Chosen?: Reading the Bible Amid the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Rating: 3 Stars

Review:

I received this book as an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have to be upfront and say that I do not know much at all about the conflict aside from the bare bones of it - Israelis and Palestinians are fighting over the same land and have been for decades. I was hoping in this text to get a little a little more background and specifics but it left me with more questions than answers. It appeared more superficial to me, and this might only be because of my lack of knowledge, but the focus was on what was said in the Bible about the Israelites being the Chosen People who were led to the Holy Land. Time and again the author said the land was given unconditionally, but that did not mean it could be kept unconditionally. It really seemed like he was driving that point home, time and again, so that is the main take-way? I do not know enough of this author's beliefs about the topic to know if that is indicative of his specific beliefs about the current conflict.

At the end of the book the author had a Q&A session, which I felt like should have been incorporated into the text itself, perhaps written as part the conclusion? It seemed strange to me, especially when the text was so slim to begin with. I also find it hard to take non-fiction authors seriously who use a lot of exclamation points. I don't know, that is just a personal thing.

I think the majority of the issues with the text are mine, due to my lack of knowledge. I plan to read further in order to learn more about this topic. I could recommend it though for those better versed in the subject.