Official Review: Deciphering the Gospels by R. G. Price
Posted: 04 Sep 2018, 14:47
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Deciphering the Gospels" by R. G. Price.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Deciphering the Gospels is a non-fiction book written by R.G. Price. The author presents an analysis of the Gospels and with it, the case that Jesus never existed. The author concludes that the letters of Paul, Paul himself, and his teachings were used by the writer of the Gospel of Mark as a basis for Jesus’s character and his teachings. The book presents this conclusion after clear textual relationships are found between the Gospel of Mark and the biblical texts.
At first, I was unsure about how the author was going to tackle this subject. The book’s subtitle of ‘Proves Jesus Never Existed’ is a strong claim and could be offensive to the majority of Christians, especially as Jesus being real is still a wide belief today. If the author presented wild claims with little logic to their argument, the book’s credibility would immediately suffer. However, I quickly became impressed by the way the author approached the subject.
It became clear that the author did extensive research into the subject. The author first analyses the Gospel of Mark, Paul’s letters, the other Gospels, other independent accounts and finally, early Christian history. The structure is excellent with chapters clearly separated into different points, and with each point, the author successfully builds their case on how Jesus never existed.
The case is very easy to follow as there is little jargon used and the book doesn’t read like a dissertation. The author also clearly present their points along with corresponding evidence and when a lengthy quote with olde language that I did not quite understand is used, the author would immediately follow up with an explanation using simple language.
However, there is something to note. The author has ‘no formal training in ancient history, biblical studies, textual criticism, or even a background in literature’, as the author admits in the preface. Although the author grew up in a Christian household and has built their case on prior writers, researchers and credited scholars, the fact that the lack of qualification may be a big annoyance to some readers since they may feel that this impacts his credibility on the subject.
The author also sometimes reiterate their points a bit too repetitively within the same page and some readers may dislike how the author presents their conclusion as a concrete fact instead of an idea.
Overall, I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars.
Deciphering the Gospels was a fascinating read and the arguments were clearly presented and logical. As the subject of whether Jesus was real or not is still an ongoing debate in today’s society, I highly recommend anyone who is interested in this debate to read this book. The author manages to present new findings to contribute to the debate and successfully presents their case in an easy-to-read and engaging way.
******
Deciphering the Gospels
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Allyseria's review? Post a comment saying so!
3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Deciphering the Gospels is a non-fiction book written by R.G. Price. The author presents an analysis of the Gospels and with it, the case that Jesus never existed. The author concludes that the letters of Paul, Paul himself, and his teachings were used by the writer of the Gospel of Mark as a basis for Jesus’s character and his teachings. The book presents this conclusion after clear textual relationships are found between the Gospel of Mark and the biblical texts.
At first, I was unsure about how the author was going to tackle this subject. The book’s subtitle of ‘Proves Jesus Never Existed’ is a strong claim and could be offensive to the majority of Christians, especially as Jesus being real is still a wide belief today. If the author presented wild claims with little logic to their argument, the book’s credibility would immediately suffer. However, I quickly became impressed by the way the author approached the subject.
It became clear that the author did extensive research into the subject. The author first analyses the Gospel of Mark, Paul’s letters, the other Gospels, other independent accounts and finally, early Christian history. The structure is excellent with chapters clearly separated into different points, and with each point, the author successfully builds their case on how Jesus never existed.
The case is very easy to follow as there is little jargon used and the book doesn’t read like a dissertation. The author also clearly present their points along with corresponding evidence and when a lengthy quote with olde language that I did not quite understand is used, the author would immediately follow up with an explanation using simple language.
However, there is something to note. The author has ‘no formal training in ancient history, biblical studies, textual criticism, or even a background in literature’, as the author admits in the preface. Although the author grew up in a Christian household and has built their case on prior writers, researchers and credited scholars, the fact that the lack of qualification may be a big annoyance to some readers since they may feel that this impacts his credibility on the subject.
The author also sometimes reiterate their points a bit too repetitively within the same page and some readers may dislike how the author presents their conclusion as a concrete fact instead of an idea.
Overall, I rate the book 3 out of 4 stars.
Deciphering the Gospels was a fascinating read and the arguments were clearly presented and logical. As the subject of whether Jesus was real or not is still an ongoing debate in today’s society, I highly recommend anyone who is interested in this debate to read this book. The author manages to present new findings to contribute to the debate and successfully presents their case in an easy-to-read and engaging way.
******
Deciphering the Gospels
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on iTunes
Like Allyseria's review? Post a comment saying so!
