Skip to main content

Review: The Chamberlain Key: Unlocking the Biblical Code That Proves the Existence of God by Timothy P. Smith with Bob Hostetler



Review: The Chamberlain Key: Unlocking the Biblical Code That Proves the Existence of God
Timothy P. Smith with Bob Hostetler
Waterbrook
2017


Prove the existence of God with a biblical code?  The subtitle of this book put me off right away.  Not another secret code book!  Enough of that sort of thing.  I guess that makes me prejudiced against this book from the beginning.  I suspect I will not be the only one, but I did read it.  Nearly every word and I did skim though the glossary and the reading list.  Others will read it, too.

Smith’s story is fiction worthy, but the reader is told up front that it is a true story of the journey Smith took exploring some unusual occurrences in his own life.  With the help of Hostetler, a published author in his own right, Smith proceeds to tell his tale, albeit in a format that reads more like fiction.  I would have preferred a more decidedly nonfiction approach.  

Without loads of spoilers the book traces Smith’s dreams that link him to finding the strength of ancient forms of communication through symbols and other means.  What he found he decided to use in his search of Hebrew language Scripture.  He doesn’t omit objections that arise as he works through his story.  Could it be mere coincidence?  Or some clever old scribal tricks?  Or if you rearrange columns enough can anybody find secret codes? Good questions considering some of the material the public has already been exposed to in previous code type books.  Or is the author just some sort of person who is less than healthy emotionally?  Those objections were not overlooked.  That is a plus for the author.  

After reading this book I can’t say I’m convinced of any secret codes in the texts, but it was interesting reading his search for explanations for his findings.   

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: When God’s Ways Make No Sense by Dr. Larry Crabb

Review: When God’s Ways Make No Sense Dr. Larry Crabb Baker Books 2018 I chose this book because the title intrigued me.   When God’s Ways Make No Sense.    There have been plenty of times when that seemed truer than I’d like to admit.   Are we even allowed to say something like that?   Even if we think it.   So, an author willing to take on that topic had my attention. And mostly because I wanted his take on what to do about it? As it turns out Crabb pretty much gave away his case very early on in his book with a single scripture quote.   The basic idea is God is GOD and we are not.   His motives and actions are incomprehensible to mankind and He owes no explanation for them either.   Crabb admits near the end of his book that he is not a theologian which I knew going into this book, but his arguments are theology.   Or at least I think so.   I found his repeated circling the topic a bit frustrating. That said, the book does provoke thoughts from th

Review: Anatomy of the Soul

Anatomy of the Soul Curt Thompson. M.D. Salt River, an imprint of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2010 This is the most helpful,insightful book I’ve read in a long time. There’s advice, guidance, explanations and examples to illustrate discussion offered by the author. Best of all, for me anyway, it explains some of what I had suspected about how things work all along. Dr. Thompson links human anatomy and physiology to the spiritual part of our being throughout the text. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. And God uses His creation of the physical body in amazing ways. The author does a great job showing God’s wisdom found in research and the discoveries that science has made recently in neuroscience. Whether science wants to or not, it is describing the wonders of creation. Read this book. The text will require thought, evaluation, and time to go through. The author’s writing style is quite readable and he covers the material well. While this isn’t a how to or self help boo

Review: What is the Mission of the Church? Making Sense Social Justice, Shalom, and the Great Commission. by Kevin DeYoung and Gregory D. Gilbert

DeYoung and Gilbert have authored a thoughtful look at the mission of the church. The first task they undertook was to sort through the different ideas and definitions of mission. They do arrive at what seems a reasonable definition, which means I generally agree with it. Much of the book is devoted to developing their theme that mission and ministries can be distinctly different, even to the place of losing sight of one another altogether. Another point they make later is that the church, a Christian, and a bunch of Christians do not necessarily have the same focus, mission, or ministry. That is a very important point and I think needs to revisited and expanded. The confusion that these authors see about the mission of the church is based in that area, I think. But, as well written as this book is, the crowning glory for it is the epilogue, a fictitious conversation between a young church starter and a mature pastor. If for no other reason than this epilogue, this bo