The author’s motto is data over dogma, but by the end of the book I struggled to find a message or conclusion. What was the overall point? The bible condones slavery, but he never explores how this means we shouldn’t obey the laws of the bible because slavery is wrong. The bible doesn’t mention abortion, bible verses used by anti-choicers are allegorical or poetic, but again, the author doesn’t then give an opinion on these facts. Data is useless without interpretation.

Dan is such a great thinker and source for thoughtful information about the Bible on the internet, so I was excited to see him bring that knowledge base into book form! Negative reviews seem to be coming primarily from people who disagree with his approach to the Bible, and/or his conclusions. I appreciate his ideas now that I am no longer a fundamentalist.

His tone feels a bit academic, but that’s consistent with how he presents online and I honestly find it refreshing. Dan encourages critical thinking and doesn’t whip anyone into an emotional frenzy with extreme rhetoric. This book is a great resource for anyone looking for a fresh perspective on the Bible and some of its “hot topics.”

This is an academic work that will probably not be of interest to most readers of the Bible. I appreciate his attention to detail in the meaning of many Hebrew and Greek words and their usage at the time of their being written.

It has been decades since I have read material on what was called then the “higher criticism” of the Bible. McClellen concludes, for example, the pastoral epistles were not written by Paul but were produced much later. While I don't like most of what he has written, I do appreciate his pointing out some of the strangest things people believe the Bible says and clarifying their error. It certainly gives one pause to think of beliefs, what is actually found in the text as opposed to what we've been told it says.

McClellen does identify himself early on as a member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints. I do think that may have influenced some of his conclusions, such as his discussion on God having a body, his understanding of Jesus' relationship to God (or being God) and the concept of hell. Nonetheless, this is a book where readers of the Bible can find out what modern scholarship is saying about it. It will also encourage readers to consider Bible passages in the greater context of the time and culture of that day.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Author Dan McClellan is a social media personality who bills himself as a scholar. He has credentials, but do they make him the authority on the points covered in this book. That I don’t know. But, after reading the book, I find it challenging to see him in that light. It could be bias: I prefer a more refined approach to scholarship when helping others pursue knowledge and understanding, especially when it comes to deeply held belief systems.
McClellan makes his living in this new world of anything-goes social media where monetization is the point. To get there, one must know how to trigger engagement, and McClellan seems to have refined that to an art. To give you an example, he describes bringing up a question that he knows will lead to specific answers that are perfectly aligned for the hellfire missile he’s about to launch.

I take no issue with the words quoted below unless one’s premise is based on the rigid, unwavering notion that data (fact) is king. Is the author stating fact when he includes words such as: “likely refers to,” “the most natural understanding,” or “it seems clear.” He says that God “intentionally” did something or made “rash” threats. I ask, how can he know the intent of mortals much less God or that God spoke without first considering what he was about to say? Does McClellan have a papyrus timeline he’s not sharing?

Funny thing is that I agree with McClellan’s approach to biblical text. Indeed, I find it more assuring to know that imperfect people wrote, edited, and controlled the content that would eventually become the Christian bible. That points of contact with other traditions that were built upon as metaphors in describing God’s power shouldn’t rattle anyone. It gives context within which to be understood.

McClellan’s arguments rattle on a bit and exasperation seeps through one extended argument. But, overall, he supports his arguments with cites, for whatever they are worth. I found the book on the tedious side but interesting at times. Would I follow him on social media and help him monetize his opinion. That’s a hard no.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing an eARC.

Refreshing to read a book that looks at the bible and what it has to say by looking at may aspects of its writing, including the culture, language, original meaning of words and other literature/texts from the same time. While it adrresses specific topics/questions and provides meaningful dialogue on each, at the end I am left with a question still...why does the bible really have to say?

I like to read books that critically look at the Bible and try to interpret it with an eye towards historical accuracy, however, I felt this was more surface level than I expected. I read about 75% of it deeply and then skimmed the rest to see if anything interesting caught my eye. Overall, not the best but definitely not the worst book on the Bible. I received a complimentary digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book was a journey.
A pilgrimage.
A TRIP.

Between history, language and general scholarship, this work often felt like a chest-deep slog through the Swamp of Sadness. Tough, but necessary because ‘You have to try! You have to care!” (Apologies to the creators of The Neverending Story)

Untangling data from dogmas always makes me rather uncomfortable.

No one likes being misinformed, but one hopes to like causing harm even less.

Luckily, there were plenty of pop culture references (Coolio, Dodgeball, AND Monster Squad?) and exquisitely crafted burns to distract me from my own errancy.

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” As Dan McClellan argues in The Bible Says So, that word is “literal” or “inerrant” or “biblical worldview.” Using his “data over doctrine” approach, McClellan looks at various statements that literalists insist are made by the Bible but often are informed more by cultural bias.

Because the author has built much of his audience on TikTok, the tone sometimes sounds a bit too much like angry internet “um actually” arguments (many chapters open with discussion of TikTok comments). In fairness, I shouldn’t judge since my own teaching has sometimes taken this tone, since ideas about the origin of Satan or when life begins are not as clear in scripture as many imagine. McClellan’s excellent scholarship shows these are more than just doctrinal opinions. The pop culture references are also appreciated.

What is most appreciated, though, is the acknowledgment in the opening and closing chapters that he is also interpreting and making meaning, no matter how much he is focused on the data alone. I certainly disagreed with some of his analysis, but he seems to welcome such discussion. This note of humility is essential if we are going to use scripture in a way that does not harm our most vulnerable neighbors.

4.5/5 ⭐️

If you are a fan of this author's podcast, you absolutely must read the book! Although he fleshes out his thoughts more (and even warns you he will do so in the beginning LOL), it is told in a similar format. As a fan of his podcast, I was thrilled to get this one early!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Dan McClellan for the ARC "The Bible Says So" is out NOW! This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)

I am not a believer, but I am an amateur biblical scholar. It’s always fascinated me. I’ve even learned enough Hebrew and Greek where I can avail myself of the “originals “. As such, I knew full well that what most people say the Bible says is half wishful thinking and half maliciousness.

This book digs deep into most people’s favorite biblical dogmas and deconstructs them and it does so elegantly, by looking at our oldest copies of the books that became the Bible, plus great knowledge of both the original languages and the customs at the time they were written. It also digs into the many anachronisms that pop up when we try to ascribe newer creations to much older texts. Such as thinking the Bible supports the Trinity, when that concept wouldn’t exist for centuries after the Bible was written.

This book is not for the dogmatic faithful, but it’s a delightful read for anyone who loves history, religious studies, or how early myths evolve into religions.

The Bible Says So is an interesting book without a defined readership.
The author identifies himself up front as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (AKA Mormons) but he aims this book at a wider audience. Dan McClellan is a Bible scholar with the academic credentials to prove it and he uses his considerable erudition to prove that the book known as the Bible is not the unified Word of God cherished as divinely inspired by millions of fundamentalist Christians. It is actually a varied collection of many different books written by different authors at different times in different places and in several different languages, none of which were English. A detailed analysis of the biblical words for "inspired" and a comprehensive history of the formation of the modern canon(s) of scripture destroys the idea of the Bible as the unchanging guidebook for all people everywhere.
In different chapters, the author demolishes contemporary ideas of the Bible as a source of revealed truth about slavery, homosexuality, female modesty, and numerous other topics, including the actual nature of God.
Theat said, I had a couple of problems with this book.
Readers dedicated to a conservative "King James only" viewpoint will be horrified and condemn it as blasphemy. Almost everyone else already agrees with a more liberal interpretation and probably doesn't need such a detailed reminder.
The first few times I read an endnote "apologizing" to a pop music group for adapting one of their song titles to a chapter heading, I thought it was cute, but after awhile, I stopped bothering with the notes.
While I did learn a few things I did not know about the Bible, I began skimming towards the end as I really didn't need convincing. Perhaps a recent refugee from a fundamentalist background would find it more helpful.
I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Essentials for giving me access to a free advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

As a person of faith, I was drawn in but can't say that it kept my attention. It is interesting to hear a different perspective on some very common passages or beliefs, but still pretty dry and information quite dense so it took me a while to come back to it. It wasn't anything that was binge worthy for me, nor should it be one can argue, but an interesting read that I'll keep chugging through one chapter at a time.

A robust and dense exploration of different components of the Bible, this was a deeply interesting book to me on the academic principles of the history of the Bible and broader religious texts. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.

This was so good and very much needed especially during the times that we are living in.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me a copy for my honest review!

Well-researched, in-depth look at what the Bible actually says. Super interesting to look at the text from the Bible through the lens of the time period from which it was written. It points out that people read whatever they want from the Bible currently - you can twist the words to say whatever you want, but that does not make it true. A historical look at the Bible is more interesting and more accurate.

I first found Dan McClellan on TikTok and immediately became a follower. He is a master craftsman of breaking down information and helping the public understand academic break downs on topics that most seem far too scholarly for the masses to understand. With ‘The Bible Says So,’ McClellan takes his time to really explore topics that many misconstrue from the Bible, as well as other holy texts. There were some moments that I felt it was too academic in understanding, which caused me to have to re-read portions multiple times, but I learned an incredible amount.

I have to preface this by stating that I am not a social media follower of Dan, but happy to hear that he does have such a great following in such a controversial topic. As a fellow Christian, I am happy to see it. I read this book with fresh eyes, open to ideas that everyone has all different opinions of how they interpret history. I appreciated that Dan really took a step back and tried to bridge each of these topics with a breadth of knowledge and acknowledgement of those individual thoughts. I didn't agree with some of what was said based on my personal beliefs and can't stand behind a lot of what was shared, but it was an interesting read and viewpoint to look upon. In regards to the writing itself: It often felt more like listening to a passionate but misinformed relative at a family gathering than reading a thoughtful analysis. I just wasn't a huge fan.

Out today!

I've followed Dan on social media for a few years and have always appreciated his well-researched, and no-nonsense (say it with me, everyone: "Data over dogma!") approach to Biblical topics. Not one to be pigeon-holed into claims that his faith heritage informs his discussions--something Dan addresses head-on in the lengthy (and appreciated) introduction to this book--Dan is an excellent communicator for what could otherwise be tedious (and often/always contentious) subject matter. While I'll probably always prefer his videos, I'm extremely appreciative to now have a hard copy to refer back to and dig deeper into the topics.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to preview this title in exchange for my honest review.

One of the most interesting and enlightening approaches to biblical study ever created. The text covers commonly held (knowingly or not) misconceptions about what the Bible meant, what it means, and what it might mean in the future. McClellan uses his scholarly education to help the reader more easily understand the construction of the bible, including how the original language would have been interpreted, as well as how the books of the Bible "came to be" over the centuries before and after Jesus' death. With an understanding of the construction of the Bible, it's easier to see how certain groups have skewed its meaning to organize and centralize power structures around their believed moral imperatives and superiority.

In 2025, The Bible Says So feels like required reading for believers and non-believers alike.

This book was a very hard read. I may not be the target audience for this, but due to the introduction and the pop culture references, I just assumed it would be a more down-to-earth reference about the Bible and instead it was more of a scholarly book and I never understood what his point was for any of the chapters. There were “conclusion” sections but no actual conclusion.