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book reviews

This last month I've read Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus by Nabeel Qureshi and The Year of Living Biblically, by AJ Jacobs.

And both have been interesting and enlightening. Bobby wasn't as excited about the first one as I was (he wasn't thrilled with all of Qureshi's theology, though I don't remember exactly what he found distasteful). But I enjoyed reading through his childhood thoughts and teachings, as well as his questions and answers about Christianity. Some of it also left me feeling very stupid. While I appreciated his scientific analogy of the trinity, it was over my head. Maybe if I had studied chemistry in college I might grasp the concepts, but I didn't.

On a different level, Jacobs' book came from a very different mindset, addressed a slew of different questions, and had a very different ending. Jacobs is an agnostic Jew, so it was interesting reading his perceptions of the Torah and New Testament. I was pleasantly surprised to read what he had to say about Answers in Genesis, Liberty and Bob Jones, and greatly appreciated his balanced approach in these areas. While some of his comments on other things disturbed me greatly, it also made me laugh and think through some of the things I believe and why.

So if you're looking for reads that are religious but not a Bible study nor fiction, these are two that I would highly recommend.

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