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The more the references, the better. It gives different perspective to the author's narration. As long as all the references tally with the Bible, the overall goal is met.

I find the act of referencing other religious books a welcome development. It made the book more comprehensive. The source that was more authentic was the Bible.

I think this is a way for the author to appeal to other people of different religious beliefs. I see nothing wrong with this as we are taught different religions in school, at least that is how it is done in Caribbean schools.

Actually I liked that. I wish there were more references from different books because that provides a variety of opinion.

Sam_Ibeh wrote: ↑02 Aug 2019, 07:39 One of the outstanding things about I Will Make of Thee a Great Nation by Val D. Greenwood is that he made reference to The Holy Bible in all but two of the chapters. Particularly, a reference was made from The Book of Moses in chapter four.

Do you see this as a conflict of interest?

Should he have referenced only one source?

Which source do you think is more authentic?

For me, I don't like books with so many scriptural references. I prefer dwelling on one or two scriptures to gain maximum understanding of the context. That's what the author did. And I like that. However, the Bible remains the most authentic source.

Wambui-nj wrote: ↑08 Aug 2019, 12:11 The more the references, the better. It gives different perspective to the author's narration. As long as all the references tally with the Bible, the overall goal is met.

I have to agree that the more references used the better the credibility of thr author's narration.

Jsovermyer wrote: ↑02 Aug 2019, 19:51 I think using other reference material is good. This book is about the historical stories portrayed in the Old Testament. Certainly there are other books that show the history of the same time period and tell the same stories. It's good to see a different perspective.

This is not a problem. All sources are alright.

A great number of the events described in the Old Testament was also recorded by the nations who lived around them, it would be irresponsible to write a book using only one source. The bible is also written with the assumption that the reader will have a knowledge and understanding of the writers culture. It is only in understanding the culture of the Old Testament writers that one can fully understand the meaning of the texts. Quoting from different sources can sometimes bring better understanding of the Word.

I think it was probably confusing for someone not knowledgeable about the Scriptures

The Bible is the most authentic source. Referencing a few other texts that recount the same story in the period it occurs validates the fact that these were true events and not fiction.

The Bible is much like a historical book. If its truths has no contradiction with other historical books then it just proves more reliability for the Bible. That's why, I think, it's okay to use other references in support of what we already know from the Bible.

I think referencing different sources gives diverse perspectives and more depth to this story.

I believe that the Bible is the most authentic book and that many other sources can lead to confusion. By adding some passages from the Book of Moses, the author is creating conflict, as sources other than the Bible cannot be trusted as inspired by God. Therefore, I disagree with the author's choice.

I agree with Abacus. It is better to have more than one reference.

Abacus wrote: ↑03 Aug 2019, 11:07 When you are in an unknown place like a foreign country, and you need directions, or you need to know which train to take. Always ask three different people, and if two say the same thing, that is likely to be the right answer. Long way round to say different sources will eventually support each other or the ones that do not will be discarded. So I am for different sources.

I think it's great that he referenced different sources; I believe that's the best way to get a wider and more balanced perspective.