Christianity Books - Page 6

Pagan Christianity?: Exploring the Roots of Our Church Practices

Frank Viola, George Barna

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 189 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

The author means well but the book is flawed 3 out of 5 stars.
2 of 4 people found this review helpful.

There are many good and strong points in this book a few of which are

1. Many Christian practices come from paganism
2. The Apostles belonged to no set church
3. Churches are actually modeled on pagan temples
And many others
4. The Romans used already established Pagan holidays as Christian ones
5. Mega churches are in effect dumbing down Christianity confusing the need of people for a close and personal relationship with God by offering them entertainment.

The author spends too much of his time describing in great detail what is wrong with the established church and really providing no clear goal or agenda on how to fix those problems. When you cite a list of things that are problems according to your own point and not based on any particular scriptural guidelines then eventually your argument however well intentioned is going to fall apart.

Organized Christianity may in many respects be a flawed creation but it's the only one we've got. The author means well but he has in effect thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

Overall-It is impossible as the author maintains to "get back to the roots" of Christianity because Christians can't even agree on what those roots were and speaking for myself my alarm bells go off when I hear people talking about it. The important thing is Christ the Lord not weather or not churches or church organizations have some creeping vestiges of Paganism regardless of weather or not you think it's the Sabbath day or the vestments or the incense or the liturgy or baptism. The victory is already won in Jesus Christ what does it matter?

Editorial Review:

Have you ever wondered why we Christians do what we do for church every Sunday morning? Why do we "dress up" for church? Why does the pastor preach a sermon each week? Why do we have pews, steeples, choirs, and seminaries? This volume reveals the startling truth: most of what Christians do in present-day churches is not rooted in the New Testament, but in pagan culture and rituals developed long after the death of the apostles. Coauthors Frank Viola and George Barna support their thesis with compelling historical evidence in the first-ever book to document the full story of modern Christian church practices.

For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women

Shaunti Feldhahn, Jeff Feldhahn

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 91 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Finally—You Can Understand Her!

Women: complicated and impossible to understand? Do you love and want to please the woman in your life, but just can’t seem to figure her out? That was before For Men Only. Now at your fingertips is the tool that will unlock the secret to her mysterious ways. Through hundreds of interviews and the results of a scientific national survey of women, this book demonstrates that women are actually not random and that they really can be systematized and “mapped.” In fact, much to men’s delight, this book shows that women are actually quite easy to understand and please—as long as you know what it is they need. This simple map will guide you to loving your wife or girlfriend in the way she needs to be loved.

Finally.

You Can Understand Her!

Women: complicated and impossible to understand? Have you given up trying to “get” the woman in your life? If so, you are in for a pleasant eye-opener: She can be understood. Even better—you can make her happy. Which will make you happy.

The bestselling author of For Women Only teams with her husband to offer men the key to unlocking the mysterious ways of women. Through Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn ’s national scientific survey and hundreds of interviews, For Men Only reveals what you can do today to improve your relationship. And believe it or not, as Jeff assures men, “It’s not splitting the atom.”

What makes her tick? What is she really asking (but not actually saying)? Take the guesswork out of trying to please your wife or girlfriend and begin loving her in the way she needs. Easily. For Men Only is a straightforward map that will lead you straight into her heart.

And for every guy who rarely reads a manual:

Quick-Start Guide Included!

“When we featured Shaunti’s book For Women Only on FamilyLife Today , the phone rang off the hook! When Shaunti and Jeff come back on our broadcast, I’m buying some more phones. This is fresh and relevant—good stuff for every marriage. Read it!”

Dennis Rainey

President, FamilyLife

Story Behind the Book

“As I was writing For Women Only to help women understand the inner lives of men, over and over I heard that men wished there was a way to understand their wives, but they felt it was probably impossible. I heard from them, ‘You are writing this little slim volume about men, but if it was about understanding women, it would have to be the size of an encyclopedia! Women are random and complicated!’ These men were surprised and encouraged when I assured them that women are neither random nor complicated, and we can be understood. Men just want to love their wives well, and For Men Only will help them do that.”

—Shaunti Feldhahn

Jack Canfield's Key to Living the Law of Attraction: A Simple Guide to Creating the Life of Your Dreams

Jack Canfield, D.D. Watkins

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 62 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Long before co-creating the bestselling Chicken Soup for the Soul series, Jack Canfield was already teaching the ancient principles of the Law of Attraction. Canfield has been consciously living in harmony with this universal law for more than thirty years, and his personal success is a testament to its power. Now, in Jack Canfield's Key to Living the Law of Attraction, he shares his knowledge and experience with you and offers you his proven tools and techniques for applying the Law of Attraction in your own life.

This book is a simple 'how to' guide for using the Law of Attraction to create the life you desire. Within these pages, Canfield clearly explains not only what you need to know, but what you need to do in order to attract what you want in your life. Jack Canfield's Key to Living the Law of Attraction addresses the important issues of clarity, purpose, and action. This thought-provoking guide will take you step by step through the processes of defining your dreams, goals, and desires. Along the way, you will gain a greater understanding of yourself—a sense of who you really are and why you are here. Your journey begins right here, right now. You can change your life, increase your awareness, and empower yourself to create an amazing future—one that is filled with love, joy, and abundance.

This book is your key.

The Red Tent: A Novel

Anita Diamant

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Total reviews: 1422 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The red tent is the place where women gathered during their cycles of birthing, menses, and even illness. Like the conversations and mysteries held within this feminine tent, this sweeping piece of fiction offers an insider's look at the daily life of a biblical sorority of mothers and wives and their one and only daughter, Dinah. Told in the voice of Jacob's daughter Dinah (who only received a glimpse of recognition in the Book of Genesis), we are privy to the fascinating feminine characters who bled within the red tent. In a confiding and poetic voice, Dinah whispers stories of her four mothers, Rachel, Leah, Zilpah, and Bilhah--all wives to Jacob, and each one embodying unique feminine traits. As she reveals these sensual and emotionally charged stories we learn of birthing miracles, slaves, artisans, household gods, and sisterhood secrets. Eventually Dinah delves into her own saga of betrayals, grief, and a call to midwifery.

"Like any sisters who live together and share a husband, my mother and aunties spun a sticky web of loyalties and grudges," Anita Diamant writes in the voice of Dinah. "They traded secrets like bracelets, and these were handed down to me the only surviving girl. They told me things I was too young to hear. They held my face between their hands and made me swear to remember." Remembering women's earthy stories and passionate history is indeed the theme of this magnificent book. In fact, it's been said that The Red Tent is what the Bible might have been had it been written by God's daughters, instead of her sons. --Gail Hudson

Sacred Marriage

Gary L. Thomas

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 70 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Junk 1 out of 5 stars.
4 of 29 people found this review helpful.

I became a Christian just a few years ago after a strong dissatisfaction with Catholicism. I held lifelong fears and anxieties about marriage--I thought it was an institution to condemn women--but I thought this was an interesting approach to the subject so I picked up the book. Thanks to the author, I now feel worse. Not only is the book perpetuating the rampant sexism that exists in the church but every "Christian man" he talks about is a misogynist. The book itself is nothing but his bickers about his wife's "girlie problems" and he tries to-stupidly- generalize the experiences of all women. He even flat out declares that the genders are not and will never be equals! He also makes the idiot mistake of thinking motherhood is a peachy-keen walk in the park. This book went in the trash. God forbid I ever end up with a man like that--I'd rather stay single and go back to being secular where people are actually embracing the notion that men are supposed to be a part of the child rearing process (gasp!).

Editorial Review:

Starting with the discovery that the goal of marriage goes beyond personal happiness, writer and speaker Gary Thomas invites readers to see how God can use marriage as a discipline and a motivation to love him more and reflect more of the character of his Son.

The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully

Joan Chittister

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Lessons in How to Live for Any Age! 5 out of 5 stars.
58 of 62 people found this review helpful.

When "The Gift of Years" by Joan Chittister made its way to my mailbox for me to review, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. Was I really the right person to be reviewing this? After all, I am in my thirties, transitioning from youth to middle age. I'm not quite ready for senior citizen status yet. As it turned out, "The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully" is a wonderful lesson in how to live, regardless of our chronological age.

Chittister, a Benedictine sister, is 70 years old. She suggests that she may actually be too young to write this book because life still has lessons left to offer. She "reserves the right to revise this edition when she is ninety." Chittister views how we life at any age to be a choice. We are each given the gift of today. It is up to us what we do with it. She counters the idea that old age need be a time of isolation and loneliness and uselessness. Rather, it can be a time of great connectedness and joy and purpose. It is a time for looking back, not with the pain of regret for opportunities lost, but with understanding of how the life that has been lived has meaning for who we are right now and what our future holds.

Chittister maintains that senior citizens have so much to offer to the world at large. Their wisdom and their stories and their experience are a great gift. They also have the time to get involved. Without the pressures of a 9-to-5 job or raising a family, they can volunteer more, make more of a difference. They have the chance to do all the things that they always wanted to do that there was never time for before. "Age does not forgive us our responsibility to give the world back to God a bit better than it was because we were here."

Of course, there are special challenges that come with the transition to later adulthood and Chittister does acknowledge that fact. It can be difficult to be older in a world that so values youth. It can be hard to reclaim a sense of self with everything that defined that self is now gone. It can be a struggle to cope with physical ailments and disabilities. As Chittister states, however, "there is no such thing as not coping. . . The only issue is whether we will choose to cope well or poorly." We do have a choice. We can adjust our way of thinking and our way of being or we can give up.

Mostly, though, being older brings freedom. "We are free now to choose the way we live in the world, the way we relate to the world around us, the attitudes we take to life, the meaning we get out of it, the gifts we put into it. And all of them can change." "The Gift of Years" is a gift in itself. It provides the opportunity to reflect on what it means to grow older and provides hope for a time of life that holds great promise.

Editorial Review:

Not only accepting but celebrating getting old, this inspirational and illuminating work looks at the many facets of the aging process, from purposes and challenges to struggles and surprises. Central throughout is a call to cherish the blessing of aging as a natural part of life that is active, productive, and deeply rewarding. Perhaps the most important dimension revealed lies in the awareness that there is a purpose to aging and intention built into every stage of life. Chittister reflects on many key issues, including the temptation towards isolation, the need to stay involved, the importance of health and well-being, what happens when old relationships end or shift, the fear of tomorrow, and the mystery of forever. Readers are encouraged to surmount their fears of getting older and find beauty in aging well.

The HarperCollins Study Bible: Fully Revised & Updated

Harold W. Attridge, Society Of Biblical Literature

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The landmark general reference Bible that offers the full text of the New Revised Standard Version, now completely revised and updated by leading biblical scholars, including, new introductions and notes, diagrams, charts and maps––25% revised or new material.

After 10 years of new archeological discoveries and changes in biblical studies, it was time for an overhaul of this classic reference work.

With the guidance of the Society of Biblical Literature, an organization of the best biblical scholars world wide, we have selected Dean of Yale Divinity School, Harold Attridge, to oversee the Study Bible's updating and revision.

• The fundamental strengths of the first HCSB remain . . .

up–to–date introductions to the Biblical books, based on the latest critical scholarship, by leading experts in the field

concise notes, clearly explaining names, dates, places, obscure terms, and other difficulties in reading the Biblical text

careful analysis of the structure of Biblical books

abundant maps, tables, and charts to enable the reader to understand the context of the Bible, and to see the relationship among its parts.

• But, in this new revised edition . . .

Every introduction, essay, map, illustration and explanatory note has been reviewed and updated, and new material added. For instance,

There are newly commissioned introductory essays on

the archaeology of ancient Israel and the New Testament world,

the religion of ancient Israel,

the social and historical context of each book of the Bible, and

on Biblical interpretation

There are completely new introductions and notes for many of the books in the Bible, plus a full revision and updating of all others.

Of special interest are:

The literary history of the Pentateuch (those books between the Old and New Testament that Catholics include in their Bible)

More references to ancient non–Biblical sources which seem to parallel books in the Bible like the Gnostic gospels uncovered in Egypt or the famous scrolls found near the Dead Sea in Israel.

And, more comprehensive attention to the interrelationship of Old and New Testaments

When the Soul Mends (Sisters of the Quilt, Book 3)

Cindy Woodsmall

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Editorial Review:

Returning to the home she fled in disgrace, will Hannah find healing for the wounds of the past?

After receiving a desperate and confusing call from her sister, Hannah Lapp reluctantly returns to the Old Order Amish community of her Pennsylvania childhood.

Having fled in disgrace more than two years earlier, she finally has settled into a satisfying role in the Englischer world. She also has found love and a new family with the wealthy Martin Palmer and the children she is helping him raise. But almost immediately after her arrival in Owl’s Perch, the disapproval of those who ostracized her, including her headstrong father, reopens old wounds.

As Hannah is thrown together with former fiancé Paul Waddell to work for her sister Sarah’s mental health, hidden truths surface about events during Hannah’s absence, and she faces an agonizing decision. Will she choose the Englischer world and the man who restored her hope, or will she heed the call to return to the Plain Life–and perhaps to her first love?

Sex God: Exploring the Endless Connections between Sexuality and Spirituality

Rob Bell

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 94 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Haven't read the book and WON'T!! 1 out of 5 stars.
2 of 15 people found this review helpful.

It isn't fair to critique a book I haven't read. That being said, the title and the contents offend me right from the start. "SexGod": It doesn't take a genius to observe our current culture and the trashiness that exists--and this "author" will join together in a title what humans have abused with the One who created it (to be enjoyed within the confines of marriage)?

Have some RESPECT for the holy God!! The Jews, out of reverence for God won't even type or write out his name as we do. They will use G-d!

And the name of the chapters: "God Wears Lipstick", "Leather, Whips and Fruit", "Whoopee Forever". No further comment.

Just read the Bible! See our sin, and how a Holy God cannot have fellowship (connection) with sin, and how he provided redemption Rev. 5:9 "with your blood you purchased men for God". Read Revelation and how God has a future in Heaven, perfect, free from sin. Rev 4:8: "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty...".

Whoopee forever? Not. Worship God forever, oh yes!

Editorial Review:

God and sex go together. You can’t separate the two, says Rob Bell, because this physical world is intimately linked to deeper spiritual realities. And so, in order to make sense of sexuality, at some point you have to talk about God. With beauty and unusual insight, Sex God explores this connection.

The Road Less Traveled, 25th Anniversary Edition : A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth

M. Scott Peck

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 173 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Road Less Traveled 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

excellent self help book. a must read for everyone. You will be happy and successful in life if you follow the principles of this book.

Life changing 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

I'm not one of those people who stalk the aisles of the self help section at all. But when someone lent me this book seven years ago, it was a turning point in my life. I've since bought my own copy of all three books in the series and have found it necessary to go back and read them from time to time (especially the first and third books).

When I first started reading this book I couldn't fathom that the brand of spirituality that Peck offers was even possible. I had discarded all spirituality since childhood because I had learned early on about the hoorors of religion. More than anything, this book spurred me to start along the path to discovering my own sense of spirituality and my own life philosophy. It also helped me to think in more complex terms and beocme more comfortable with ambiguity and contradiction...reality essentially.

This book should make you uncomfortable when you read it for the first time. You have to be uncomfortable to evolve. I am grateful for having come across it at a relatively young age because my life has been better for having read it.

Editorial Review:

By melding love, science, and religion into a primer on personal growth, M. Scott Peck launched his highly successful writing and lecturing career with this book. Even to this day, Peck remains at the forefront of spiritual psychology as a result of The Road Less Traveled. In the era of I'm OK, You're OK, Peck was courageous enough to suggest that "life is difficult" and personal growth is a "complex, arduous and lifelong task." His willingness to expose his own life stories as well as to share the intimate stories of his anonymous therapy clients creates a compelling and heartfelt narrative.