I grew up with the understanding that when someone was talking about the "Good Book," they were referencing the Bible. But that's not necessarily true anymore. In the spring of 2011 The Good Book: A Humanist Bible, subtitled A Secular Bible in the United Kingdom, hit the bookshelves. The author is Anthony Clifford Grayling (b. 1949), a philosopher professor in England. Though perhaps not as abrasive as Richard Dawkins, who authored The God Delusion, Grayling also professes to be an atheist.

Calling The Good Book "a lifetime's work" Grayling draws on the work of philosophers and writers that span the ages and a variety of traditions. His goal was to offer ethical guidance that would not be tied to any one particular tradition or deity—which is apparently how he views the Bible. Grayling states that in this book he does not bash religion. In fact, the word God can't be found in the book. For these and other reasons Grayling has been sometimes called a "velvet atheist."

Smooth or not—he still mocks God. Grayling arranged The Good Book much like the Bible, with books, chapters, and verses. The roughly six hundred pages contain 14 different books, including Genesis, Songs, Lamentations, Proverbs, Acts, and Parables—to mention a few.

When I listened to or read excerpts from his book online, I found more evidence that he blatantly pokes fun at the sacred Scriptures. Similar to the Bible, the opening verses of his book contain a garden scene with a tree. He then writes, "Its fruit is knowledge, teaching the good gardener how to understand the world." Grayling's form of knowledge, however, is not God's knowledge. As a professing atheist, Grayling would deny that "the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding" (Proverbs 9:10).

In the book's final chapter, Grayling penned what has been called a secular humanist version of the Ten Commandments: "Love well, seek the good in all things, harm no others, think for yourself, take responsibility, respect nature, do your utmost, be informed, be kind, be courageous: at least, sincerely try." While we can't argue that such advice can certainly be commendable for life here on earth, it still falls into the category of work-righteousness for eternity.

Whether intentional or not, Grayling's book still scoffs at the One enthroned in heaven.

Grayling appears to carry a lot of weight in his little corner of the world. Upon release this book quickly soared to number one on Amazon's United Kingdom bestseller list in the philosophy and spirituality categories. Hence our concern!