Review of The Biblical Clock

[Michelle Menezes]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Biblical Clock" by Daniel Friedmann and Dania Sheldon.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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How old is the Earth? Will the world truly end? If yes, then when and how will it happen? These are some of the questions that we have all thought about at some point. The Biblical Clock by Daniel Friedmann and Dania Sheldon attempts to answer these questions. Science and scripture have been at loggerheads for a long time, trying to present the Earth's age. In this book, the authors have used both scientific and religious knowledge to bring us the answers, proving the importance of both.

The book tells us about the theories brought forward by various individuals about the Earth's age. It also highlights how 'God years' is different from 'human years'. While 1 day is equal to 24 hours for us, in 'God years' it is calculated as 1000 years. It talks about the coming of the Messiah and the 'End of Days'. A fascinating read, the book is a mixture of science, history, and religion with a touch of fiction.

I'm amazed by the amount of research that was carried out to write this book. Everything is so meticulously planned and organized with pictures and tabular data. The book begins with a reading guide and ends with an appendix and glossary. There were hyperlinks throughout that would take me to the appendix directly so that I wouldn't have to look for the history of a person or the meanings of the words online.

I liked that each chapter started as fiction and was accompanied by explanations later. For example, there was a story about a Rabbi who would visit the temples to watch the students learn the scriptures; every time a teacher was unable to answer the question, he would scribble a note with the answer and leave it anonymously for the teacher to find. Stories like these made it easy for me to understand the later content.

Having no in-depth knowledge about the topic, my progress with the book was slow, but it was all worth it in the end. The authors have done their best to simplify the complicated details with the help of tables. My favorite part of the book was when the authors speculated on how the 'End of Days' would come about in the future. The connections made between the events that happened Before Christ and the Current Era were also interesting.

The only thing I didn't like about the book was that the authors kept going back and forth with the timelines. There were already a lot of people mentioned in the book, with some sharing the same names, so it got a little confusing for me. For example, chapter one was based in 1291; then it jumped forward to 1917 in the next chapter, then it came back to 1620. Maybe if it was written in chronological order, it would have been less confusing.

I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars for the thought-provoking content, the efforts to simplify the theories, and the vast amount of research done to bring answers to readers. I did not find any errors, so I can say the book was exceptionally well-edited. Though this book mainly focuses on Judaism and Christianity, I recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading about such topics, provided they're willing to keep an open mind. I also recommend going slow with the reading to be able to assimilate the ideas better.

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The Biblical Clock
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[Kaushiki Parihar]

Since the book focuses on Judaism and Christianity, it might not be suitable for me. Thanks for the descriptive review.

[Vishnu Priya B]

This seems like a well-researched book. I love your thorough analysis of the book, especially the mention of the story about a Rabbi.