The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for God, Science and the Bible: Genuine science confirms the Bible's amazing message
Because God, Science and the Bible was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.
Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.
This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.
Manang Muyang
I read the official OBC review months ago and thought I wanted to read the book back then. Now, it's BOTD. I am a believer. The title, cover, and blurb all speak to me. I would have sampled the book on my own. After reading the sample, I decided to buy the book and read all of it. The author has a very engaging writing style. It was easy to agree with him, and I found myself nodding and smiling because of the metaphors he used. I did note that the author used commas inconsistently, but this did not bother me at all. The message was what counted. But let me cite some sentences which were not perfect grammatically. At 6% of the book, the author had these three sentences: If your immediate answer to that question is "No" then I hope I can at least change it to "Don't know". If it is "Don't know" I'll try to move it in the direction of "Yes". And if it is already "Yes", then read on to learn how better to answer those who question why you believe in God." The "if-then" construction always needs a comma, but the author used the comma only with the last sentence. As earlier mentioned, I like the author's use of metaphors. He compared a winning lottery ticket to gaining heaven; of course the latter is much more valuable. He used the childish question "Are we there yet?" to show anticipation for the end of the journey. The official OBC reviewer gave the perfect rating to the book. While the editing may need some fine-tuning, I don't have much quarrel with the rating. I am eager to read my copy soon.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 4:59 am by Manang Muyang.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
va2016
The title "God, Science, and the Bible" clearly indicates what the theme of the book is. The cover that depicts Earth, and the water surrounding it, is attractive. There are only 5 Amazon customer ratings, which is not a sufficient number for me to decide if I should read the book or not. The Amazon summary gives a clear description about the content of the book, which is about discussions relating to Big Bang, The Creation, and the Bible. As I am not interested in this topic, I would have skipped sampling if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration describing the author's interaction with their neighbour. As I am not interested in this theme, I am not going to read this book in full. I found the sample professionally edited. There were no grammatical or mechanical errors. I didn't like anything specifically about the book. I don't have any recommendations for the improvement of the book. Although I found one OBC review of the book, my decision to not to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 4:59 am by va2016.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Rodel Barnachea
Upon going over the title's Amazon page and official OnlineBookClub review, I opted not to purchase the book. I disagree with some of the author's beliefs. Particularly, I think one of his argument, in which he stated that the fundamental law of physics and Darwin's theory couldn't answer the questions about the origin of the universe and life because "God created the universe and the life on earth supernaturally," is insufficient and downright ridiculous. Sampling the book did not change my mind. I wouldn't acquire the book because nothing in the sample engaged my interest or convinced me that I'd take delight in reading the rest of the book. It's also because I still disagree with some of the author's beliefs, and my first impressions of the title remained even after I sampled it. The first ten pages cover an introduction, Chapter 1, and some pages of Chapter 2. My favorite part is in Chapter 1, in which the author stated that some arguments about the existence of God are actually arguments about God's injustices, not against his existence. I agree with the author on this part, but I disagree with most of his faulty arguments and biased beliefs. I couldn't identify any errors or typos in the text; I believe the book is professionally edited. Since the book is a religious one and not a logical one, I have nothing to suggest to the author.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 4:54 am by Rodel Barnachea.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shrabastee Chakraborty
I am not keen on books with religious themes. Hence, despite the praise in the official OBC review, I wouldn't have read the book based on the genre. I didn't find any errors in the first ten pages. The author describes a particular experience when he perceived God's instructions while reading the Bible. I do not have any suggestions for improvement as I neither liked nor disliked the contents. As I am not the target audience of this book, I decided not to read this.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 4:30 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ekta Kumari
Through the book, the author has aimed to reconcile religion, faith, and science. The book answers some of the debatable questions regarding the theory of evolution of life, the universe, and the God's existence. I liked the premise but wouldn't have read the book as I wasn't intrigued by the blurb and the cover page. However, I enjoyed the portion I've sampled so far. The thing I liked the most is that the author also relates his assertions with personal experiences while also stating stats to keep the read fact based. However, the editing needs a lot of work. I found two to three errors in the portion I sampled. One error is in this sentence, "Nowadays it’s a major stop-off for cruise ships on one of the world’s most scenic voyages." There should be a comma after 'Nowadays'. I wouldn't be reading the whole book as I'm not intrigued enough by the portion I've read so far. Though, the read is still engaging depending on the reader's taste. I would recommend another round of editing. I did see an official review before sampling.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 4:14 am by Ekta Kumari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
evraealtana
I don't care for books on religious subjects, so I would never have looked at this one for myself. I was confused by the story of Zak, who knocked on his neighbor's door asking for bread, because the way it was phrased made it sound like Zak was a real person in the author's life asking for food. It should have been set apart from the present-day narrative to make it clear what was the author's memory and what was the Bible story. I also don't feel that "Zak" should have had a name, since naming a character implies that you will meet that character again, while after reading the story, it is clear that "Zak" was a one-off biblical reference inserted to prove a point. There was also one awkward phrase arising from (I think) a difference in colloquialisms; the author wrote that "the man cheekily knocked up his neighbor". I assume "knocked up" is British shorthand for "knocked on the door of", but in American slang, it means "impregnated". I disagreed with the author's assertion that religion is not that the root of most warfare, since prejudice against "outgroups" is often if not usually at least in part based on religion. The author doesn't mention, but really SHOULD mention, the English Reformation and Counter-reformation, genocides in Africa and the New World based on clashes with invaders' religions and native religions, religion being used as a basis for supporting holding slaves, millions of which died during the centuries of slave-trading, and so on. I also felt that he undermined his own case by using Wikipedia as a reference, which is no better than "everyone knows it's true; everyone agrees". The author uses religion as a premise to then PROVE religion, creating a circular argument; for example, he uses the "fact" that the universe was intelligently designed to demonstrate that there must be a "designer", i.e., God, when, of course, the universe can only possibly be "intelligently designed" if God's existence is assumed to be true in the first place. These appear to be the same kind of arguments discussed by the official OBC reviewer, leading me to believe that the book is written predominantly with these errors as its foundation. Overall, I got the impression that this was a religious person trying to create more religious people in the world, which he himself strongly implies in the introduction. I'm really not interested in hearing what I consider to be "Christian propaganda". The title mentions science, but so far I have seen none, not even the science of logic. I'm done with this book. I found one error in the first ten pages: a misplaced period in the quotation ending with "'repent, and believe the good news.' (Mark 1.15)". The sentence-ending period should go after the parenthetical citation, not within the quotation marks.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 4:14 am by evraealtana.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Catherine Hsu
I don't read books about faith or religion so I would not have read this book before the sample. The sample really didn't change my mind. I really appreciate that the book started with a chapter questioning the existence of God and the counterarguments — for a skeptic, this was really interesting to read for me. However, the rest of the book was not that interesting to me and read too much like a textbook. I also think the book needs some more editing for punctuation, as I noticed that in many places the periods were placed outside of the quotation marks: "'Yes'." or "'Don't know'." Therefore, I won't be reading the book. The official review did not change my mind.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 4:08 am by Catherine Hsu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sou Hi
If it's not for this program, I won't pick this book. The reason is that the genre is not my favorite, and there are not many ratings on Amazon. The sample begins with a preface about the Bible and God. One day, the author heard God's words. He read a section in the Bible and later discovered that it's a hint to book a theatre. Then, he proceeds with discussing the existence of God.
To be frank, I have nothing to like after reading the sample. Since I am not a believer, the content sounds alien to me, and I am not really drawn to it. This book may be appealing to Christians, but I don't suppose it would be interesting to others. I would also suggest another round of editing, since the lack of commas after the introductory phrases can be distracting and confusing. Besides, some quotes are placed inside double quotation marks (for example, John 5.24 or Mark 1.15), while the others are placed inside single quotation marks. As this book is not to my taste, I won't buy it. The official review doesn't change my mind.
Error example: As I write this preface the EuroMillions lottery jackpot stands at £167 million or US$205 million. -> I think there should be a comma after "preface"
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 3:58 am by Sou Hi.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
xsquare
I’m not a fan of books that are heavily focused on religion, so I wouldn’t have sampled the book based on the cover, title or blurb. The official OBC review did not really convince me. I like the way the author posed the question of ‘Does God exist?’ to the reader and how the aims of the book differed according to how the reader answered his question. However, I did see a typo in the sentence ‘According to the Wikipedia article on ‘Religious War’ religious wars have accounted for [...]’, where there is a missing comma. Other than the minor typo, I don’t think that there was anything the author could have done better. This subject matter doesn’t interest me very much personally, so I don’t think I will be reading the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 3:45 am by xsquare.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jennifer Donovan Smith
I would not have sampled this book outside of the program because it is clearly religious, and I am not religious. The OBC review was positive, but did not convince me to read the book.
There is nothing I like about the sample. In fact, I find much of it problematic. In the second paragraph of the preface, the author insinuates that people “survive” the population that doesn’t believe in the Christian God, as if everyone who doesn’t follow the commandments of the Christian God is devoid of a moral code, whether it be internal or external. I will not be reading the rest of the book simply because I do not agree with it.
The book also needs better editing. For instance, in the preface there are the following two errors:
Loc. 53: “any more” should be “anymore”: “Does it matter if people don’t believe in God any more?“
Loc. 63: “worse” should be “worst”: “If it then had the winning numbers on it that would be the worse mistake I ever made!“
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 3:05 am by Jennifer Donovan Smith.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Howlan
I do not like reading non-fiction books which focus on religion. So after reading the synopsis and the Official OBC review which is present, I still would not have read this book without the program. In the first ten pages the author explains how the negative aspects of religion and suffering are a catalyst in people rejecting the existence of God. Then he talks about physics and the Big Bang Theory. The narration is conversational and easy to read. The content in this book is both logical and illogical for me. For example, in the first chapter, I mostly thought that the author's views about religion were good. In the second chapter I could not understand what the author wanted to say. Because he pointed out that the Big Bang Theory is not definite but the Newton's Laws are, which is really confusing as both of them are not and can change in the future. So, I did not agree with his views in the second chapter. I am not going to buy and read this book as I do not enjoy reading non-fictional books based on the existence of God. No typos were found in the first ten pages. I found nothing to improve in the first ten pages.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 1:47 am by Howlan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Annelore Trujillo
I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, OBC review, cover, and title. “The Bible” in the title was an automatic deterrent. I don’t read religious books. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. The prologue talked about a time when the author had to decipher what God was saying to ask again for a place for a conference to be held. I did like this anecdote; however, the rest of the content isn’t for me. The author is trying to convince people about the existence of God. Already 10 pages in, I don’t agree with what the author has said, especially when it comes to religious motivation behind wars. Sure, many wars weren’t directly about religion, but the issues leading to the war stemmed from religion. For example, WWII wasn’t a directly religious war, but the Holocaust was against people who were ethnically and religiously Jewish. This doesn’t count as religious bloodshed? Anyway, this type of disagreement had me wanting to put the book down. There’s nothing specific to improve; I’m just not interested in a book trying to persuade me one way or the other about God. The book did seem to be professionally edited.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 1:40 am by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Nikolas Farmakis
This is a non-fiction Christian book, where the author lays out evidence for God's existence. I would not have read this book based on the cover, the genre, or the title, as I do not usually read books related to Christian apologetics. I will not read this book, as I am a firm believer in Christianity, and I have heard most of the evidence laid out by the author before. There was an error in the sample I read, where the writer wrote 'none of these was religious in nature', whilst I think it should be 'none of these were religious in nature'. What I liked most about the text was that the author's arguments were well structured and persuasively written. To improve, the author must add more excitement and interest to the text by adding more emotion and tension to it. There was an OnlineBookClub review for this book, which did not influence my decision.
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 1:15 am by Nikolas Farmakis.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mutai Marshal
At times, our judgement get clouded by some questions. Is the Quran or Bible the right way to go by? Will Jesus eventually return? According to the author, these questions have answers. The language used in the book is simple. I loved most that Bible verses were inferred. This makes the information credible. The title hinted at being a religious book, which is a genre I love, and I would have read it without sampling. Based on the OBC review and sample, I will buy this book to understand the author's opinion of scientific theories and the explanations about how the universe came to being. I recommend another round of editing due to the grammatical errors I noticed (such as a missing comma after "darling wife" and before "Anne." This is found in the dedication section).
First Ten review added on February 8, 2021, at 12:09 am by Mutai Marshal.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Alice Heritage
I wouldn't have sampled this book without the programme as I have no interest in reading books that try to convert me to Christianity or prove the existence of god. The sample didn't change my mind because the arguments were not cogent or logical, so I won't buy this today. This book does appear professionally edited as I didn't notice any errors in the sample. That was something I liked as it made a nice change. I also liked the way the author started with an anecdote about asking for something again when it had been refused before, noting that he was inspired to do so by scripture - that showed a logical ordering and that thought was put into the account. The author's logic could be improved as he talks about god in terms of human beings, noting, for example, that his teachers were unjust but they still existed. This does not address atheists' beliefs - as I understand it, religious people are the first to admit that their belief in god is a matter of faith, but the author doesn't go into that at all. So a suggested improvement would be to put the issue of faith in a more prominent position. In discussing how many people have been killed in the name of religion, he mentions neither witch-burning nor genocide, so the fact base of this book needs to be improved. He says that most problems on earth are created by humans - someone who doesn't believe in god would not disagree. There is major inequality in property ownership as women own less than 20% of land in the world, but religions firmly uphold the patriarchy. So, I really wasn't convinced by anything I read. The OBC review didn't affect my decision.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 1:49 pm by Alice Heritage.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Iva Stoyanova
I wouldn't have chosen to sample or read this book if I wasn't part of this program. I didn't like the title and the genre. In other words, I don't normally read books related to God and the Bible. Also, I prefer reading fiction as I find the genre more interesting than non-fiction. However, the book's cover looks quite well and eye-catching. It has a beautiful image that might catch the attention of many readers. In addition, the official review was quite helpful for me. It supports my opinion of the book being one for God and the Bible. So, I will not buy and read this book. I don't think I'll enjoy it, as the topic is not an interest of mine. What is more, I haven't changed my mind after reading the first ten pages.
I find the book to be well-edited. However, I noticed a missing full stop on one occasion, and the addition of an unnecessary comma in another instance. The first instance is at loc. 139: "(The Lord must love it when we finally work out what he's getting at!)" Here, I believe there's a missing full stop at the end of the sentence. The second error I noticed is at loc. 144: "..who probably wouldn't even approve of evangelizing his citizens, to change his mind." In my opinion, the comma after the word citizens is unnecessary. I didn't find something I particularly liked in the bit I read. This type of book is not for me, however, fans of science, religious kind of readers, etc. might find this book interesting. Also, Christians and others who would like to start living according to the Bible will probably find the book helpful. I don't have recommendations for improvement.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 8:55 am by Iva Stoyanova.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Hazel Arnaiz
I will skip this book outside the program. The cover has a sci-fi vibe, but I can tell from the title that it is a religious book, which I seldom read. The short blurb has controversial topics about science and religion but feels like leaning on the biblical side. Customer reviews are few but with high ratings. Sampling confirms my initial impression. I appreciate the different take on the controversial topics, but it feels like the discussion is more bible-based. I was hoping to see a comparative analysis or an attempt to find connections reconciling the debatable ideas between religion and science. Other notable items in the book are the note on British spelling, the tables, list of figures, and other references. The sample also has issues in punctuations, grammar, and spelling. Here are some examples.
Location 52. Spelling. Consider changing "any more" with "anymore."
“Does it matter if people don’t believe in God [any more]?”
Location 58. Grammar. Consider adding an article.
“What if this life is supposed to be only a preparation for [] proper life, a life that will surpass this life as your current mortal life surpasses the brief dark time you spent in your mother’s womb?”
The official OnlineBookClub review is enthusiastic, but I will pass on this one.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 6:28 am by Hazel Arnaiz.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Justine Ocsebio
I wouldn’t have sampled this book based on the blurb, as I didn’t find it interesting. In the sample, the author asks questions about life after death, the nature of God, and the promise of Jesus’ return. In the same paragraph, he asks questions about the Big Bang Theory and our planet’s future. The author seems to be trying to delve into both science and religion, which I like. However, I’m not going to finish the whole book, as this isn’t the kind of book I’m interested in right now. I disliked nothing, and I didn’t see anything that needed improvement. The text is well edited. The official review did not affect my decision.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 4:03 am by Justine Ocsebio.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kaitlyn Canedy
I likely would have read the sample of God, Science and the Bible even if it was not the OnlineBookClub's book of the day. The title itself caught my attention, which is what made me want to check it out. What I like about this book so far is that it uses actual data to argue its points; there is nothing that sounds like a church service or a forced idea in the sample. I did find one grammatical error in the first paragraph at the 94% point in the sample. In the middle of the very first paragraph, two sentences do not have a space between each other. The word at the end of the first sentence is "origin", and the one that starts the next sentence is "So." I cannot think of any improvements that can be done to this book. There is an official OnlineBookClub review for this book, but I did not need to read it to decide if I would read the book or not. I had already made the decision that I would read it after reading the entire sample. Readers that have Christian beliefs but are also interested in science should give this title a chance.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 3:18 am by Kaitlyn Canedy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Verna Coy
I don’t plan to buy and finish this book today, as this isn’t usually a book I would choose. However, I like that this author uses science and the Bible to prove out God’s existence. I liked how the author posed questions for the reader. I could find no room for improvements in what I read. It seems like a well-rounded book that answers questions for new believers or readers interested in discovering God and science. The book is well edited too, and I enjoyed the 4-star Online Book Club review, which mentioned how unbiased the book is. I know readers who like proofs will enjoy aspects of this work.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 3:01 am by Verna Coy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Lorraine De Vos
I was immediately on my back foot when I saw the title and cover image of this book - it felt aggressively preachy to me. Surprisingly the sample pages did not reflect the same tone. The author actually comes across as intelligent, friendly, and above all logical in his writings. He uses real life examples and uses conversational style writing to put the reader at ease. The book must have been professionally edited, as I did not come across any errors in the sample pages. The official OnlineBookClub review was excellent and would have prompted me to add this book to my reading list had I not already decided to do so.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 2:57 am by Lorraine De Vos.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Sanju Lali
It was quite clear from the cover and the title that this book is about spirituality and God. With this idea, I considered reading the official review of this book to know about the takeaways from it. The official review gave me the idea that this book compares scientific theories like the Big Bang theory with testaments of the Bible. This idea piqued my interest to sample the book. After reading the first ten pages, I realized that this book is not professionally edited because I found some grammatical errors in the sample. For example, the sentence, "There was no way I was going to try persuading a Roman Catholic mayor, who probably wouldn’t even approve of evangelizing his citizens, to change his mind...". The sentence could have been, "There was no way I was going to try persuading a Roman Catholic mayor, who probably wouldn’t even approve of evangelizing his citizens to change his mind... ". The thing l liked the most is the thought-provoking debate on the birth of the universe, which may answer several questions about the reality of our life. My suggestion to the author would be to go for a round of professional editing to make it easier for reading. Anyway, I am quite happy with this book. After looking at all these aspects, I decided to purchase and read this book today.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 2:29 am by Sanju Lali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Sonya Nicolaidis
The OBC reviewer was full of praise for this enlightening work, and as someone interested in how to marry the opposing ideas held by science and religion, I was interested from the start in this short book. The cover is clear and made quite an impact; I’m certain I would have stopped for a closer look in a bookstore. The first ten pages were a pleasure to read. This author has a unique gift of putting his thoughts and ideas down in a a rational and interesting way, without making the subject burdensome. I most enjoyed the statistic that wars in the name of religion amount to only a small percentage of total wars fought in history. In the sample, I didn’t see any glaring grammatical errors, although there were numerous times where the comma after an introductory clause was omitted. One such occasion was in the sentence, “No I can’t.” on the first page which should have a comma after “no” for readability. In spite of these omissions, the text was clearly professionally edited. I have no suggestions for improvement as I think this book has all the most important attributes of a good read. There was absolutely nothing not to like about this sample, and this is definitely one of the few religious books that I would take the time to read right now. Definitely a ‘yes’ from me.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 12:56 am by Sonya Nicolaidis.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Chelsy Scherba
I like that the author doesn’t just want you to take his word for it. He describes how he saw a passage in the Bible about a man asking for food to give his guest again, and that taught him to reevaluate his beliefs and keep asking for answers. The book is compelling so far, I’m tempted to review it. I enjoy books about faith and I’ve read several that incorporate science as well, but this book is more closely aligned with my beliefs. The editing looks exceptionally done with no errors, and I can’t think of any improvements. The book is interesting and something I would want to read outside of the book club program. The review was positive and I’m interested in reading the rest.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 12:52 am by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
J_odoyo
Proving the existence of God is a discussion I always like. I am an enthusiastic member of Christian apologetics; although I know that I can't prove God, I can only give evidence indicating his existence. People have always used science and many theories to prove there is no God, but Arnold V. Page has made it even more interesting by explaining how genuine science explains the idea of God's existence and the Bible's amazing message. The premise of this book is a vital one, especially in contemporary Christendom. I could have bought this book because of one reason: I’m a Bible student, and I love the premise of this book. I was engrossed from the introduction. It was likable that the book had an official OnlineBookClub review, which gave insight into what the book is all about. I didn’t have any problem with the book’s cover page, and I think the title could attract many Christian readers. The book’s description on the Amazon website was okay; it was succinct and informative enough to allow for an accurate guess of what the book entails. I did not find any error (In the pages I've read), and I would wager that the book was professionally edited. l like everything in the sample, and I would recommend nothing for the improvement of this book. After reading the review and the first ten pages, I’m going to finish reading this book, because I’m a fan of Christian reads.
First Ten review added on February 7, 2021, at 12:07 am by J_odoyo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Ari Martinez
If it wasn't for the First Ten program, I would not have sampled this book based on the cover, title, or Official OnlineBookClub review because I do not like to read books that have to do with religion since they tend to be biased. After reading the sample, I will not be reading the book because I do not see myself as the target audience for this book since I already believe in God and science equally. From the sample, the part I liked most was the simple, mundane examples the author uses to get his point across. I have met many priests/clergymen who use fancy words and long-winded metaphors to explain religious topics. Even though it sounds nice, it is usually hard to understand. However, this author uses easy-to-understand examples, such as throwing away a lottery ticket or asking again to use a theater. I cannot think of any way to improve the book. There book seems well edited for the most part; however, there were a few places where a comma was needed. For example, in location 254, there is a comma after "Secondly" ("Secondly, if it is hard to believe in the existence of a good and loving God because..."), but in the next page, there is no comma after "Thirdly" ("Thirdly our view of suffering is completely distorted so long as we think...").
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 10:31 pm by Ari Martinez.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Gabrielle Sigaki
God, Science and the Bible by Arnold V Page is a Christian book that brings some scientific theories about the origins of the world and the people with a religious approach. If I didn't sample this book, I wouldn't read it based on its genre and its Official OnlineBookClub review since I'm not interested in Christian Eschatology books. After sampling it, I didn't change my mind and I won't read the entire book since the religious approach didn't attract my attention. However, the book seems professionally edited, I think there's nothing to be improved in it, and I liked the author's unbiased arguments since it reminded me of scientific papers I have already read.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 9:50 pm by Gabrielle Sigaki.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Stephanie Runyon
The title of this book caught my attention and I would have sampled it on my own. There was an OBC review and I read several positove reviews on the Amazon site. I liked the author's approach at not being preachy. My favorite aspect was how he used The BIg Bang Theory against Newton's Laws of Physics. Both theories disprove each other. I did not find anything to dislike and have already purchased a copy for myself and sent a paperback copy to my mother. The book is professionally edited. I am currently interested in growing spiritually which is why this book appeals to me.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 9:14 pm by Stephanie Runyon.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Mary WhiteFace
Without the first ten program I would not have wanted to read a book about how science confirms the Bible's message. I changed my mind after reading the first ten pages. The OnlineBookClub review did not influence my decision.
The book seemed to be professionally edited. I have no suggestions for improvements. I liked the way the author wrote as if he was having a conversation with someone. The part that stood out to me the most was at location 167: "That’s what the Greek word translated ‘repent’ literally means: ‘change your mind’." I have always found it interesting that when the Bible was translated into English that it wasn't always translated literally.
I'm curious as to what else the author has to say. I will be reading the whole book.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 8:04 pm by Mary WhiteFace.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
PeterRabitt20
My first instinct was that I would read this book. Judging by the title and blurb, the subject of science and religion is interesting. I was eager to start the sample. However, once I did read it, I changed my mind. The writing style—though it was easy to read—did not seem serious enough. I was hoping to find a more scholarly written book. Also, it seemed to me that the author was trying to prove science wrong: instead of merging scientific theories with religion. Therefore, I would not read this book because it was not what I expected it to be. It did seem to be professionally edited. However, I did find issues with the capitalization of the subtitles at the beginning of most paragraphs. As an improvement, I would suggest that the author not use Wikipedia as a primary source. Some readers do not consider it as a valid source. There was an OBC review that prompted me to try the book.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 8:02 pm by PeterRabitt20.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
MsH2k
Based on the title and the blurb, I would not have sampled this book if I were not part of this program. As a believer, I wasn’t interested in being persuaded of the existence of an omnipotent God.
The sample pages were inviting and easy to read. I knew I was hooked when I wanted to keep reading after I finished the first ten pages. I was surprised how informative the author’s research was. I too had heard that “more people have been killed in the name of God than for any other reason,” and I never thought to question that assertion. The author’s statistics to debunk that statement were refreshing. I will buy this book. I’m sure I will learn other interesting bits of information.
The only errors I noticed in the sample pages were missing commas after introductory phrases/clauses. There were several instances of this, and the absence of the comma resulted in my needing to reread the sentence to parse it properly. An example is the missing comma before [that] in this sentence at loc 63: “If it then had the winning numbers on it that would be the worse mistake I ever made!”
Another example is the missing comma after [correctly] at loc 238: “If I understand correctly their decision to separate religion and state was primarily to prevent the state interfering with religious faith rather than vice versa.”
A suggestion for improvement would be to have another round of editing to address the previously mentioned lack of commas to improve readability. The featured OnlineBookClub review was very positive, but neither it nor any Amazon rating had any bearing on my decision to buy this book.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 7:27 pm by MsH2k.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Odette Chace
The title is interesting and I like the design of the cover. The synopsis on Amazon was intriguing. The official Online Book Club review gave the work a perfect rating of 4 out of 4 stars, but the review made me think more negatively about the book than I did before. The reviewer mentioned that the author is a minister and that the book contains a guide to how to read the Bible. While the reviewer asserted that the book is unbiased, I can't help but think otherwise. I wouldn't sample this book if I weren't part of this program. "In fact[,] not believing in God might not matter at all if there [is] nothing beyond this mortal life" (0% of sample). I noticed multiple errors in the first ten pages and don't believe the work was professionally edited. The more of the book I read, the less I trusted the information in it. This was my least favorite aspect of the book. I did not like that conclusory statements were made. For instance, "Well, it might not matter to you if you have survived abortion, abandonment, bullying, abuse, theft, mugging, rape, marital infidelity, scams, slavery, terrorism, stabbing and murder by a population that no longer believes in the God of the Bible and therefore has no respect for his commandments" (loc. 54). This statement assumes that these terrible events only happen because a large portion of the population does not believe in the veracity of the Bible. On a more positive note, I enjoyed the simplified version of the story from the Bible about "Zak" asking his neighbor for a loaf of bread. It should be noted, though, that many readers are likely to interpret "knocking up" one's neighbor very differently than the author intended. I don't plan to finish reading the book due to the aforementioned issues.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 6:57 pm by Odette Chace.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kelyn
If I had not been a member of this program, it is almost certain that the genre alone would have steered me away from this book. Religion-based books are a genre I avoid like the plague. In the end, every last one of them I have ever seen pan out to be simply the author's opinion, period. This is not something that interests me whatsoever. Given this, the cover, title, and author would not have influenced me at all due to the book's genre. The blurb states that the author uses science to 'explain' contentious religious questions and that the book is based on this aim. My interest was still not stirred. There are several customer reviews on the Amazon site, all of which were positive. All of them seemed to have been written by individuals who were already 'religious.' Of course, they would enjoy the book. It backs up their beliefs in a logical way. Although I did not see a review from this program on the Amazon site, if I had, I would have been interested in what the reviewer had to say. The review on this site was fairly complimentary of the book. This gave me at least a small hope of it being interesting going into the sample. Alas, I found more of the same rhetoric I have seen in so many other religion-based books, albeit the author seems to have done quite a lot of scientific research to align his beliefs and 'answers' to age-old questions with modern science. Some of the questions addressed were 'Does God Exist?', 'If God is loving, why does he allow so much evil in the world'? etc. For that latter question, I must say that I adamantly disagree with the author. He states that these things are humanity's fault because of our sinful nature. However, he also states that we were made in the image of God. The next logical step is that 'If we are made in God's image and are prone to 'sin,' doesn't that mean God is as well since we are made in his image? Obviously, that's not the route the author takes. I can't count the number of books I've seen that are similar to this. Firstly, the author's 'theories' are already based on faith. Secondly, if one looks and tries hard enough, anything can be rationalized...anything. In the end, however logically or 'science-based' his arguments might be, they are still, in the end, one man's opinion. Obviously, this book is not one I will be reading. The book seemed well-edited. I found no 'countable' errors in the first ten pages.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 6:45 pm by Kelyn.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Emy Katherine
Without this program, I would not have read the book based on the genre. Honestly, I am not interested in reading a book that focuses on demonstrating how science actually confirms the existence of God. Therefore, neither the sample nor the OBC review convinced me to buy the book. However, I appreciated the author's writing style; it was clear and informative. The Amazon blurb also gives enough information to intrigue the reader. Sadly, as I also noticed some distracting errors throughout the sample, I would suggest another round of editing. For example, there should be a comma after "Religious War" in the following sentence: "According to the Wikipedia article on ‘Religious War’ religious wars have accounted for less than 2% of all people killed in warfare." (location 197 of 387 • 51%) In the following sentence, "therefore" should be preceded by a semicolon and followed by a comma: "They’d say that only someone far greater than us could have created everything, therefore there has to be a God." (location 46 of 387 • 12%)
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 5:56 pm by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Brenda Creech
I would have checked out this book based on the cover and title without a review to read because I am always interested in comparing science and religion. After reading the official review, I wanted to learn more about this book. When I read the sample, I became fully engrossed in it right away. I especially like how the author explained how humankind had brought most problems on themselves, including sickness. I agree with him. I have had many people ask me, "if there is a God, why does he let people get cancer" (and other illnesses), and I have always found it difficult to explain. I did not find anything in the sample that I feel needs improvement. I believe the book was professionally edited as I only discovered one error at 46% of the sample, and that was C. S. Lewis was written without spaces between the C and S and between the S and Lewis. I plan on getting this book and reading it as soon as possible.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 5:11 pm by Brenda Creech.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
AntonelaMaria
If I haven't read the sample of this book through this program, I probably wouldn't have read it otherwise. It is the simple fact that the subject of religion and science, very complex and compelling, is not something I want to read about at the moment. I like the writing, and the blurb is impressive. This is a difficult topic to tackle, and it seems that the author did a good job with it. Based on the Offical Onlinebookclub review, this is a great read. I wouldn't mind recommending it to the intended audience. There weren't any grammatical errors in the sample. I wouldn't change anything about the book.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 4:01 pm by AntonelaMaria.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Diana Lowery
The title and the subtitle sound a little controversial. The cover was somewhat stereotypical. The author's credentials mentioned in the blurb were not very impressive. The review was very thorough and mentioned how short it was. There was a phrase in the introduction that, although it wasn't an error, it could be misinterpreted. The sentence states that a man had gone next door to "knock up his neighbor." I am not going to finish reading the book because I don't have any faith questions that need to be answered by reading this book. I suggest that the author include more of his extensive resume in the blurb to show his qualifications for writing the book.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 3:36 pm by Diana Lowery.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kirsi Cultrera
The outward appearance of this book did not quite feel appealing to me. However, the blurb caught my full attention. Had I seen only the cover somewhere, this book might have gone unnoticed by me. I was impressed by the author's level of knowledge of this topic, and the more I read, the more I wanted to read. I also enjoyed his conversational style. The only thing I did not find likable about this book was the cover picture, as I felt it was too clichéd. The editing seemed professional, as far as I can say. I found an Official OnlineBookClub review of the book but did not read it as I had already made up my mind. I want to learn more from this author and am going to read the book further.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 3:31 pm by Kirsi Cultrera.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Kajori Sheryl Paul
Arnold V. Page is the author of 'God, Science, and the Bible.' It is a theological book. The book starts off in Punta Arenas. One day, the author heard something weird in his head. Someone told him that he would be told something, however, he should pray that he understands what would be said. Excited, he prayed. When nothing happened afterward, he read the Bible passage set for that day's Bible Studies notes. The passage was about getting something after repeatedly asking for it. Days later, they were to Don Double, the founder of the Good News Crusade, and his colleague, Mike Darwood. They could not get a big venue for the congregation. However, the passage struck the author again. He asked his partner to request for the best venue again. I like the frank and relatable way the author talks about passages from the Bible. There is nothing in need of an improvement. There were no errors. Hence, I consider this book to be professionally edited. The title and cover are both beautiful and allude to the subject matter of the book. The OBC review and the Amazon reviews are appreciative. I will give this book a skip as I am not in the mind-frame to read non-fiction books as of now.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 2:16 pm by Kajori Sheryl Paul.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Yvonne Monique
I am sorry to say that I would not pick up a book like this, as I am not interested in books about Christian faith. I am a Christian, believe in God and the Bible, and I do not need to read a book to convince me about Christian belief. The first ten pages seem to be edited professionally, although I found two minor punctuation errors (..is what C.S. Lewis (instead of C.S.Lewis) called 'the problem of pain.' (instead of '.). However, my opinion is that the author is trying to hard from the beginning to convince his readers about God's existence. I understand that that is the purpose of the book, but it felt a bit too 'pushy.'
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 1:55 pm by Yvonne Monique.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Bertha Jackson
I do not care for non-fiction religious books, so I would not have checked this one out based on its book cover, title, or genre. The customer and OnlineBookClub reviews verified my impression of the book after reading the first ten pages. The first ten pages of the book were thought-provoking, and the author does an excellent job of arguing his points to support what he believes. I liked how the author makes his beliefs known without being preachy. The book appears to have been professionally edited, as I only saw a couple of questionable errors. One of these errors was in the sample of the book at location 42%. There are no spaces in the name C.S.Lewis in the sentence, "A second major reason that some people don’t believe in the existence of God, or at least in the existence of a loving God, is what C.S.Lewis called the ‘problem of pain’". The other one was his use of “for ever” instead of “forever.” I question them being actual errors because they are consistently written this way throughout the sample. I did not see anything I would change in the first ten pages. I will not be buying and reading this book because it contains too much science for my taste.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 1:02 pm by Bertha Jackson.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Laura Ungureanu
The cover looks fine to me because it seems professionally done. However, I wouldn't have checked this out because it isn't a genre I like. As a skeptic, I don't read religious books. The OBC review, although positive, didn't affect my decision. My initial opinion about the book was that it seems like a book a believer would buy just to prove a non-believer wrong. That's probably because of the first sentence. I changed my mind after reading more because the author seems to have a clear stream of thought. I appreciated the fact that the author referred to God as him or her, not only as him. I don't have anything to say that would improve the book, since it looks like the author is doing a good job. However, although this book is addressed to me (a skeptic), I don't seek change, so I have no desire to continue reading the book. It looks professionally edited.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 12:57 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Timothy Rucinski
I won't be reading this book. I don't enjoy "Jesus" books. However, the cover would have intrigued me since I do enjoy speculation on the creation of the universe and the potential influence of a divine mover. However, the Official Review turned me off when it referenced a scientific explanation for the Resurrection. That's just of no interest to me. There really isn't anything about the book that I disliked other than the genre. However, the author has a very good writing style, one that addresses the reader personally and friendly. That was the one aspect of the book that I enjoyed. And it appears that the book was professionally edited as I found no errors in the pages I read.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 12:53 pm by Timothy Rucinski.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
As soon as I saw the cover, I knew this book was not for me. The blurb is well-explained and not as verbose as these books usually are. I like how the author summarizes at the end, in bullet points, the topics to be addressed. Despite the good ratings, I wouldn't have bought the book. I'm a believer too, but I don't see the point in the perpetual intent of trying to reconcile faith and science.
I hated the Preface. There's no subtle way to say that. For starters, I'm firmly pro-choice and that doesn't make me a bad person or a non-believer. Do Christians don't commit "abandonment, bullying, abuse, theft, mugging, rape, marital infidelity, scams, slavery, terrorism, stabbing and murder"? Allow me to mention, among other known "devoted" serial killers, so-called Bible John. Slave owners in the Confederacy were "good Christians" too. So that's a lie. You want me to believe that my father, who was an atheist, is not living a "proper" afterlife? The analogy of the lottery ticket is, simply put, the fallacy of Pascal's wager. I've heard all of these arguments before and they simply anger me. What's the point of scaring people into believing? The only nice thing I have to say is that the book appears to be excellently edited. I don't have suggestions because I can't change the author's point of view and he's entitled to an opinion. The official review didn't change my mind.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 12:16 pm by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Theresa Moffitt
The cover of this book tells me exactly what the book is about. The title is direct and informative and the cover art is interesting. Typically, I would not pick up a religious book based on the cover alone because I have my own religious beliefs. However, the scientific aspect of this book is intriguing to me. So I would have picked this book up based on the cover alone. I haven’t read a customer review of this book because the Online Book Club review told me enough about the book. It also gave the book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars which increased my interest in the book. I didn’t see ant errors in the first ten pages, so I believe the book was professionally edited. I also didn’t see any area that the author could improve upon. The first ten pages describe the author conducting his daily Bible reading when he heard God tell him he wants to speak to him. He waited but heard nothing, so he continued with his Bible study. He read the story about a man who had no food to feed his guest and went to his neighbors house to borrow bread. The neighbor was in bed and said no but when the needy neighbor persisted, he gave in and gave him bread. The author took this as a sign to be persistent in renting a hall for a prayer service. I was not drawn into this story enough in the first ten pages to want to finish reading this book. For that reason, I will not finish reading this book.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 12:00 pm by Theresa Moffitt.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sarah_Khan
The title of this book is pretty straightforward and the cover is eye-catching. I would not have sampled this without the First Ten program because I am not interested in another "science vs religion" book. The first ten pages seem well edited. This book was more preachy than I expected. I did like the author's argument of God's existence vs His nature. The OBC review was positive, but it did not change my mind. The goal of this book is to try to change the readers' minds, which I am not up for. So, I will not be reading the rest. I do not have any suggestions for the author.
First Ten review added on February 6, 2021, at 11:56 am by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 28%
God, Science and the Bible earned a score of 28%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 28% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
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