Book Review: from my Dad

Here’s a review of my book, “The Second Coming of the Antichrist,” from my Dad, David Goodgame. As you can tell he is a critic of Christianity, and he makes some good points:

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PETE,

FINISHED YOUR BOOK AND, OF COURSE, WANTED TO GIVE SOME FEED BACK.

AS MENTIONED BEFORE, FOUND THIS EFFORT MORE READABLE, BETTER FOCUSED GENERALLY, AND HISTORICALLY MORE INTERESTING.  BUT ENOUGH PLATITUDINOUS COMPLIMENTS.  LET’S HAVE SOME SPECIFIC, POINTED COMMMENTARY.

GOOD JOB!  WELL DONE!  CONGRATULATIONS!  CHUCK MISSLER/MARK EASTMAN TAKE NOTE THAT A RELIGIOUS TREATISE CAN BE DELIVERED WITHOUT A SUPERFLUITY OF GRATUITOUS SUPERLATIVES.  I COMMEND YOUR SELF-CONTROL.

I ALSO MUST COMMEND YOUR PROOF READER.  THERE WAS A DEARTH OF TYPOS.

IT APPEARS FROM THE CONTENT AND FORMAT THAT THE BOOK’S TARGETTED AUDIENCE IS THE SERIOUS STUDENT OF ESCATOLOGY (EVEN THOUGH THE BOOK’S TITLE WILL INSURE ATTENTION FROM THOSE IN PURSUIT OF THE SENSATIONAL STORY ‘DU JOUR’ WHICH IS NOT BAD FOR MARKETING).

CONTENT, IN MY HUMBLE OPINION (LOL),  WOULD BE BETTER SERVED BY STICKING TO THE BIBLICAL/ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE AND MINIMIZING THE CORRELATIONS WITH RECENT SPIRITUALISTS/NEW AGERS/MASONS/ETC.  I TENDED TO SUFFER GLAZING OF THE EYES AND LOSS OF TRAIN OF THOUGHT IN THOSE CHAPTERS–PROBABLY MY SDA ORIGINS ARE TO BLAME.  I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU MAY VIEW THESE CHAPTERS AS AN ESSENTIAL WARNING TO THE READERS THAT THESE ENTITIES WILL BE THE CONCURRENT ALLIES OF AC.  THAT, I WOULD HAVE THOUGHT, COULD FURNISH CONTENT FOR A SEPARATE BOOK OR BE AN APPENDIX OF THIS BOOK SO AS NOT TO CONFUSE THOSE OF US WHO ARE CHALLENGED BY THE TASK OF ASSIMILATING MORE THAN ONE POINT AT A TIME.

FORMAT WOULD BE SIGNIFICANTLY HELPED WITH THE ADDITION OF THE ALREADY SUGGESTED INDEX.  THOSE WHO READ THE BOOK WITH A SCHOLARLY/CRITICAL PERSPECTIVE WILL FIND AN INDEX QUITE USEFUL.  ESPECIALLY AS THE PAGE TOPS DO NOT IDENTIFY WHICH CHAPTER YOU ARE IN.  THERE IS NO UNCERTAINTY CONCERNING WHICH BOOK OR AUTHOR IS BEING PERUSED.   BUT WHEN I TURN BACK PAGES TO REFRESH MY MEMORY (HAPPENS TO ME WITH INCREASING FREQUENCY AS AGE ADVANCES AND DON’T DISCOUNT THE NUMBER OF SENIOR CITIZENS WHO HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO WITH THEIR TIME THAN BUY A COPY OF YOUR BOOK AND TRY TO DELVE INTO THE MYSTERY OF THE AGES) YOUR NAME AND THE BOOK’S TITLE DO NOT HELP ME GET TO THE PERTINENT CHAPTER.  I WOULD SUGGEST A CHANGE. INSTEAD OF THE BOOK’S TITLE APPEARING AT THE TOP OF EVERY ODD NUMBERED PAGE, HAVE THE APPROPRIATE CHAPTER TITLE PRINTED THERE TO HELP ORIENT US OLDIES.  KEEP YOUR NAME BEFORE THE READER ON EVERY EVEN PAGE FOR, AGAIN AS AGE ADVANCES, ONE CANNOT BE REMINDED OF YOUR NAME ENOUGH –AS YOU CAN EASILY VERIFY BY HAVING A CONVERSATION WITH GRANDMA EVA FOR SHE INVARIABLY WILL CALL YOU:  LOUIS, DAVID, JOHN, BART, AND MAYBE EVEN ORLEY BEFORE FINALLY GETTING IT RIGHT.

FOOTNOTES WE TALKED ABOUT ALSO.  I’M STILL OF THE OPINION THAT THEY SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR OTHER AUTHOR’S WORKS WHEN CITED.  YOU COULD EVEN INCLUDE A BIBLIOGRAPHY WITH NO GREAT EFFORT.  MY PREJUDICE AGAINST CITING YOURSELF AROSE WHEN READING THE BOOK YOU GUYS GAVE ME BY THE ABOVE MENTIONED MISSLER/EASTMAN.  THEY DID IT WITHOUT THE TEXTUAL REFERENCE (WHICH YOU DO INCLUDE) THAT THEY HAD ADDRESSED THE POINT AT HAND IN A PREVIOUS WORK.  IT WAS AS IF THEY WERE REFERRING YOU TO AN AUTHORITATIVE SOURCE WHICH ONE WOULD ASSUME TO BE OTHER THAN THEMSELVES.  I MAY BE WRONG IN THIS, BUT MY EXPERIENCE IS THAT I DO READ THE FOOTNOTES (AND THUS APPRECIATE THAT IN YOUR BOOK THEY ARE PLACED CONVIENENTLY AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE AND NOT AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER OR END OF THE BOOK) AND HAD NEVER COME ACROSS ‘SELF-REFERENCING’ PRIOR TO READING M&E’S BOOK.  I TOOK IT AS BEING SELF PROMOTIONAL (NOT NECESSARILY A BAD THING) AND A BIT DISHONEST (IN THE VIEW THAT I THINK MOST PEOPLE DON’T READ THE FOOTNOTES AND THUS WOULD BELIEVE THAT THEY WERE CITING SUPPORTING AUTHORITY OTHER THAN THEMSELVES).  AGAIN YOU MAKE IT CLEAR IN THE TEXT THAT YOU ARE REFERENCING OTHER WORK THAT YOU HAVE DONE CONCERNING THE ISSUE AT HAND, AND ARE MAKING IT EASY FOR THEM TO GO THERE FOR FUTHER STUDY.   THIS IS DECIDEDLY DIFFERENT FROM M&E’S PRACTICE BUT STILL JARS MY SENSITIVITY.

QUITE OFTEN MY DULL BRAIN WAS TAXED ATTEMPTING TO CORRELATE PARALLEL PROPHECIES, INTERCHANGABLE NAMES, OR OTHER MULTIPLE STREAMS OF RELATED INFORMATION.  YOU DID INCLUDE SOME GRAPHICS, LISTS, TIME LINES, ETC. THEY WERE HELPFUL.  MORE WOULD BE BETTER, PLACED  AT THE END OF APPROPRIATE CHAPTERS OR IN AN APPENDIX.  ESPECIALLY A GRAPHIC OR CUMULATIVE LIST ENUMERATING THE DIFFERENT MANIFESTATIONS OF NIMROD AS A ‘GOD’ IN THE VARIOUS PANTHEON’S OF THE DIFFERENT ANCIENT RELIGIONS (THE TEXT EMBEDDED LIST ON PAGE 289-90 IS SOMEWHAT CUMULATIVE BUT IS INCOMPLETE).  ALSO CAN THE 70/72 ORIGINAL NATIONS BE IDENTIFIED?   THAT WOULD BE A HISTORICAL TOUR DE FORCE.  COULD IT BE PURSUED LINGUISTICALLY?  COULDN’T ONE ASSUME 70/72 FAMILIES OF LANGUAGES?

BUT I DIGRESS INTO MINUTAE.  YOUR RESEARCH/BOOK HAS TOUCHED ON/GIVEN RISE TO SOME BIG QUESTIONS CONCERNING GOD’S NATURE AND HIS CULPABILITY FOR THE ONGOING SAGA OF THIS SMALL PLANET.

GOD IS APPARENTLY MORE THAN ‘COMPLICIT’ IN THE FINAL DELUSION PROVIDED BY AC.  HE IS THE ACTIVE AGENT IF WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A RESURRECTION OF NIMROD.  AS FAR AS I KNOW ONLY GOD CAN GIVE THE GIFT OF LIFE.  HITHER TO, THE EXPLANATIONS I HAVE HEARD OF AC HAVE BEEN OF SATAN ‘IMPERSONATING’ JC TO BECOME AC OR SATAN’S AGENTS, ie THE POPE, ARROGATING GOD’S PEROGATIVES TO BECOME IN EFFECT AC.  THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN A SATAN INITIATED ACTION TO CONFUSE AND DECEIVE US HUMANS.  YOUR NARRATIVE, WITH LEGITIMATE CREDENCE GIVEN TO 2THESS. 2:11-12 (A PASSAGE THAT HAS ALWAYS BOTHERED ME WITH IT’S IMPLICATIONS) PLACES GOD IN THAT POSITION OF INITIATOR.  THIS PRESENTS SOME TRUELY ‘DARK REFLECTIONS’ IN MY MIND.  HUMAN GOVTS., AS WE KNOW, LIKE TO ‘MANUFACTURE’ THREATS FOR WHICH THEY CAN PROVIDE THE PROTECTION.  A QUITE USEFUL MANIPULATIVE TOOL TO KEEP FOLKS AWARE OF HOW ESSENTIAL THEY ARE.  WE DECRY THIS PRACTICE AS DETESTABLE PROPOGANDA.  HERE WE HAVE GOD ENGAGING IN THE SAME PRACTICE–AGAIN DETESTABLE WOULDN’T YOU SAY?

NOW I’M SURE THAT YOU HAVE OR WILL SOON FORM AN EXPLANATION WHICH FULLY EXCULPATES ‘ALL MIGHTY GOD’.  SAID EXPLANATION WILL PROBABLY RECEIVE LITTLE PLAYING TIME AS I DOUBT THAT MANY TRUE BELIEVERS WOULD THINK CRITICALLY OF ANY SOVERIGN ACTION THAT GOD CHOOSES TO EXERCISE.  HE GETS A FREE PASS BECAUSE HE IS GOD, PLAIN AND SIMPLE.  NOW I COULD EVEN ACCEPT THAT IF GOD WERE THE ONE TELLING ME THE SCENARIO.  BUT I FIND IT A BIT MUCH TO ACCEPT WHEN IT COMES 3RD HAND (AT BEST–IF IT IS ORIGINAL INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE) FROM THE SAME FOLKS WHO ARE TRYING TO GET ME TO BELIEVE THAT THIS SAME GOD IS ALL ABOUT LOVE, WANTS A ‘PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP’ WITH ME, AND HAS A UNIQUE PLAN FOR ME.  THE DISSONANCE IS TOO GREAT FOR ME TO OVERCOME.  NO MATTER HOW MUCH I WOULD LIKE MY OWN PERSONAL SUPERHERO, HIS ACTIONS AND GOALS HAVE TO HAVE SOME CONSISTENCY TO MAKE HIM BELIEVABLE.

NOW THIS MISSIVE HAS DEALT MORE WITH THE NEGATIVE THAN INTENDED–WHAT CAN I SAY.  I KNOW YOU HAVE BIG SHOULDERS AND HAVE HEARD IT ALL BEFORE SO I DON’T FEEL I HAVE DELIVERED ANY CRUSHING BLOWS.  I DID FIND UNIQUE (TO ME) INSIGHT/INTERPRETATION CONCERNING END TIME EVENTS AND AC.  THAT MADE THE READING OF THE BOOK ENLIGHTENING AND ENJOYABLE.  IT STIMULATED THOUGHT AND DREW INTEREST AT WORK WHERE A COUPLE PEOPLE VOICED INTEREST IN READING THE BOOK.  SHOULD I MAKE THEM BUY THEIR OWN?  JUST JOKING.

WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO CHALLENGE YOU WITH IS THE ESCHATOLOGICAL BELIEF OF THE JW’S. THEY TEACH THAT GOD–IN HIS WISDOM–WILL SATISFY MY MINIMAL REQUIREMENTS AND BE A STANDUP GUY AT THE END OF TIME AS HE IS ABOUT TO CONSIGN ALL UNBELIEVERS TO HELL.  AS HE IS ABOUT TO EXECUTE JUDGEMENT THERE IS ONE LAST APPEAL MADE.  NOW THAT UNBELIEVERS CAN HEAR HIS VOICE AND SEE HIS SCARS THEY HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO ACCEPT HIS OFFER OF ETERNAL LIFE.  THIS MAKES THEIR DECISION A TRUELY ‘INFORMED DECISION’ AS SHOULD BE MANDATORY FOR A DECISION WITH ETERNAL, LIFE AND DEATH CONSEQUENCES.  THIS WOULD MAKE THE POST RESURRECTION ENCOUNTER BETWEEN JC AND THOMAS A PROPHECY.  THIS IS PRETTY STANDARD PROPHETIC FARE (AS IT APPEARS TO ME THAT ANYTHING SAID, DONE, DREAMED, OR IMAGINED CAN BE TURNED INTO PROPHECY).  AS FOR ME, IF THERE IS A GOD OF LOVE, THIS SCENARIO IS THE EXPECTED ACTION.  MY QUESTION IS:  ‘WHY HASN’T THIS ESCATOLOGY CAUGHT ON?’    HAVE YOU FOUND ANY OTHER BIBLICAL EVIDENCE OF SUCH A SCENARIO.  I’LL ASK MY JW BUDDY AT WORK WHAT IS THEIR BIBLICAL EVIDENCE FOR THIS BELIEF AND SHARE HIS RESPONSE WITH YOU.

DAD

PS: I WAS GOING TO TIE IN THE ABOVE EFFORT WITH THE PERSPECTIVE THAT I LOVE AND RESPECT YOU ENOUGH TO TAKE THE TIME TO SERIOUSLY EVALUATE YOUR POSITION BUT FAIL TO GET RECIPROCITY WHEN I GIVE YOU SOMETHING TO READ/EVALUATE.  BUT THE TRUTH IS THAT I APPRECIATE KNOWING WHAT’S GOING ON IN YOUR WORLD AS IT IS A DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE.  CONVERSELY MY MINDSET HAS REMAINED RATHER CONSTANT FOR THE LAST COUPLE OF DECADES.  I AM STILL AN OPEN MINDED TRUTH SEEKER, BUT DO ACCEPT THAT YOU MAY BE TIRED OF HEARING THE SAME FAMILIAR REFRAIN; WHEREAS YOUR MATERIAL AT LEAST HAS SOME NEW TWISTS IN IT.  BESIDES, BEING RAISED SDA DID TEACH ME THAT GUILT TRIPS ARE USUALLY NONPRODUCTIVE.