God: A Biography Audiobook

" I could never really get into this book.... "

" I struggled with this for nearly 100 pages because the idea of analyzing God as a literary character was hard to wrap my head around, given the way the Tanakh/Old Testament* was written. Once I got beyond that and just gave myself over to the author's insightful interpretations of the text, I enjoyed it a lot. "

" Written by former Jesuit Jack Miles, God: A Biography takes you through each chapter of the Bible from the perspective of Miles' main character: God. Miles' God is fallible, jealous, angry, hurt, and sometimes petty. He is a lot like each of us except he's invincible and has much more power than we will ever know. "

" Thought provoking and deeply interesting, Jack Miles' "God: A Biography" follows the Judean God as a literary character, describing character traits from an objective literary perspective. Taking the reverence away from the character of God illuminates not only the thought process ancient peoples followed in his development, but also allows a contextual understanding of the religions branching out from early God-worship. As someone who is not religious and has only a very basic understanding of Christianity this book was incredibly interesting, as I could pick out historical context by studying which version of God the ancient Israelites were worshipping at any given time. Anthropologically, it is fascinating and literarily, it is a unique piece that has value despite your beliefs. "

" God and his family are so dysfunctional that they make the Simpsons come across as downright normal and well adjusted. Well written and at times daring without striving to offend. You can be a devout Christian and still enjoy this one. "

" This thing isn't quite as good as its reputation, and could be a bit more questioning and in-depth, but it's well-done, very readable, and with a hell of a concept. "

" My first encounter with the Bible as literature. Simultaneously deconstructed some beliefs for me and bolstered a more nuanced spirituality. Highly recommended. "

" If you have fixed opinions about Christianity (including what preceded it) you will not like it. To me, it is (I haven't read it all yet) another building block to my understanding of the supernatural as merely natural. "

" Miles is highly intelligent.. but has a tendancy to start into certain bible stories and not finish them. "

" A very good account of the changing perceptions and portrayals of God during the course of history covered by the Old Testament. I'm interested to see how this compares with Richard Elliott Friedman's The Hidden Face of God (q.v.). "

" it is one of the texts that stays in my mind. It provoked me. It is at the top of my all time fav books. I need to re-read soon and make this review more intelligent. Eric, you might really be provoked, too. "

" Pretty heavy read. -1 star due to God in the New Testament being a lot more boring than in the Old Testament. "

" this book's idea is very interesting, but actually getting through it was a struggle. "

" I can't seem to get into this. I keep putting back on the shelf. "

" A very interesting take on this subject. I was a little tense and defensive while getting into this story since I consider myself Christian. But if you can expand your mind a bit, sometimes quite a bit, it is unique way of looking at the God of the Bible. "

" Incredible in its scope, depth and meaning. "

" This is a really interesting interpretation of the god of the Jewish old testament as a developing literary character. A totally neat idea and very illuminating about the bible as well. "

" So far, so good. What I like is that this book is purely analytical. I don't feel as if someone is trying to persuade me to believe or not believe. I did have to stop reading and find a copy of the Bible to familiarize myself with some of the references in the book. "

" The book is written by an ex Jesuit priest. Jack Miles steps back from his faith, and looks at the evolution of God as a literary character. He talks about how the 'character' of God changes through the old and new testaments. A very thought provoking look at the most popular book in history. "

" This was a very different and thought-provoking book. The author was tracing the life of God throughout the Old Testament considering Him a creator, destroyer, friend, liberator, fiend, bystander, etc. "

" I found the book to be both fascinating and a tad boring; I really wanted to love the book for its overall framing, the Jewish scriptures as biography of God and not merely a holy hand-off of words and rules. In his conception God evolves, becomes. Definitely worth reading. "

" Rereading this great profanation of a book about God as the troubled, inconsistent, bellicose protagonist of the Old Testament. Massive erudition, fresh angles and lots of naughty stuff! "

" Asking "Can G-d's life be written," Miles tackles the subject matter with scholarship that alters conceptions of the Bible as art. Definitely not for the easily distracted... "

" Very interesting, but I'll be honest with you, I gave up halfway through. "

" I found this biography of God very thought provoking. Mr. Miles, a former Jesuit, uses the Hebrew bible and looking at it as a piece of literature, follows the character development of God. "

" Pretty heavy read. -1 star due to God in the New Testament being a lot more boring than in the Old Testament. "

" Really liked the idea of this book but wasn't as impressed with the actual book itself. Still, a good read :) "

" To read the Bible as if looking at a stained glass window ... humm "

" Author as "Former Jesuit" made me think it might be an antidote to Dawkins' rants, but the word "former" was the clue. Humanistic retelling of the OT, just as naturalistic as Dawkins, even if kinder. "

" If you have fixed opinions about Christianity (including what preceded it) you will not like it. To me, it is (I haven't read it all yet) another building block to my understanding of the supernatural as merely natural. "