Brilliant by Bruce Malone

Brilliant: Made in the Image of God by Bruce Malone ISBN-13: 9781939456151 Hardcover: 128 pages Publisher: Search for the Truth Ministries Released: November 1, 2014

Source: Review copy received through a publicist.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
This coffee-table-style hardcover gives a timeline of unusual scientific and archaeological finds. Cultures throughout the world are filled with mysteries which do not fit the pervasive evolutionary time-frame, but make perfect sense if the Biblical timeline of history is accepted. Brilliant takes the Bible seriously and every page contains an artifact from some ancient culture testifying to the reality of these true events of history.


My Review:
Brilliant is a coffee-table style book that looks at 51 evidences--from the huge, perfectly fitted stones used by many ancient cultures to brain surgery to earthquake detectors--which show that ancient man was more intelligent and technologically advanced than we may assume. He uses a Biblical timeline on the bottom of the page to show when in time the evidence was probably created and a map to show where it was found.

The book is full of colorful pictures of the evidence. The text gave a good description of the evidence and what it tells us about ancient humans. I think this would be a great book for all Christian tweens, teens, and adults, but especially those interested in history or ancient cultures.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Censored Science by Bruce Malone

Censored Science: The Suppressed Evidence by Bruce Malone ISBN-13: 9780971591158 Hardcover: 110 pages Publisher: Search for the Truth Ministries Released: January 1, 2009

Source: Review copy received through a publicist.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Censored Science is a stunning designed, full-color book showcasing the fifty best evidences for a biblical creation worldview. Each two-page spread lays out the evidence for creation and then provides a rebuttal to the most common evolutionist objections to the evidence. The book is divided into three major sections - Censored Biological Evidence, Censored Geological Evidence, and Censored Cosmological Evidence.

Rather than a simple presentation of facts, Censored Science draws the reader into each subject using stories, analogies, and illustrations of the relevance for each of the evidences for creation. It has been technically reviewed and endorsed by some of the top scientists involved in creation research - including Dr. Steve Austin, Dr. John Baumgardner, and Dr. John Sanford.


My Review:
Censored Science is a coffee-table style book discussing 50 different problems with evolution and how the Biblical record (i.e. 6 days for creation and a world-wide flood) better explains the evidence. The book is full of colorful pictures. The text tends to summarize the information rather than give a fuller explanation, so this book is better for readers who prefer an overview. The author uses many analogies to explain complex concepts, so both teenagers and adults can follow the arguments.

This is probably best suited to those who have been taught about evolution but are open to hearing the young earth/world-wide Flood arguments. Anyone devoted to evolution will likely be turned off by some of the wording used to describe evolution and the lack of detailed, technical arguments. Overall, I'd recommend this book as a way to introduce interested "non-technical" teens and adults to these ideas.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Praying Like the Jew, Jesus by Timothy P. Jones

Praying Like the Jew, Jesus by Timothy P. Jones ISBN-13: 9781880226285 Trade Paperback: 133 pages Publisher: Lederer Books Released: April 1, 2005

Source: Bought from an online bookstore.

Book Description, Modified from Back Cover:
This eye-opening book reveals the Jewish background of many of Yeshua's prayers. Historical vignettes will "transport" you to the times of Yeshua so you can grasp the full meaning of Messiah's prayers. Unique devotional thoughts and meditations, presented in down-to-earth language, provide inspiration for a more meaningful prayer life and help you draw close to God.


My Review:
After reading Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus by Spangler & Tverberg, I was interested in learning more about Jewish prayers and praying in the first century. I expected "Praying Like the Jew, Jesus" to dig deeper into that information, but it only gave a little, easy-to-find information.

Praying Like the Jew, Jesus is mainly a series of sermons (or "devotional thoughts") about God. Each chapter started with a page containing prayers from the Bible or from Jewish tradition, like prayers spoken at the passover or at a wedding. He then wrote a fictional account of a scene from Jesus' life where this prayer or blessing happened or might have happened. Sometimes he wrote a page or two about the cultural aspects of the prayer, but he generally just launched into his sermon. The devotionals/sermons were ok, but they weren't why I had wanted the book.

The fictional parts didn't focus on providing cultural background information that would help the reader better understand the scene, like I had expected. I noticed some misleading, speculative, and even incorrect information in his fictional accounts. For the Passover scene, he wrote on page 82, "[Jesus]...ripped the bread into two jagged chunks...Yochanan tore off a small piece...and passed the chunk to Ya`akov." This sounds like a loaf of leavened bread, but unleavened bread (which is like a cracker) would have been used. The Passover meal started at sunset, yet the author had the sun setting ("fading sunlight," page 89) after they finished the Passover meal.

For an earlier fictional scene, the author had Simon Peter thinking of how embarrassed he was to follow Jesus and maybe he'd made a mistake in following Jesus since a physical kingdom wasn't in sight. Um, Peter was the one who said, “You are the Messiah” (Mark 8:29) and told Jesus (after a confusing sermon and Jesus asked if they would leave him): “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6:68) and on and on. He was arguing about who would be first in the Kingdom up until the Last Supper. If the author had used Judas Iscariot, at least his doubting would be consistent with the Biblical account.

If you're looking for a book focusing on the historical, Jewish background information regarding prayer, this isn't it. If you want a devotional book on how unpredictable God is (with repeated comments about how people who prayed in the Bible often ended up tortured and/or dead--yup, that sure encourages me to pray more!), then this book might interest you.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.