A Bonfire of Inanities: The Bible Dismantled
Apocalypse Postponed
is the third volume in a three-book series called
A Bonfire of Inanities: The Bible Dismantled offers, in three volumes, a revolutionary new understanding of the roots of Judaism and Christianity by way of a complete, rationalistic re-interpretation of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. There has never been anything like this - in scope, in approach, and in findings. It may be possible to continue in Jewish or Christian belief in the light of this trilogy, but it would be a very different kind of religious faith from the one normally espoused. Each volume has been written to stand alone, but there is a natural sequence to the arguments developed which is facilitated if they are read in order.
This third volume,
, focusses on the Christian belief in imminent apocalypse and traces how thoroughgoing misunderstanding of the relevant Old and New Testament texts has led to two centuries of fallacious expectation. It identifies the key apocalyptic themes and locates them, not in our future, but in people and events contemporary with the writer of Revelation.
The first volume,
Ancestral Tales
, traces the true ancestral and religious history of the Israelites and in particular, identifies among much else, the Pharoah of the Exodus, and the historical figures behind Joseph and Moses. The second volume,
Mistaken Messiah
, traces how Jewish messianic belief finds its way into the New Testament and Christianity and identifies historical figures behind Jesus and the Apostles.