Review - Has God Spoken?

Has God Spoken?  Proof of the Bible's Divine Inspiration

Hank Hanegraaff

Has God Spoken? by Hank Hanegraaff was sent to me free from BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review.  I have read several books answering these types of questions as I seek to expand my knowledge of apologetics. 

Hanegraaff’s book is very thorough.  He clearly knows his subject matter and goes into great depth providing proofs through archaeology, understanding of ancient approaches to literature/translation/copying, etc.  What I found, however, is that this level of depth doesn’t make for clarification for a lay reader.  This book targets those who are already versed in the doctrine and are seeking additional intensity.  While I feel confident in my Biblical background, I felt very deficient when it came to following the depth he takes his subject.  A religious scholar would find this a strong read.

One other criticism I have of this text is Hanegraaff’s preoccupation with Professor Bart Ehrman of the University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill.  Living in NC, I was glad to hear about Ehrman’s platform as I have children in college and would find his teachings inappropriate. However, this book isn’t meant to be a refutation of Ehrman, rather a proof of the authenticity of scripture.  Hanegraaff does incorporate other atheistic writers, but he consistently returns to Ehrman.

I do like the mnemonic approach Hanegraaff presents.  Using these types of memory devices help the reader retain the points he is making. 

M – Manuscript Copies – COPIES (Copyist practices, Oral culture, Papyrus and parchment, Internal evidence, External evidence, Science of textual Criticism)

A – Archaeologists Spade – SPADE (Steles and stones, Pools and fools, Assyrian archaeology, Dead sea scrolls, Epic of Gilgamesh)

P – Prophetic Stars – STARS (Succession of nations, Typological prophecy, Abomination of desolation, Resurrection prophecies, Superstar ABC’s)

S  - Scriptural Lights – LIGHTS (Literal principle, Illumination principle, Grammatical principle, Historical principle, Typology principle, Synergy principle)

I believe this book would be a strong text for an apologetics course that allowed the students to cover each mnemonic thoroughly before proceeding on to the next.  I would enjoy a semester or a season to thoroughly investigate each aspect of MAPS.

*** Has God Spoken? by Hank Hanegraaff was sent to me free from BookSneeze in exchange for my honest review.