The Singular Beast: Jews, Christians, and the Pig Book

Interested in exploring some of the Biblical symbols of the Judeo-Christian faith, I picked up this book with high expectations. No doubt, this book has helped me wrestle with my faith since picking it up. However, this book suffers from many shortcomings that, by the middle portion of the book, almost made me put it down.

First, while the language was not complex, the sentence structure and lack of adherence to grammatical rules made the text unwieldy. My understanding is that much of this book is based on speeches by Campbell. However, additional editing is needed to help the reader.

Second - at various points, Campbell goes into long-winded rabbit trails that offers little to his main point. For example, in Chapter V, Campbell engages in a two page discussion on the importance of the number 432 as he moved from the subject - "What Kind of Gods Have We?" Campbell offers no introduction, no conclusion, no context as to why 432 is important. Just that 432 is important.

Additionally, Campbell arbitrarily searches for this number in all place. This is evidenced by the statement "that in the 1,656 years from the creation to the Flood, 86,400 weeks had passed. Divided by two, that again produces 43,200." Campbell offers no explanation for dividing by 2. Even that, Campbell is so focused on finding 432 that he overlooks the fact that 1,656 x 52 = 86,112. Campbell ignoring this fact leads me to my biggest problem with the text.

Third - Campbell has a lot of basic information completely wrong! Many of the things that Campbell states are based on erroneous facts. As earlier mentioned, Campbell is so focused on finding the number 432 that he does not do simple multiplication and division correctly. However, there are other facts that Campbell asserts about the Bible that is incorrect. Here is a few examples:

- Campbell asserts that Christ is born in a cave. The only mention of a cave in the 4 Gospel accounts in either the King James or the New American Standard Bible is found in John 11 - dealing with Lazarus.

- Campbell's assertion about the nunc dimittis is incorrect. Campbell states that the nunc dimittis said by Simeon happens after a young Jesus teaches in the temple. However, Simeon makes nunc dimittis after Jesus is presented at the temple and before (about 12 years before) Jesus teaches in the temple. Jesus teaching at the temple and the nunc dimittis is found in Luke 2.

- Campbell states that Jesus was teaching in the temple in Jerusalem because his family was in Jerusalem because of the census. Again, a reading of Luke 2 indicates that Jesus's family was in Jerusalem because of the Feast of the Passover. Mary went to Bethlehem because of the census in Luke 2:1.

- Campbell states that Hebrew was the first language and all other language come from it at the Tower of Babel. In Genesis 11, there is no mention of a specific language at all.

Admittedly, I may reading these stories as fact too much. However, mistakes like simple mathematics or checking the Biblical account to get the story accurate is a greater travesty. If Campbell got this wrong, what else did he get wrong?