Opinions Wanted! – Best Laid Plans: 300 Prophesies
A while back I put out a couple of feelers to see if anyone would be interested in my writing an article on how Jesus failed to fulfill a single messianic prophesy, in spite of Christian claims that he fulfilled over 300 of them. There was a decent amount of interest, so I started organizing my research and trying to figure out how best to present it. Luckily, every one of the 300+ prophesies offered up as evidence fits into one of three categories: Not Prophesy, Not Messianic, and Not Fulfilled. I felt like starting with a brief explanation of each category would lay an excellent foundation for the rest of the article, allowing me to "bundle" prophesies and avoid giving a detailed explanation for each one. That Christians have split single prophesies into several parts in order to inflate the number supposedly fulfilled by Jesus helps move things along as well - putting them back together, as they were intended to be judged, cuts down the work considerably.
So... why are you reading a post about an article instead of reading the article?
Before I had even really begun writing in earnest, it became clear that, 1 - it would be more properly classified as an anemic book than an article, and 2 - it had such powerful sedative potential that it might actually require FDA approval.
As I see it, this realization leaves me with a couple of options:
Write a Book
By adding in a few refutations of popular Christian apologetics regarding the "prophesies" in question (like the idea that the Jews were just blind to the true revelation of their own prophesies), I could probably bulk this up to proper book length without much difficulty. Including some personal quips, observations, experiences, and maybe a story or two might help transform it into a tolerable read; especially if I formatted it in such a way that the reader could skip around.
Part of me is intrigued by this option... and part of me hates the intrigued part because writing a book like this sounds like doing an awful lot of work in order to create a product that no one may even want.
Half-Ass It
I could, of course, simply write up a paragraph for each of the three categories (Not Prophesy, Not Messianic, and Not Fulfilled) followed by a list of the supposed prophesies that apply, referencing the chapter and verse. It would only be informative in a pretty shallow way, but it might serve as a good launching point for further study.
The lazy/overwhelmed part of me likes this option almost as much as forgetting about the idea all together. The part of me that remembers using the 300+ fulfilled prophesies argument in my Christian past, and suffers an acute bout of embarrassment tinged frustration every time it encounters the argument in my Atheist present, thinks the subject is important enough to modern apologetics that half-assing it would be committing some sort of societal disservice.
So, what say you, gentle readers? (Or at least the two of you that comment with any sort of frequency *pokes other readers*) Should I put effort into writing a book that no one may be interested in reading? If I actually self-published such a book, and made a digital version available for a couple of bucks, would you be tempted to purchase it? Should I half-ass it and basically post a list of dismissals? Should I just pretend I forgot the whole thing?
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April 13th, 2012 - 17:32
I’d buy a book, for sure.
Though, that said, why not just continue building up the blog posts and publish them as a book later on, with expanded quotes of the things you link to?
April 13th, 2012 - 21:31
That was my first instict, but as I thought about it I realized that would actually make it harder to format and organize. I’d essentially be recreating the issues I had trying to write comics that both stood on their own and worked into a longer story… only in book form. :/
April 15th, 2012 - 02:52
“Don’t half-ass two things. Whole-ass one thing.” Horrible advice, of course, but amusing.
While the idea of the book is attractive, you’ve nicely outlined a few compelling reasons to avoid bringing it into existence. Let’s tackle with logic and my evil creativity.
Time is not our friend. Merely outlining the essay would be a bit arduous. Further, making it stay interesting is difficult, given the subject matter. I don’t think this can be done as a solo project… not quickly. Of course, my opinions on writing as a solo endeavor shifted greatly when I learned my favorite authors had stables of testers. Beta readers. Previewers. People who could read the book before the author published and go “buh-wha?” over the least sensible of edits. I remember reading an author’s afterword… one of Bujold’s works, where she’d had a red herring early on that drove fans nuts. A soldier had kept a stash inside a drainage pipe and got washed away when retrieving it in a storm. She’d had to rewrite it as cookies because when it was money or drugs, readers thought “conspiracy! This must be important to the plot!” when it was an aside… The relevance of this anecdote is that, well, you don’t have to go it alone. The web is full of tools to open things up to limited crowdsourcing, previews, smartasses commenting, etc. I’ve time coming at me in the near future, and I absolutely (within reason) wish to volunteer some, possibly lots, of it to a worthy and productive cause. Such as this. HINT HINT.
There’s another option between half-assed and whole-assed here that’s being overlooked. Rather than a paragraph for each category, it could be a full article post for each. Or blog a major prophecy a week for a year. And it’s a highly useful step for crafting the arduous outline mentioned in my previous point.
Finally, there is the market… I think making this book a bestseller simply requires the proper title. I suggest “Christ’s 300: A Measure of Prophecy”. This should get a number of fanatics to pick it up by mistake, get outraged, and burn copies they’ve paid for. That will generate publicity like crazy. Also, the 300 angle, if we get it out in the next year or two, would get some people thinking of the Spartan movie. It’s not dishonest, but it does take advantage of exactly the sort of lazy thinking that causes problems and creates churches.
I also just love the mental image of oiled Spartans and sweater-clad bible thumpers uniting to protest this book.
April 15th, 2012 - 10:52
I love you. Seriously, you frequently make my day.
I’ll offer up a proper response when I get to a computer, but that needed to be said immediately.
April 15th, 2012 - 20:23
Knowing I make someone’s day is totally making my day. ^_^
April 16th, 2012 - 13:26
Glad to hear it.
You are correct, of course, in your assertion that a great deal of time can be saved by taking advantage of the services and individuals available to authors. Should I actually decide to jump into this, I’ll keep your cleverly hidden offer of assistance close to mind.
I may consider writing a series of articles, but I don’t have the discipline to schedule regular blog posts. Hell, I consider it a minor miracle if I manage to blog at all. Luckily, most of the outlining work is already done, just by the nature of how I keep track of my notes.
*laughs* LOVE IT. There are, however, 365 supposed prophesies… so I’d have to do a bit of work on the name. Also, I must admit I find the idea of “tricking” Christians into buying the thing especially delicious. *giggles*
I really do like the idea of writing this book, and I think adding in a few chapters on the evolution of messianic mythos and rebutting common apologetics pertaining to the prophesies (replacement theology, etc.) would round it out into something people might want to actually read, rather than simply reference. I suppose the only thing stopping me is an acute sense of laziness and the odd suspicion that I may simply be tossed aside as someone who doesn’t have the vaguest idea of what she’s going on about – after all, it’s not as though I have any sort of degree or expertise backing up my claims, I do, of course, have a veritable shit-tonne of references, and access to experts that would be happy to weigh in, but I, myself, am a bit of a nobody.
April 19th, 2012 - 01:55
If you are entertaining as well as educating, it can take a very long time before people figure out that you aren’t an accredited expert. The curious paradox of academia is that the idea is what matters, and it is testable independent of the author. However, all structures of academia exist to give authors fancy titles so people will assume their ideas have merit prior to testing.
This book would be well-researched, and presented with unassailable logic. Detractors thinking the author incompetent would be hard-pressed to find fault to back up their ridiculous claim. Presenting with humor and insight makes the subject memorable. Enjoyable. “Dr”s Phil and Lara… whatever else you can say, did manage to get very far without credentials. Their messages were presented with conviction and in an amusing fashion. Just saying, if those hacks can manage, surely you can do better.
Look at those you admire. Realize… to be awesome, you must do awesome. And try things. I’m looking at starting a bit of writing… and it’s scaring the hell out of me. I am afraid of failure, but I am more afraid of success. Because if I do it, it means more hard work and few excuses. But that’s life. Hard work, hopefully rewarding, and no excuses. No do-overs.
April 20th, 2012 - 18:34
I would love to respond with the same eloquence and profundity, but I’m honestly a bit taken aback… you’ve given me a lot to think about here. Success is, indeed, something I’m far less comfortable with than failure. It’s terrifying when something you’ve created grows its own legs and bolts off into the distance.
I do believe I will start work on the book as soon as the semester is over and I’ve finished the comic scripts I’ve been long promising my ever patient artist (*snugs Nate*). Should I actually find the means and courage to finish it, you’ll receive a glowing mention in the dedication.
As for you… I’m currently of the opinion that it would be a crime for you NOT to begin writing. I hope you conquer that fear. *snugs*
May 25th, 2012 - 21:50
I found a relevant project to share! Perhaps not an ideal representative, but certainly one hell of an act to follow. ^_^