Biola College: A New Paradigm?

From: "Craig Hazen"
To:
Subject: Better Off Born Dead
Date: Sat, 1 Oct 2005 11:12:30 -0700

Dear Floyd:



Thank you so much for the copy of your book. Based on what I have read of it so far, it really is intriguing. Sorry, though, that it is not my area of expertise--hence I can't give you much of a thoughtful evaluation.

Theses like yours find their power by weathering the debates and persuading the experts in the field--in this case the field of Biblical wisdom literature.

If you haven't had a chance to get feedback from experts, I would think it a great idea for you to present it at a meeting of the Society for Biblical Literature or at the Evangelical Theological Society. If your evidence and arguments are persuasive, you could set up a new paradigm--and that would be very exciting.

I know how much work it is to produce such a study, and for that you should be congratulated!

Blessings,



Craig

The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers, New Book Review

Date Reviewed: May 29, 2005


And the real translation?

When the Bible was translated from Aramaic into Greek, were the translators careful about how they did it? Or did they let their culture and their prejudices guide how the translation went? Floyd D. Braggs explores these issues in BETTER OFF BORN DEAD. He uses the book of Ecclesiastes, which is translated from Greek and was apparently written by King Solomon. However, translated from the original Hebrew, the name of the book was Qoheleth, which is, according to Strong's Concordance, a feminine word. Braggs points out when Ecclesiastes was written Solomon wasn't alive, so it had to be someone else who wrote it. He comes to the conclusion that it was King David's daughter and Solomon's sister, Tamar, who was the author. Reading Ecclesiastes from a female point of view changes the entire meaning of this book of the Bible. Tamar is showing her anger at the way women are being treated by men in her culture.

Braggs discusses the early Catholic Church and how the church wished to keep women subjugated to men. The church was very much against the common members of the church reading the Bible at all. They preferred to tell the people what it said rather than have them read it for themselves and see it differently than they had always been told. As a result, the first translators were killed for their efforts.

As a woman, it was sheer joy to read another version of Ecclesiastes. It was pleasurable to find out that 3,000 years ago, Tamar could show her anger at men for their desire to dominate women. Bragg also uses the scriptures in Genesis to show that God had no intention for men to dominate women, but for men and women to be partners. It was the original translators who put women in a position lower than that of men. Tamar, being a Qoheleth, was a female preacher, yet today in many churches, women are forced to be silent according to many ministers' understanding of the Bible. This is a must read for anyone interested in the Christian religion and the position of women in the church. It is a true eye-opener.



Reviewed by alice Holman
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers



Follow this link: http://www.therawreviewers.com/artman/publish/BetterOffBorn.shtml

Better Off Born Dead

This is the cover. 

Xulon Book Page

Better Off Born Dead: The Christian Compliancy Theory
A Woman's Biblical Diary Deliberately Concealed in the Holy Bible
By Floyd D. Braggs (Author)

Editions: ISBN: Price: Buy Now:
Paperback 1594679150 $13.99 Add To Cart


Book Summary

Better Off Born Dead is the first of three books that will illustrate the positive leadership roles of Jewish women excluded from the Christian Bible. These leadership roles are found in the Hebrew texts, but they have been deliberately excluded from the King James (and other translations) because of their female gender.

By simply applying the rules of grammar and rejecting myths and legends, the reader discovers clearly identifiable women authors who are champions over adversity as well as true spiritual leaders. Their stories are told in startling clarity, turning muddled translations of some Bible chapters into crisp and engaging truths that are as applicable today as they were three thousand years ago.

This book is a defense of the deleted diary of Princess Tamar of David, the Qoheleth of Jerusalem. This Christian apologetic text is a reasoned argument that reveals the greatest female preacher in the Old Testament.

Author Profile

The Director II of Administrative Services for a school district of thirty-five thousand students, Mr. Braggs attended the University of Redlands, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. For twenty-eight years, Braggs has held several positions demanding language expertise. Credentialed in English, physical education, and pupil personnel services, he has held the administrative positions of dean, assistant principal, and high school principal.

Mr. Braggs became a licensed and ordained minister in 2002 and began to study the structure and grammar of both Hebrew and Greek. He soon discovered that some Bible sections did not follow the established rules of grammar. Subsequently, he learned that many early translators, discovering the same,were put to death or persecuted by the Catholic church.

Mr. Braggs hopes to avoid this fate because he has been married for twentyone years. Blessed with five wonderful children, he and his wife wish to see them all grow old.

Rave Book Review

Spirituality
Title: Better Off Born Dead: The Christian Compliancy Theory
Author: Floyd D. Braggs
Rating: Must Read!
Publisher: Xulon Press
Web Page: Xulonpress.com
Reviewed by: Kate St. Amour ASpirituality / Religion, Women's Issues

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It’s no secret; church attendance is down across the globe. Mainstream Catholicism and Christianity are not meeting the needs of their flocks, particularly not their female parishioners who are either virtually ignored, or scorned, in the most widely-used versions of the bible.
Carefully crafted, ingeniously written, Better Off Born Dead blows the doors off of the Vatican. With his common- sense approach to decoding the language of the ancient texts, Braggs’s doesn’t rewrite history: he uncovers it. Using his knowledge of grammar, Braggs’s points out where ancient scholars went wrong and reveals to his readers the diary of the greatest preacher of the Old Testament, Princess Tamar of David. That’s right, the diary of a Female Preacher.
Women everywhere of Judeo-Christian backgrounds will cheer as they traverse the pages of Better Off Born Dead. On page 48, after revealing the identity of the author of The Books of Qoheleth as Princess Tamar, the female preacher, Braggs’s says, “To me, the greatest wisdom a person can demonstrate is to accept God, rather than reject God as Solomon did….Solomon may be the wisest man and no other man will be like him. But was he the wisest person? Tamar chooses God and eternal life. Solomon Chooses sin, which leads to eternal death.” Braggs goes on to say, “ Because Solomon is the wisest man that will ever be and he selected sin, then the wisdom and intellectual forecasts for the average man alive today appear to be exceptionally bleak, dark, and cloudy at best with pea soup fog rolling around tomorrow.” How is that for a little equality under the eyes of God? Speaking of equality, Braggs potentially proves that Men and Women were created equal when he revisits Genesis in a later chapter.
Better Off Born Dead is a scholarly page-turner. When viewed through Braggs’s brilliant decoding methods, the bible isn’t just a boys club any more, and it appears that the women’s movement was not only Holy- sanctioned, but alive and well long before The Feminine Mystique. Biblical scholars (male and female alike), thanks to Braggs, can rejoice, weep, and experience The Books of Qoheleth, the way they were meant to be told: Through the eyes of a woman oppressed by male society, but blessed by the wisdom of Spirit.
Centuries ago, Braggs would have been burned as a heretic for sharing his glorious revelations. In today’s slightly more enlightened society, his courageous revelations may save a dying religion. I am looking forward to Braggs’s next installment in this revolutionary trilogy!

Is there a female preacher hidden in the Bible?

In his new book, Better Off Born Dead, Floyd Braggs claims to have discovered a female preacher hidden in the Books of Ecclesiastes. Mr. Braggs provides extensive documentation from the Bible itself and from traditional research. The book appears to be complete and claims to non-fiction.
It appears that , according to Braggs, that the Bible's translators ignored the rules of Hebrew grammar when translating Ecclesiastes. Is it possible that the translators lied?
A summary of this book can be found at www.xulonpress.com go to bookstore, Better Off Born Dead or www.xulonpress.com/bookstore/titles/1594679150.htm .
Xulon press is a Christian publisher.