A.J. Mattill, Jr. has been contributing editor to the American Rationalist for over a decade. His expertise is a meticulous dissection of the Bible to expose its hypocrisy, barbarism, stupidity, and other assorted nonsense.  I consider him one of the most dedicated and informed scholars of the Bible in the United States. In any debate with a Christian scholar, priest, or minister—no matter how credentialed—he would be devastating. No one knows more about the Bible than A.J. Mattill, Jr. does.

     A.J. is a master of alliteration. Just consider a few examples, all titles of his essays: Polishing Proverbs, Examining Exodus, A Difficult Demand of Discipleship, A Colossal Claim and a Cruel Condemnation, Cleansing the Cult, Five Fabulous Feats, Looking for Lovers of the Lord. An impeccable stylist, A.J. has never to my knowledge made a mistake in any of his scores of AR submissions—not grammatical, not stylistic, not mechanical, not spelling. No mistakes. Period.

     Since I took over AR editorship in 1996, A.J. has contributed over sixty (yes, 60!) articles on the Bible. Most of the best that A.J. Mattill, Jr. can offer is contained in his several books, in particular Sweet Jesus (3 volumes) and The Seven Mighty Blows to Traditional Beliefs published by The Flatwoods Free Press (Route 2, Box 49, Gordo, Alabama 35466-9517)

     Below just a small sample of A.J's exposé of biblical nonsense.

—Kaz Dziamka, Editor

 

 

A.J.  was born in St. Joseph, MO., where he attended public and business schools and worked several years for Armour & Co. (which may help to explain why he is now a vegetarian), followed by a tour of duty with the U.S. Army in France shortly after World War II.

     He then earned three degrees: B.A., University of Chicago; B.D., Evangelical Theological Seminary; and Ph.D in biblical studies and theology, Vanderbilt University. He has done post-doctoral work in Israel, Canada, and West Germany. He taught Bible in college and seminary and has served as full and part-time minister of several congregations. He now devotes most of his time to writing about religion, and he manages The Flatwoods Free Press, which currently publishes twelve of his titles. He and his wife, Mary Elizabeth, live on her farm in the Flatwoods Community near Gordo, AL. Their address is 750 Lum Fife Road, Gordo, AL 35466-3357.

     His articles have appeared in such periodicals as The Journal of Biblical Literature and The Catholic Biblical Quarterly. In addition to AR, he is also a regular contributor to Freethought Perspective. He is included in Who’s Who in Hell, an international directory of freethinkers.