The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster

by Bobby Henderson

Book Overview

Can I get a "ramen" from the congregation?

Behold the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (FSM), today's fastest growing carbohydrate-based religion. According to church founder Bobby Henderson, the universe and all life within it were created by a mystical and divine being: the Flying Spaghetti Monster. What drives the FSM' s devout followers, a.k.a. Pastafarians? Some say it's the assuring touch from the FSM's "noodly appendage."...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812976568
• ISBN13: 9780812976564
• Release Date: March 2006
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 7.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

The most legit and accurate form of a church that has ever been so far.

Seems like the most accurate perception of the christian bible with evidence. Great read, very fun, gets me in the mood to make spaghetti in pirate clothes and share.

Ramen Indeed!!!

Oh my goodness! By His Noodly Appendages!!! I just received this book this morning! It is SO funny!! I recommend a daily serving of it!! Truly not a day should pass without the tender (boiled at least 12 minutes!) touch of His Noodly Appendages!! Ramen!! Again I say, Ramen!!

RAmen

The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is one of the funniest things I have come across in a while. Bobby Henderson, a physics grad student, has ingeniously crafted a mock religion that effectively parodies the fundamentalist aspects of western religions (especially Christianity) that mainstream Christians and non-Christians find groan-worthy. Henderson created the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, also known as Pastafarianism, in response to the recent trials over Intelligent Design and whether or not it belongs in a school's curriculum (or whether evolution has no place there). FSM claims that the world was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster, that pirates are His chosen people, and that Earthly problems, such as global warming are a direct result of the shrinking numbers of (actual) pirates in the world (Henderson has a graph that shows there is a direct correlation between the number of pirates and average global temperatures). Using "facts" and "science", Henderson shows how evolution is wrong and that life can only have been created by the FSM, who obviously has a sense of humor due to certain things that happen in life. He also talks about how FSM heaven is so much better than Christian heaven due to the presence of a beer volcano and a stripper factory. Other great aspects are the twists on biblical stories and places (such as why the great flood occurred or the Olive Garden of Eden) as well as the 8 Commandments (or is it Condiments) or FSM, commonly known as the "8 I'd Really Rather You Didn'ts", due to the fact that each one starts off with, "I'd really rather you didn't...". Obviously, this book requires a sense of humor to be enjoyed, because it pokes fun at religion. But if you can see this book for what it is, a great parody of some of the stranger aspects of religion, you will definitely enjoy it.

One of the Greatest Scientific Spoofs, about an Incomprehensible Side of America

First, I would like to thank Mr Henderson for one of the greatest spoofs of pseudo-science in history. His FSM added some fun to an otherwise truly sad and worrying phenomenon. Then, being European, let me add that I find the success of intelligent design and (even worse) creationism in the United States a truly incomprehensible phenomenon. This being the country I live in, and a country that under many many respects I certainly respect and admire, I cannot fathom how someone can be so obtuse as to being a creationist (I have somewhat more benign thoughts for genuine supporters of ID. Evolutionism certainly IS a mind-boggling idea). The fact that millions of people do believe in the literal truth of "science" reported in a BOOK written 2000 years ago, in a country that is producing much of the best science in any discipline on this planet, is for me a source of immense and endless frustration. Then it is true that Europe still have people believing in communism... Nobody's perfect, I guess. I am certainly aware that Evolutionary Theory is not perfect, and that Darwin and his followers's findings have been often misrepresented and misused, but for G**'s (right...) sake... One day creationists and ID supporters will vanish as Dodos, but it's still frustrating to see that right now they are still with us (I am not hoping for their physical demise, of course: I just wish they saw the light...)... I can see why people may disagree on issues such as abortion of stem cells, but this should not be about belief, it should be about science... For those of you who would like to know more about the Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District ruling, I highly recommend reading the whole document available at w w w. sciohost.org/ncse/kvd/kitzmiller_decision_20051220.pdf

Too Bad the Publisher was a bit scared of the book...

Let me start by saying that The Gospel of the Flying Spaghetti Monster is a great read in a less than steller book. The quality of the paper and the cover a more like a grade school workbook than anything else I can compare it to. That said, reading the words as written by the Prophet, Pasta be upon his plate, Bobby Henderson is a riot! There are jokes throughout this book that are genuinely Laugh-out-loud funny, like the evolution of the tail bone for fighting or the War of Aggression against pirates wages by the Harri Christnas... The book is comprised mostly of a satirical look at the ID movement and claims of the religious kooks out there. There are some rather brilliant passages that are really just ID transposed as FSMism, making one think quite often "how do they believe this crap?" There are some other aspects of the book that read more like "Genesis" than the "open letter" that The Prophet, pasta be upon his plate, is famous for. These are entertaining and serve as a solid foundation for faith in his Noodly presence. But it's the revelation of the FACTS that truly reveal the Glory and prove the existence of our Noodly Master. Oh, and BTW, DO NOT fall for the review of Mr. John Smith. He's trying to shill his book "God Speaks! The Flying Spaghetti Monster in his own Words."

Teach the Controversy

As a science teacher, I believe that if we are to teach the controversy and let children decide, then we should teach ALL alternative theories to evolution, including FSM ideas. In that case, this gospel would provide an excellent teaching resource.