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Allah, Jesus and Yahweh: The Gods That Failed
Allah, Jesus, and Yahweh deals with the moral and intellectual damage caused by religion—the subject of many of today’s headlines. There have been at least five major religious invasions from Asia into Europe. In particular, the Middle East seems a virtual hatchery for faith and fanaticism. It’s the birthplace of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam not to mention the earlier Zoroastrianism and the much later Baha’ism plus a plethora of minor cults and lunacies. The parlance in vogue for this present invasion is a clash of civilizations—East versus West! But this is not entirely the case. There is a clash, but we have confused the combatants. Many in the West do not intend to fight for the preservation of Christianity; some in the East feel the same about Islam. What we will defend is freedom, democracy, and the values of the Enlightenment versus submission, dictatorship, and the buzz of the hive mind. A colossal clash of ideals is underway between the Enlightenment and the Army of the Night—those who feel they have absolute certainty without evidence.
There is a tide in the affairs of men and women, and we are afloat on a vast wave of moral and rational criticism of religion. Witness The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens, The End of Faith by Sam Harris, and Breaking the Spell by Daniel Dennett. Allah, Jesus, and Yahweh takes a deeper view of time and a more humorous Mark Twain narrative approach than these authors. It begins in September 480 BCE at the Battle of Marathon—the first Asiatic religious invasion—and moves through history right up to Ayaan Hirsi Ali and beyond.
When speaking of religion, Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg said it best to The New York Times, on April 20, 1999:
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things
and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things,
that takes religion.
Religion is certainty without proof; science is proof without certainty. From religion to science, it has been a long night’s journey into light. Come, hold my hand, walk with me through these pages, and see the glory and the horror we have created.
There is a tide in the affairs of men and women, and we are afloat on a vast wave of moral and rational criticism of religion. Witness The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens, The End of Faith by Sam Harris, and Breaking the Spell by Daniel Dennett. Allah, Jesus, and Yahweh takes a deeper view of time and a more humorous Mark Twain narrative approach than these authors. It begins in September 480 BCE at the Battle of Marathon—the first Asiatic religious invasion—and moves through history right up to Ayaan Hirsi Ali and beyond.
When speaking of religion, Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg said it best to The New York Times, on April 20, 1999:
With or without religion, you would have good people doing good things
and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things,
that takes religion.
Religion is certainty without proof; science is proof without certainty. From religion to science, it has been a long night’s journey into light. Come, hold my hand, walk with me through these pages, and see the glory and the horror we have created.
376 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 5, 2013
2 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 26, 2013
Allah, Jesus and Yahweh: The Gods That Failed by Gordon Harrison is a 376 page book. It starts from a first person perspective, and uses quotes and dialogue from several different well-known people and events from history. Each continued the story throughout time, beginning from 490 BC. It was really an interesting way to show how different situations were linked. It is shown that many times what we would now consider being too harsh, say for punishments, were acceptable at that time. Harrison does not try to justify the behavior, or include too many of his personal views. I really appreciated that. He merely chronicles the way our tolerance and behavior has evolved.
I have to commend Harrison on the extraordinary level of research that went into this book. I cannot imagine how long it took him to compile all this information. This is not a light read, by any means, but if you like learning about religion or humanities this would make a great discussion and reference book.
I have to commend Harrison on the extraordinary level of research that went into this book. I cannot imagine how long it took him to compile all this information. This is not a light read, by any means, but if you like learning about religion or humanities this would make a great discussion and reference book.
September 26, 2013
I was surprised to find numerology in a book about religion. Harrison included a table using a Greek Alphabet and Numerals. He related the number six to the Greek letter stigma. I found that interesting because that particular number tripled, 6,6,6, is commonly known as the sign of the beast or devil. He relates the triple 6 back to Nero and Caesar, both infamous in history for their tyranny.
I also liked his explanation of equidistant-letter sequence (ELS). He gives an example of using the single word ‘generalization’, and how it contains the word Nazi, by using every third letter. By using ELS through the bible or other religious books, many different conspiracies could be contained. The history in the book was great, but the numerology spoke the loudest to me.
I also liked his explanation of equidistant-letter sequence (ELS). He gives an example of using the single word ‘generalization’, and how it contains the word Nazi, by using every third letter. By using ELS through the bible or other religious books, many different conspiracies could be contained. The history in the book was great, but the numerology spoke the loudest to me.
October 2, 2013
Gordon Harrison’s book, Allah, Jesus, and Yahweh: The Gods That Failed, compares and contrasts many different religions, and non-religions, from the beginning of time, as they saw it. He has complied and used massive amount of research to explore the controversial idea that any religion may be a hoax and that Darwin’s Evolutionary Theory may be the actual reality of our lives. His comparisons of the different religions noted in the book show startling similarities and he does remind us that each of the different religious books, the Bible, the Koran, etc., were in fact, written by men…some commissioned by kings.
I did enjoy learning many new things about the history of the world portrayed through the varying historical references, such as the birth of the marathon race.
I did enjoy learning many new things about the history of the world portrayed through the varying historical references, such as the birth of the marathon race.
October 2, 2013
Gordon Harrison’s book, Allah, Jesus and Yahweh: The Gods That Failed truly surprised me. I did not expect to like it so well. It is well-written, engaging and so jam packed with information that each chapter had me reflecting.
I really liked the famous quotes Harrison used. They were very fitting for the chapter subject and many were ones that I had not heard before. No retreads here. He also followed up with several English translated ancient texts that helped to prove his points. That was a smart way to explain very sensitive situations. It was like hearing it straight from the source. I especially liked chapter 6. Learning more about Carl Sagan and his take on religion and the cosmos was interesting. I may need to follow up on his mini-series. Great resource book.
I really liked the famous quotes Harrison used. They were very fitting for the chapter subject and many were ones that I had not heard before. No retreads here. He also followed up with several English translated ancient texts that helped to prove his points. That was a smart way to explain very sensitive situations. It was like hearing it straight from the source. I especially liked chapter 6. Learning more about Carl Sagan and his take on religion and the cosmos was interesting. I may need to follow up on his mini-series. Great resource book.
October 2, 2013
I picked up the book Allah, Jesus and Yahweh: by Gordon Harrison for morbid curiosity. I like to think that I am open-minded enough to hear differing points of view on religion and I love a good debate. I am proud to say I am a devout Christian, so any book I read would never change my mind, however, I never felt as though Harrison was shoving his point of view down my neck. I might not have agreed with certain points but I did like the way the book was written, from early history, and I did learn some things.
I was originally going to give the book three stars, just for disliking the subtitle, however, the book has sparked several discussions amongst many friends and I never pass up an opportunity to talk about my faith, so I gave it four stars.
I was originally going to give the book three stars, just for disliking the subtitle, however, the book has sparked several discussions amongst many friends and I never pass up an opportunity to talk about my faith, so I gave it four stars.
August 30, 2017
one of the best books I have ever read in my life everyone should read this book very informative its absolutely amazing
October 2, 2013
A friend recommended this book to me, probably due to our differing opinions on religion. We often share books for a monthly debate on a pre-determined subject. After reading the book I felt compelled to leave a review. Harrison is humorous, and blunt, almost to the point of being abrasive in some chapters. I agreed and disagreed on several different points throughout the book, making it easy to play devil’s advocate to my friend’s opinions. With religion being such a hot-button subject for some, this book is a great resource. People have very strong opinions and will defend their thoughts vehemently.
Harrison's pictures, graphs and quotes were beneficial to more thoroughly illustrate each of our points. He gives you an extraordinary amount of information to work with. I personally learned quite a few new facts that were surprising. He went into great depth over several of the world’s religions and several of the smaller, lesser known as well. For as much information that was provided you might think that it would read dry, like a text book, but it was anything but that. I now know why my friend suggested this book
Harrison's pictures, graphs and quotes were beneficial to more thoroughly illustrate each of our points. He gives you an extraordinary amount of information to work with. I personally learned quite a few new facts that were surprising. He went into great depth over several of the world’s religions and several of the smaller, lesser known as well. For as much information that was provided you might think that it would read dry, like a text book, but it was anything but that. I now know why my friend suggested this book
October 3, 2013
As a college student at a larger university, I’ve had the opportunity to learn about many different cultures and religions. Allah, Jesus and Yahweh: The Gods That Failed, broadened my knowledge of some of their histories. While I don’t agree with the main theme of the book, atheism, it had several points that did cause me to stop and explore different aspects of my personal beliefs.
This well written book has started many discussions between my roommates and I over theology, astrology, astronomy and physics. It is very thoroughly researched, as evidenced by the many quotes, facts, scriptures and references contained within. Harrison’s book was enlightening and persuasive. It was also thought provoking and I will be adding it to my personal library and will keep it handy to use as reference source for future collegiate papers.
This well written book has started many discussions between my roommates and I over theology, astrology, astronomy and physics. It is very thoroughly researched, as evidenced by the many quotes, facts, scriptures and references contained within. Harrison’s book was enlightening and persuasive. It was also thought provoking and I will be adding it to my personal library and will keep it handy to use as reference source for future collegiate papers.
October 2, 2013
When I first picked up Gordon Harrison’s Allah, Jesus, & Yahweh: The Gods That Failed, I wondered if it was going to end up being a dry read. I was happily proved wrong within the first few pages. The author writes in a way that not only keeps his reader engaged but entertained.
I was impressed by the vast amount of research that went into the book. There is so much I learned from the history covered within its pages. The stories of people and places were presented in an interesting manner and were fascinating to read about. I particularly enjoyed the way everything was summed up in the end. Overall I enjoyed reading this particular book and would recommend it if asked about it.
I was impressed by the vast amount of research that went into the book. There is so much I learned from the history covered within its pages. The stories of people and places were presented in an interesting manner and were fascinating to read about. I particularly enjoyed the way everything was summed up in the end. Overall I enjoyed reading this particular book and would recommend it if asked about it.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews