Solomon's Temple Treasure: A New Treasure Hunt by Walter Parks

At first glance, the book Solomon's Temple Treasure: A New Treasure Hunt by Walter Parks is similar to that of a thesis paper or documentary of a personal expedition.  The back cover is simple, depicting the following headlines in  tabloid news-like fashion: "Solomon's Temple Treasure Has been Lost For 2000 Years", "We Found It! It Is Worth A Billlion Dollars", "This Is The Story Of How We Found It".

Once you get past the sensational tabloid style headlines, there are other  visual details that detract from a  professional product such as the cover, with its  grainy cover photograph  and candelabra clip art. These could easily  be improved for the next edition.   Within the text itself,  the insertion of black and white photgraphs are generally helpful, yet the  quality is a bit grainy for some of the photos. In some cases, the inclusion of diagrams or art is excessive and does little to add to the contenbt such as the vague looking photo of the copper scrolls at the beginning of the 4th chapter.  Page numbers are also ommitted.

Other than the visual details mentioned, the book chronicles the author's expedition- a "treasure hunt"  to finding  Solomon's Temple Treasure and his "mixed, perhaps illegal, plans to retrieve it". The author provides the reader with an insightful  historical background based on the bible and other historical sources.  In fact, in following the "path" of the treasure, he goes through various historical periods and cultures.  He provides an abbreviated world history in a sense.  There is a wealth of  educational material that is helpful to any bible student.  Culture and politics and belief systems of ancient times are discussed.  The author's motives appear to be overwelmingly financial in nature, based on the numerous times he cites the monetary value of the treasure throughout the book, as well as on the back cover itself.  Nevertheless, for those readers who are interested in the behind the scenes stories briefly mentioned in the bible- this book will be of great interest as it expands upon the treasure of Solomon that is mentioned briefly in the Old Testament.     

The author uses this book about his expedition as an opportunity to discuss with the reader, his theories and ideas, which are not traditional.  The author refers to his previous works such as "the Missing Years of Jesus".  To his credit, the author provides the reader some background of his other writings so that the reader need not feel that this book is simply a sequel to a series. Yet one can not help but feel that the insertion of the auythor's theories or opinions reduces the credibility.   At the end, the author presents some challenges he must face, "resolving these issues will be more tedious and a lot less fun..  But I will continue working the various alternatives and will publish the results when the situation is resolved.....This is where I am so this is what I publish".   This informal writing style and the unresolved issues gives this book a  "work in progress" impression.  Some of the material included could be condensed or ommitted altogether to give the book a more objective appearance.  For any student who finds himself needing to write a school term paper or report about a biblical subject, this might be a useful resource.  As a blogger I recieved this book from the author for the purpose of writing this review. 

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