A review of "The Case for the Real Jesus: A Journalist Investigates Current Attacks on the Identity of Christ" — 34 weeks ago
This book is filled with logical fallacy upon logical fallacy—so many examples of argument from ignorance it makes my head spin. Halfway through the book, I began realizing that my brain hurt after each passage I read, because it has to work overtime at cutting through the bullshit. As it turns out, when you cut through the bullshit of this book, you find there’s nothing left.
To begin with, the author takes no responsibility for the opinions he’s passing around. His entire argument is phrased within “he says” quotations. What journalist (he claims to have been a journalist with the Chicago Tribune) of any worth would write an entire book where he does nothing but put words into other people’s mouths?
Then there’s the obvious fallacy begun from the start of the book and carried—unchallenged—straight through to the end: associating an opinion with the name of someone respected or esteemed in a particular field DOES NOT make the opinion a fact. The author even uses this to “debunk” an anti-Christian idea in chapter 2, while blatantly and ironically doing that very thing throughout the entirety of his book.
This is pure, utter, nonsensical dogmatic drivel. It’s ridicule and argument and posturing.
This book should not be read by Christians, because it will only serve to make them liars.
And it really should not be read by non-Christians either, but I doubt there are too many of us out there willing to read an argument for Christ in the first place.
