The Story of God
The Story of God
“Part Kurt Vonnegut, part Douglas Adams, but let’s be honest, Matheson had me at ‘Based on the Bible.’”
—Dana Gould, comedian and writer
About the Book
The Bible offers some clues to God’s personality—he’s alternately been called vindictive and just, bloodthirsty and caring, all-powerful and impotent, capricious and foresighted, and loving and hateful. But no one has ever fully explored why God might be such a figure of contrasts. Nor has anyone ever satisfactorily explained what guides his relationship not just with angels, the devil, and his son, but also with all of creation. Might he be completely misunderstood, a mystery even to himself? Might his behavior and actions toward humankind tell us much more about him than it does about us? Enter the mind of the creator of the universe, travel with him through the heavenly highs and hellish lows of his story, from Genesis to Revelation, to better understand his burdensome journey: being God isn’t easy. After hearing his story—at times troubling and tragic but always hilarious in its absurdity and divine in its comedy—you’ll never look at a miracle or catastrophe—or at our place in the universe, or God’s—the same way again.
About the Author
Chris Matheson is a screenwriter whose credits include Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, and Rapture-Palooza. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
Details
ISBN: 9781634310772
Format: paperback
SRP: $12.95
Page count: 144 pages
Trim size: 5.5 x 8.5
Pub date: September 2015
Also available in hardcover (ISBN: 9781634310246; SRP: $16.95)
“Half the people who read this book will laugh out loud, certain Chris Matheson is a twisted comic genius; the other half will laugh silently, equally certain that Chris will spend eternity writhing in hell.”
—Ed Solomon, screenwriter of Men in Black“Matheson punctures the pretensions of organized religion with unremitting hilarity.”
—Jerry Coyne, author of Why Evolution Is True and Faith versus Fact: Why Science and Religion Are Incompatible“This is the version of the bible Gutenberg should have printed. Only difference is, it’s much more fun. Hilarious. Irreverent. Timeless.”
—Peter Boghossian, author of A Manual for Creating Atheists“If there is a God who wrote the Bible, when he reads this he’s going to wonder why his editors didn’t point out all the problems in his text before publication. Brilliant and irreverent.”
—Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist for Scientific American, author of The Moral Arc“At times the story Matheson tells of God is not just funny, but laugh out loud funny. It’s thought provoking too. I loved it!”
—John W. Loftus, author of Why I Became an Atheist and The Outsider Test for Faith“The Story of God is an original, funny, and devastating book.”
—Jay Phelan, coauthor of Mean Genes“Matheson’s hilarious romp through the Bible reveals the book for what it is—an Iron Age myth. He also reveals the disdain this myth has for women—they are unclean, portrayed as whores, with daughters sacrificed to god while sons are spared. Why any woman believes in this today is a mystery to me.”
—Karen L. Garst, PhD, editor of Women Beyond Belief: Discovering Life without Religion and blogger at www.faithlessfeminist.com“God has never been this damned funny in this pseudo-sacred, sacrilegious piece of silliness. In his debut comic novel, Chris Matheson, screenwriter for the Bill & Ted flicks, grabs a seat at the theater of the absurd for an on-the-scene report about The Story of God. With the Bible as script, Matheson perceives a ready-made fantasy plot, ripe with conflict driven by a divine protagonist. . . . Literalists will cry blasphemy. Thoughtful theists will find more profitable afternoon reading.”
—Gary Presley, Foreword Reviews“It isn’t easy being God, as this book makes quite clear. It’s a full-time job and any screwups can haunt you for an eternity. What Life of Brian did for Jesus, The Story of God may do for the Father . . . or the Son, or the Holy Ghost. It humanizes the poor guy, which, after all, is appropriate since he was created in the image of man."
—Lawrence M. Krauss, renowned theoretical physicist
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