This could've only been written by a former believer - there's so much raw hurt in this book, it's like the author feels personally betrayed. I read the bible when I was a kid but in a different language translation and a lot of it sailed past my head anyway. This is pretty much all those worst bits you might've missed if you weren't really reading it with a critical mindset. Although most of Deuteronomy is so screwed up it must make an uncomfortable reading even for the most devout. ( )

The author takes on the task of demonstrating that Richard Dawkin's description of God as the most unpleasant character in all of fiction is justified through the use of verses from the Old Testament. He takes each of the attributes that Dawkins mentions as a chapter title, and adds a Section 2 in which he declares that Dawkins was too kind, as he details several more unpleasant characteristics he discovered in his research. Finally, he moves to the New Testament to answer the claim of believers that Jesus changed all that, by demonstrating what he felt were verses that violated that idea.

The main weaknesses of the book were the repetitive nature, which of course had a lot to do with the repetitive nature of the Bible itself, but which could have been mitigated by using a verse only once, then saying "See also" and listing where else it applied. Another weakness is in the final chapter, dealing with the New Testament. It would be possible to make a much stronger case for the character flaws of Jesus than Barker did, and perhaps would have been more interesting than the case he actually did make (which was only mildly convincing).

Overall, a decent, quick read, and recommended for anyone who has to deal with friends who insist on peddling the tired old trope "God is Love." ( )

Although most books like Dan Barker’s God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction are almost exclusively read by skeptics, agnostics, and atheists, it most certainly should be read by believers. An interesting forward by Richard Dawkins connects this book with Dawkins’ best seller, The God Delusion, and Barker begins his introduction with a quote from Chapter Two of God Delusion>/i>, “The God of the old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capricious malevolent bully” (1).

Strident yes, but Barker then breaks down each of these charges with extensive quotes from the Bible. Every rational, literate, and open-minded person – regardless of beliefs – should exam this collection and think about what they truly know as completely separate from what one believes. Belief should be a personal and private set of vies of life, death, and everything we experience in between. Knowledge is entirely another matter. If you can read this and come away with your belief system intact, fine. If you reject all of Barker and Dawson, also fine, but perhaps you might learn one lesson and that I take from Matthew 6:5-6, “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily, I say unto you, They have their reward (5). “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward they openly” (6). Amen.

--Jim, 5/10/16 ( )