Review: A Bit Out There, but Thought-Provoking
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 1, 2014
I certainly have no doubt that Staller is a qualified and capable writer for the subject, and I actually expected this to be something like the "Left Behind" series when I first stumbled across it. However, this is certainly not fiction, at least not in the view of the author. I have my own views on Revelations and the story of how those prophecies or predictions were given to mankind. In fact, my personal views on religion are a bit unusual, but I am always willing to hear a new side to the story. I like to think that I am a student of all religions, and since Revelations is arguably one of the most interesting parts of Christianity's texts, this book held a definite appeal.Staller definitely knows his religious history, but I didn't like his matter-of-fact way of delivering certain ideas as though they were fact. There is obviously a lot of room for debate, and if he wants to come across as an informed, theologian/academic, it is far wiser to tackle the subject as other academics do, with objective and well-supported ideas, rather than claims and slightly opinion-derived statements. That being said, the text was well-documented and there were plenty of references and footnotes. What I mean is that the arguments that he connected and strung together were sometimes a bit thin, but he pushed through, dragging the reader along.I appreciated that at certain parts, because his confidence and connectivity of ideas and events did have threads of possibility to them, but at other times, I felt like I was being told, rather than shown. All in all, it was a very interesting book to read, and is a must-read for those who question their faith, want a broader perspective of the texts of Christianity, or just want to explore the dark prophecies of a 2,000-year-old religion.