Brad
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by Napoleon Hill
My review bows to your review. Well put sir! ]]>
Brad
read and liked
Greg Powers's
review of Think and Grow Rich:
"Do I have to give this a star? This is a self help book that has some good ideas, most of which people already know they should be doing to be successful. He takes on such controversial issues as "never giving up," "planning ahead,"...more "
"Do I have to give this a star? This is a self help book that has some good ideas, most of which people already know they should be doing to be successful. He takes on such controversial issues as "never giving up," "planning ahead,"...more "
Simply beautiful, every word of it. The Singer is the first and certainly the best, but the other two are not useless by any means. Just beautiful, deep and wonderful. Recommended for one and all. ]]>
I wish there were a zero star rating! After reading this book there is a sort of emotional afterglow that makes you feel warm and fuzzy, and if you didn't take some time to process it you may actually think you enjoyed it! Playing on the most painful possibly human emotional circumstances Young has a simplistic writing style that demands nothing of the reader, making it prime material for the best seller rack.
There is, actually, one good thing about this book (not good enough to merit a star), Young gets the idea of relationship with God and takes it seriously. After that the whole thing goes downhill. No reverence for God, of the Christ or the Holy Spirit. At several points the main character gets so chummy with Jesus that he is shoving him playfully. Not seeing that behavior out of John in Revelation chapter 1.
The god that Young worships is a god who has no wrath to offer the world. And doesn't particularly care about His own Holiness (Young's god would also much rather be calles "she", if you don't mind). According to Young, the parts of the Bible that invovled God's wrath and holiness were simply the invention and insertion of small minded "religious" people who didn't know her at all. (In case you missed the point - the Bible has no substantial place in Young's theology because it is compromised fully by those who wrote it).
It would seem there is a reason why God, in His word never once chose to give himself a form in the other two members of the Trinity. It would have been wiser for the author to heed the people who accomplished the task of allegory well (Hurnard and Bunyan) and not dare to go past where the Biblical authors dared not tread.
It would be impossible to count every error that Young uses to spit in the face of the God of teh Bible, but here is a choice one that bothered me. Suffering has no place in Young's theology. God feels really bad for you that you are going through a rough time...but He just can't do anything about it. (Sorry, I've been using "he" out of habit thinking that Young had read the Bible) Young's god is to weak and impotent to have a purpose in suffering, in sin. There is no Satan in Young's schema either. God is bound by the logical assumptions that follow his boneheaded error in giving humanity free will.
Wouldn't give it to a friend or an enemy, next to the real works of fiction that have been written by people with a more genuine deep faith (L'engle, Lewis, Bunyan, John of the Cross, Hurnard, Calvin Miller) this is a huge miss, a sad heresy and a sickening attempt at lying to the "christian" world about the God who loves us so ferociously.
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Nice view of the prayer life. It is always strange to read the catholic "prayer guru's". Very often it just seems like warmed over buddhism (statments about destroying the will abound). Other times it seemed very tender and sweet. The common thread that I see in all of this type of literature is the belief that prayer is the one necessary step to the process of Christian maturity. This seems silly and one sided to me. There are so many important parts to becoming a mature Christian such as the Bible, fellowship (this one really burns the community fearing contemplatives), faith, obedience. They seem consumed by this idea of an experience that is wholly other, unworldly and strange, but it always seems to lead back to the simple and quiet thing they always knew. Imagine a marriage book that suggested that the best way to grow in your marriage was to sit silently together for extended periods of time, talking, walking, meeting with friends, and learning together are to be discouraged in favor of staring blankly into eachother's faces. Rediculous! God wants a relationship with us! He wants us to speak to Him and hear His words, share His love with others and grow closer to us each day. Why the need for this exclusive "few really get here" club of people who need to feel more specially selected?
Those criticisms being recognized Green comes to a great conclusion that most Catholics are not capable of coming to because of their dogma - God has done everything in Jesus Christ. It is not for us to DO something, but to rest in His great love and provision. He writes beautifully and tenderly. I don't doubt his heart for one moment, however he is so steeped in anti-Biblical teachings (i.e. continually returnig to the need for purgatory!) that I wouldn't reccomend the book to anyone who wasn't already well informed about the subject and it's common (often univeralist) pitfalls. ]]>
bookshelves: currently-reading
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by Richard Adams
You can have/borrow my copy. Don't forget to remind me when you come tomorrow. ]]>
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This book was fun, interesting, and fast paced. I was pleased with the characters (who you really do grow to love and respect) and all of the great presentations of universal themes of leadership, strength and dedicated devotion. Adams builds an incredible mythology surrounding the rabbit culture. Just beautiful from start to finish. This book I would share with most anyone, and I feel richer for having read it. ]]>