Man Made God: A Collection of Essays

Man Made God: A Collection of Essays by Barbara G. WalkerMan Made God is a collection of interesting essays from the excellent author Barbara G. Walker. The critical essays are about the nature and history of religion and mythology from the female perspective. In a very compelling and educational manner the author exposes the truth behind man-made driven beliefs. The book sheds light on the key differences between matriarchal and patriarchal societies.Positives:1. Great education of religious history from a woman's perspective. As a man, I take for granted that many of the religious beliefs in western culture are the product of male-conceived beliefs. For that alone, I thank Ms. Walker for the education.2. Well researched and interesting history.3. It's truly amazing how enlightening this book is. I had very little knowledge of the depths that men suppressed women through religion. Eye opening indeed.4. The sins of the Church are so numerous...there are many examples provided in full detail. Massacres, genocides, infanticides, etc...5. Some of the most controversial eye-opening biblical passages explained in direct, compelling manner.6. Great quotes abound. Great reference material.7. Many great freethinkers are referenced. I enjoyed the references to some of the lesser known female freethinkers in particular.8. Sound use of logic and reasoning.9. Some great explanations of religious concepts such as: blood as an essential substance of salvation, human sacrifice, doctrine of resurrection, afterlife, souls (always a personal favorite), original sin, and so many more.10. A number of fascinating facts throughout the book. Did you know that biblical scholars have noted about 2,000 discrepancies in the Bible? I do now. You will also find out how many scientific errors have been found in the Bible too...it's in this good book, "Man Made God".11. The best book bar none regarding Goddess worship and its evolution.12. Critical thinkers will love this book.13. It's a great book for all levels of scholarship.14. Good job with the Kindle version. Links work well.Negatives:1. Repetitive at times but understandably so because it is a collection of essays.2. As with any book of essays, some essays will be of more interest than others and at times can get a little dry. However, few and far between.3. Of course, there are some topics I wanted more depth of information, such as religion as big business and the concept of souls but now I'm just being greedy. That being said, the extensive bibliography provides so many great resources to further quench my thirst of knowledge.In summary, this book exemplifies why I enjoy reading so much. Barbara G. Walker and friends, provides so many well researched essays and so much knowledge that I am appreciative of her efforts. I highly recommend this book.

Ms. Walker brings the truth about religion out of the darkness and into the light to be examined. Her examination leaves out little of the ugly history of the patriarchal sky god religions. She has carefully referenced this work with an exhaustive listing of documentation both old and modern.I did not mind the repetition of some information in the book as it is a compilation of her essays and articles-she mentions this at the beginning of the book.It was very informative without being dry, as can sometimes happen with non-fiction work. She makes some very valid points, some of them are her own opinions, but with the research she cites throughout the book, it seems to me her conclusions are perfectly logical given the facts presented.I daresay that most religious people will find great fault in the work, simply because people who hold tightly onto their religious faith are typically not very open to the idea that humans created gods in their own image and not the exact opposite, as has been endlessly promoted for millennia.The ugliest and most heinous of human atrocities have been committed for centuries in the name of "God". They are ongoing to this very day.My sincerest hope is that we may all become enlightened enough to leave the patriarchal, divisive and violent religions behind us and embrace not only compassion, tolerance, and love in a new spiritual belef system, but to pair the spritual with the scientific in order for humanity to evolve and move forward. If we don't embrace that kind of thinking, we will vanish from this earth. The planet will recover being raped, pillaged, strip-mined, and polluted. We humans though, cannot thrive in the hell on earth we have created.

My courses on the Old Testament and the New Testament were fairly presented, but I wish this tome had been also included as required reading. The same goes for Philosophy 101, and psychology 101. Although there no “real” surprises, more is exposed here than I had previously surmised. And, obviously, Walker’s book will not change the world because it has only a small readership and because faith always trumps science. Walker seems to be “preaching to the choir.” Some interesting lines include Mark Twain’s “Faith is believing in something even when you know it ain’t so,” that there appears little distinction between religion and show business, each Christian sect creating its own Jesus (p. 21), how your perception of god tells what you really are (p. 21), virginity could bring about the end of the world (p.235) and so much more. The discussion of the inquisition was frightening, but not as much so, to me at least, as the discussion of fundamentalism in America. Read it yourself and see what I mean. I do, however, wish the section on biblical contradictions had been expanded. But, reading this book is both a worthwhile and edifying experience. If you found this book interesting, you might also enjoy “Woe to the Women” by Gaylor and “The Gospel of the Good Fairy” by Charles.

Ótimo livro, muito bem pesquisado, com referências de fontes. Imprescindível para todas as pessoas que querem conhecer a origem da criação de deus e o monoteísmo.

This is a must read book by everyone, regardless of religious belief. Barbara Walker does not miss a step in her writing where she so eloquently combines religion, history and mythology. I have studied all three, not to the degree Barbara has, therefore I appreciate how well this book is done. It is totally understandable why it has been selected by some educational institutions for their comparative religion study courses. As she states in her book "Let us remember that those who don't know their history are condemned to repeat it". This statement is well known by most, there has been many versions made by many over time. Unfortunately we are currently seeing the worst-of-worst of history being repeated once again in our so called modern time. I found this book gave me more understanding to understand what is happening today. It also gave me answers (confirmation) to why some of the terrible things that happened in my own life happened.

Great book.

The history documented in this book is so important for all time. It's unbelievable that we have access to it still. A great deal of why we think the way we do today is revealed. I had the experience reading this of feeling completely free. My values feel rock solid too. If you've been looking for facts concerning religion or you've got questions about what you believe then look no further. Your in safe hands. I can't thank Barbara and Acharya enough. I love word origins and understanding where our festivals come from. Reading books by the same authors has always been a joy.

Very interesting book, well worth adding to your library