehensive understanding of the various passages.

The depressing, and often ridiculous, rationalizations offered in this volume (for everything from the flood of Noah to the slaughter of the Caananites) demonstrates the precarious dilemma evangelicalism is in today. Evangelical scholars are put in the impossible position of defending the Bible against justified skepticism concerning its inerrancy, and in the process are made to sound like Sean Hannity defending the Bush administration. The reader is called upon to believe, not just a few improbabilities, but a string of them long enough to fill a thick volume. An example (to offer just one) is the defense of the killing of a group of children for teasing Elijah's baldness (in II Kings 2:23-24). The authors of this volume go through a tortured explanation about the word "children," and how it might refer, not to little kids, but to teenagers, and so it is just that God sent two "she-bears" to eat them. You see, the "children" teasing Elija's bald head were past the age of reason, and thus had a death-sentence coming to them, because God's holiness is absolute, and his prophet is holy. If this kind of "explanation" for the story's primitive grotesqueness and authoritarianism satisfies you, and calms your doubting heart concerning the "higher" wisdom and inerrancy of the story, then you will like this book, because you will get many similar "intellectually satisfying" explanations for knotty passages. But the cumulative effect of such rationalizations, one after another, may prove, instead of bolstering your faith in the Bible, to actually undermine it. There are only so many such explanations one can offer before a reasonable person might say, "Maybe the premises underlying Biblical inerrancy are wrongheaded. Maybe there are good reasons that most thoughtful people in the past 150 years have concluded that the Bible is not inerrant." My theory about those who write such books is that they are trying to defend their readers from the anxiety of uncertainty (an uncertainty that is difficult to keep down). In support of my theory, this book is exhibit A. It is an anxiety-reduction device which, in its cumulative effect, will probably only drive the thoughtful reader into a larger cycle of anxiety, doubt, and confusion (as well it should, since its "explanations" are rarely satisfying, and often embarrassingly simplistic).

This is a massive piece of work that could intimidate any casual reader. Takes some concentrated effort and time to work through it in order to communicate the lessons to another. Is it worth it? Yes, but beware... not for a brief Sunday school lesson.

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