Streams of Confusion: Thirteen Great Ideas That Are Contaminating Our Thought and Culture

Rating:
Summary: This book made me grow.
Review: Author Brad Scott artfully spins an historical perspective on the tragically incongruous thoughts and behaviors of these modern times.

As I read, I began to recognize the flawed perspectives espoused by society. But more importantly, I recognized the flawed philosophies of my friends, family, and most of all - myself. Many of the excesses and lapses of my youth can be attributed to the watered-down-for-mass-consumption version many of these philosophical mistakes.

To my mind, the existentialists had the best grasp on reality as it could possibly be had when one does not know God. Without God, all is hopeless and meaningless! Imagine my amusement upon realizing that The Great Teacher, King Solomon, was the first existentialist three millenia before Sartre and Heidegger (read Ecclesiastes). As usual, the Bible beat them to it.

I enthusiastically recommend this book - especially to college students and also to parents who want to provide a firm intellectual and moral foundation for their children. It will forever change your perspective.

Rating:
Summary: Repetitive 'Discussion'
Review: Like many religious scholars, author Brad Scott has no idea how to refute an idea that opposes his blinkered views which stem from the Bible. Repeatedly in this book, he somehow tries to argue against 13 supposed widespread beliefs (some of which are reasonable, some are not). Unfortunately, his 'evidence' all-too-often reduces down to a realization that a belief that conflicts his own, Bible-derived belief system, *must* be wrong; else his religion come crashing down around him, presumably.

There is very little rational discussion of ideas in this book; Mr. Scott only seems to care about what is 'morally correct', not what is scientific fact.

His outing of Darwinism is laughable - essentially 17 pages of a repeated belief that to have evolved from a lesser creature is morally repugnant and conflicts with his own beliefs. Of course, the vast scientific evidence for this theory is barely discussed - the author renders it irrelevant with a wave of the hand.

The back cover of the book describes the contents as " [using] an analysis of primary sources, [the author] critiques and challenges those ideas from a reasoned and thoroughly biblical perspective." Unfortunately, the 'primary sources' are the books of the Bible, with the unreasoned opinions of other religious scholars for backing, and the challenges in this book are far from reasoned.

Rating:
Summary: good, but not great
Review: This book presents a good overview of many philosophers and their big ideas, along with repetitive and simplified assertions of how those ideas have been manifested in today's society. After reading this book, I better understand the philosophical ideas, but I don't think I know any better how to refute them. While this book was enjoyable and entertaining, I got a lot more out of Sproul's _The_Consequences_of_Ideas_.