Good Book: The Bizarre, Hilarious, Disturbing, Marvelous, and Inspiring Things I Learned When I Read Every Single Word of the Bible

by: David Plotz

Published by: Harper Collins Publishers

Review by Steven King, MBA, MEd

In a world that is awash with religious literature weekly, it seems that some authors go out of their way to make readers angry. Such is the case when David Plotz, a self-styled agnostic Jew, sits down with the Hebrew Bible and reads it with introspection. His original intention is sound: what happens when an average guy reads the good book and tries to understand it?

Irreverence happens…a lot. For instance, in Exodus 33, the Bible shares a wonderful story of Moses requesting to see God’s glory. Moses is entreating God (Yahweh) to show all of his majesty to him to “prove” that God held him in highest favor. God responds in effect, “I do hold you in high esteem but no one can see my face and live. Go stand in the cleft of this rock and I will cover you with my hand. Then I will allow my glory to pass by and you can see my back.” Instead of Plotz being overwhelmed by God’s accommodation of Moses, he makes a very crass analysis. He says, “…Or, to put it another way, God moons Moses.” Plotz could have exclaimed how he did not understand the theological significance of “why” Moses would want to “see” God in his fullest glory – he did not have to resort to such tactless language.

Tact will be in short order throughout the rest of the book. Plotz makes no apologies for this – in fact, his defense is an age-old false maxim that the Old Testament (what is the Hebrew Bible) demonstrates a God that is vengeful, capricious, and bent on uber judgment. In this way, Plotz feels somewhat vindicated in his irreverence since his reading of the Hebrew Bible does not bring him any closer to God.

Who should read this book? All Christians.

While the language is downright disrespectful, Plotz does provide decent plot summaries of each book of the Hebrew Bible. If you can overlook his inane insensitivity, you will learn a lot about the Old Testament. Just, do not share his insight with your junior high Sunday School class.

Armchair Interviews agrees.