You Got to Be Kidding!: A Radical Satire of The Bible

By Dr. Joe Wenke and Joe Wenke

As irreverent as the musical The Book of Mormon, Dr. Joe Wenke’s YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING: A Radical Satire of The Bible is an engaging, provocative and hilarious investigation into the bestselling book of all time. Written to “cause trouble” cultural arsonist Wenke, a keen observer of human gullibility, tempts readers to more closely examine the stories they think they know about the Bible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Sep 26, 2012
• ISBN: 9781483512280

Reviews for You Got to Be Kidding!

[theboltchick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Lets start right off saying, if you are easily offended, don't bother picking up this book. If, on the other hand, you are capable of reading some very smart, very insightful religious satire, by all means get this book now!Joe Wenke takes a critical, provocative look at The Bible and he does so with regular hilarity. He probes the questions many are afraid to ask out loud. Like for instance, "If God hardened Pharaoh's heart, doesn't that make the plagues all God's fault?" And why, during the great flood, did God feel it necessary to not only kill all the evil people, but all the animals? What did they do that was so horrible? And what about the fish? Flooding seems to be overly kind to them.A relatively short read, I finished it in an afternoon, chuckling the whole time.

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In You Got To Be Kidding!, author Joe Wenke takes a sometimes funny sometimes angry look at the Bible. He clearly knows the book well and makes some provocative points about taking a literal view of many of the stories. I have no doubt many Christians will accuse him of cherry-picking, a right they seem to feel is only to be used by them. However, in fact, he looks more at the stories themselves rather than some of the controversies that have lately filled the news. He never, for example, discusses Biblical references (or, in some cases, lack of references) to homosexuality, birth control, or abortion but rather discusses the stories of Moses, Job, the prophets, Jesus, and more. His comments about Revelation had me laughing out loud.For the most part, I enjoyed this book. There were times it felt like it was written by an angry adolescent which may have been intentional since I suspect many people who have read the Bible in their youth have come away with a WTF feeling. Still, his irreverence and humour keep the book from becoming just another angry attack on religion. My guess is this book will not sway anyone on either side of the argument - religious or atheist. Having been raised a Lutheran as a child, I was taught that the Bible was not meant to be taken literally but as a group of stories to help us understand God. As an atheist, I see the Bible as a very old book which gives us insight into ancient culture. As I have never been a Christian fundamentalist, I have no idea what makes them tick. I do find it amazing that people in the 21st century would claim to follow the teachings of people from 2000 years ago. And, if they're going to, at least have the decency to show the same strength of their convictions as, say, the Mennonites and quit cherry-picking modern civilization. Regardless, they're not likely to read this book and, if they do, will probably declare Wenke the spawn of Satan who God will no doubt smite eventually or at least send the Westboro church to picket him unmercifully. But, enough with the sidebar - as I said I doubt this book will change minds but it might give a few chuckles and in this year of 'legitimate rape' and wacky Christian alternate history, who couldn't use a laugh?

[hjvanderklis_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In You Got To Be Kidding! - The Cultural Arsonist’s Literal Reading of the Bible, Joe Wenke intentionally sets fire to the bridge between biblical stories and personalities and our contemporary understanding. Twisted with humor, straight language and a little sarcasm, this personal theology is both provoking and entertaining.Humorous questions like Why did God turn Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt? Were there no other seasonings available? or Who reported the desert encounter between Jesus and Satan or Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane when his disciples were all asleep? won’t rock the boat. You have to accept wordings like: “So Moses saves the people from total destruction at the hands of God, and what thanks does he get in return? A rebellion. Two hundred fifty chiefs led by a guy named Korah confront Moses and Aaron and basically say what’s so special about you? Hey, who made you the holy one?Now I’m sure Moses was laughing to himself at this affront, thinking, “That would be God, asshole.” Wenke touches upon the cruelties in much of the Old Testament stories, from the penalty on the first trespassing in the Garden of Eden throughout God’s war crimes and the Sheol as a mass grave somewhere below the surface of the earth. Ecclesiastes is a no-read if you don’t want to get depressed. And the prophecies, they’re all so vague, that any interpretation may be right.Jesus is cool, because he does even greater magic tricks than Old Testament heroes like Moses, Elijah and Elisha. He’s cool too, because he upsets the status quo, hangs out with poor and needy, shows mercy and emotion. The disciples are loosers, many journalistic sins committed by the authors of the gospels and Paul…. Paul’s the guy who institutionalized christianity, labeled sex icky and demoted women.Wenke decodes the parables, powerful serving the core messages to his readers. There are many unanswered questions. And “Revelation is a trip. If you want to understand it, I suggest you first read the collected works of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll and play a lot of Beatles songs backwards. I don’t want to get all caught up in my underwear right here when I’m ready to wrap up, so I’ll just cut to the chase and check out who’s in the house at John’s Apocalypse Lounge.”If you made it to the end of this book and still believe (don’t you worry, I still do, because I don’t share this a-cultural, often out of context reading and stripped-from-humbleness interpretation of the Bible): congratulations!

[heptonj · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An excellent book! This is a very literal take on the bible and it's stories which is both funny and thought-provoking. Probably a bit uncomfortable for those of a religious persuasion. Why is it that 'thou shalt not kill' applies only to us and not God - he's killed millions. And those wise men were not so clever after all. I could not put this book down. It shows just how ridiculous some of the interpretations of the bible are and how God just does not make sense. I would really like to hear more from this author.

[glichman_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The early 21st Century could be argued to be the Age of New Atheism: the attempt to be good without god, to replace faith with reason, sometimes with an arrogant or condescending tone but always accurately and convicingly. It has seen the rise of Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens (RIP), Sam Harris, et al, and their deep philosophical books. From that, You've Got to Be Kidding by Joe Wenke is a welcome and needed change of pace. It is a short, satirical summary of the old and new testaments of the Bible that will keep any freethinking reader laughing the whole way through. Mr. Wenke uses humor to point out the absurdities and contradictions in the Good Book. One of my favorite arguments is how he demonstrates that any evil is of and from God, that it existed before man, and therefore the premise that man brought evil to the world by eating the forbidden fruit is a fallacy. You've Got to Be Kidding is a must read for any Humanist, Atheist, or open minded person looking for a more honest look at the Bible. No doubt devout Christians will be offended, although they are probably most in need of reading it. But anyone else will have a great laugh and an enlightening read.

[datrappert · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very weird. Sort of like an x-rated stand up comedian trashing the bible. Wenke does a thorough, convincing hatchet job on the old testament, especially his identification of the old testament god (and his followers by extension) as the greatest mass murderer of all time. The atrocities in the bible make Hitler, Mao, and Stalin look like amateurs. Wenke is also good at pointing out, in a pretty funny way, the plethora of contradictions in the bible. When he turns to the new testament, however, he sort of loses his stride for a while. He goes very easy on Jesus (unlike, for instance, Robert Ingersoll) before getting back on track by the end of the book where he asks a series of absurd (but valid) questions about biblical events.It isn't quite clear what audience he has in mind. The book is sure to offend just about any Christian, so I guess Wenke will have to settle for amusing those who have already given up their Christian faith. It is clear even through the vulgar humor that Wenke knows his bible forward and backwards. This is a quick read if you are in the right mood.