The premise behind Steven Reider's Misconception is simple: Christians neglect the reading of the Scriptures from its cultural-historical context, instead focusing on how it relates to contemporary culture. In short, easy-to read chapters, it covers topics such as the name of God, the letters of the Hebrew alphabet, Jesus' miracles, and even the Armor of God. Although I wish I could give this book a better review, I found it to be rather biased.
The nature of the book itself is quite interesting - everyone should understand the original context of the Scriptures when reading; this itself is a sound hermeneutical practice. And I admit that there were some interesting "aha" moments I had when reading. But Reider's hermeneutic relies entirely on understanding the first-century significance and fails to appropriate God's Word to today. Reider also inserts some of his own commentary and interpretation, which fails to make this an impartial resource. There are many misconceptions covered in this book, but perhaps the biggest is the misconception that this book will be unbiased.
I would recommend this book to those interested in a basic understanding of Jewish culture, but this should not be considered an exhaustive resource and is not ideal for those who are already somewhat familiar with cultural-historical contexts of the Bible.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
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