ebook review: The bible doesn't say that

The Bible Doesn't Say That explores what the Bible meant before it was misinterpreted over the past 2,000 years.
Acclaimed translator and biblical scholar Dr. Joel M. Hoffman walks the reader through dozens of mistranslations, misconceptions, and other misunderstandings about the Bible. In forty short, straightforward chapters, he covers morality, life-style, theology, and biblical imagery, including:
*The Bible doesn't call homosexuality a sin
*The Bible's famous "beat their swords into plowshares" is matched by the militaristic, "beat your plowshares into swords."
*The often-cited New Testament quotation "God so loved the world" is a mistranslation, as are the titles "Son of Man" and "Son of God."
*The Ten Commandments don't prohibit killing or coveting.
What does the Bible say about violence? About the Rapture? About keeping kosher? About marriage and divorce? Hoffman provides answers to all of these and more, succinctly explaining how so many pivotal biblical answers came to be misunderstood.

My Review:

I love theology. I love having long discussions with people I love or work with about religious theories and what this or that may or may not mean and not have it matter because we all agree the bible pretty much says 'be a decent human being and stop being distracted by the small stuff'.
Know that about me, let me say Dr. Hoffman gets SUPER distracted by the small stuff. Like "what does 'beginning' really mean when the bible says 'in the beginning'?" But he shortly gets to the point, which is "not everything is literal."
Which I love. I love that he makes this the basis of his book and reminds readers in the age of science and logic to remember that this was written in a time of parables and teaching via stories. It actually helps readers to stop getting caught up on the small things and read beyond the text to find the true meaning of the bible.
So even though the book itself ended up being pretty decent, I'm just not the type to get over a bad beginning. There was a type of rambling that made me end up just scanning the rest of the book in hopes to avoid seeing more rambling in future chapters.
If you are the type to be interested in theological discussions and one doctor's take on the bible, go ahead and get this. It's worth a shot if you don't have anyone to have a live discussion with or if you simply prefer solitary study.