Is the Bible at Fault?:

How the Bible Has Been Misused to Justify Evil, Suffering and Bizarre Behavior

Jerry Pattengale


Publisher ‏ : ‎ Worthy Books 
(October 16, 2016)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-13 : 978-1945470691

This provocative new book provides the truth and perspective needed to remind us of how high the stakes can be when we get the Bible wrong.

Throughout history and around the world, people have made bizarre or dangerous claims in the name of God. They continue to do so today, citing biblical passages out of context or inappropriately. Doing so has led to a wide range of disasters, from executing other Christians for theological differences, to wild activities in the name of evangelism, and more. Is the Bible at Fault? examines these historical errors, problematic biblical interpretations, and tragedies to reveal how and why the Bible has been misused to justify and rationalize profound acts of persecution, destruction, violence, human rights abuse, and downright strange behavior.

Is the Bible at Fault? explores twelve different cases of abhorrent behavior in the name of Scripture. These terrible, destructive movements have led people astray, brought irreparable spiritual and emotional harm, and even cost countless people their lives. The members of the Ku Klux Klan had no doubt that their actions were justified in the eyes of God. The murderous armies of the Fourth Crusade rationalized slaying other Christians in the name of the church. Detroit’s Prophet Jones locked his followers in all-night revival meetings and often wouldn’t let them out until they made financial contributions to the cause — the cause being his lavish lifestyle. Some Christian missionaries not only condoned the wholesale slaughter of Australia’s native Aborigines people, they participated in it — with a clean conscience. These are real, historical people and events, and we’ll explore every one of them and more in these pages.


Author

Jerry Pattengale was one of the two founding scholars behind the Museum of the Bible (DC), where he served as Exec. Dir. of Education until “retiring” in Dec. 2018, but returned in spring of 2020 as Senior Advisor to the President. On Feb.14, 2020, he also spoke at the United Nations on “How to Protect Religious Spaces.” He served as interim president of the Religious News Service (and CEO) in 2019/2020, and in 2022 spoke on Capitol Hill on his book, “Public Intellectuals and the Common Good.” He is a pioneer in Purpose-Guided Education and has made various contributions to history or biblical resources, including co-authoring the 2020 TV documentary series, “Inexplicable: How Christianity Spread to the Ends of the Earth” (winner of three Telly Awards), and a book by the same title.

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