MARK HOLLOWAY DOESN'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT THE BLOODY HISTORY OF NEW ZEALAND - BUT HE DISCOVERS THAT GOD DOES. When he least expects it, God startles Mark, author of best seller The Freedom Diaries, with a back and forth conversation about Māori (Indigenous), Pākehā (European) and the Land (New Zealand). The conversation is astonishing in its clarity, and incredibly moving - yet at the same time, uncomfortable, scary. It doesn't make easy reading. God gently explains how we got into the mess of racial tension we're in, that neither is without guilt. He unfolds the reason he brought Māori and Pākehā to New Zealand - a reason that would ultimately change the entire world. Well known authors, Māori and Pākehā, say that the 19 conversations with God in this book, are what we desperately need to hear to achieve peace in New Zealand. Bestselling international authors say CRY THE WOUNDED LAND is urgent reading for people in every nation. This is not a book about repentance. In these 19 mind-blowing conversations with God, you'll hear God explain why we need to get together, Māori and Pākehā, in a marriage of cultures, so we can achieve what he brought us to New Zealand to do. He says the land cries out under the burden of blood we have all spilled on it, that it aches and groans for the day we begin to do what we were brought to these beautiful shores to do. Together.
I gave this book one star because it's worth reading for those who want to know what is happening in the backyard (or front yard?) of Christian world today. In my review I will use the letters MG (Mark's God) for the entity whom Mark calls "God". First part: Maori, Europeans, land: 1. Learning about God from Maori On the p. 55 - 56 MG says: "Instead of demanding that they learn your religion, you should have asked me what I wanted you to learn from theirs. Every people group has truth they have received direct from me - some knowingly, some without realising it. ... . It's not too late. And if you learn from them, they can learn from you. My agenda, not yours." First of all the "Io" as a supreme Maori god mentioned on this page is a disputable item: "Māori scholar Te Rangi Hīroa (Peter Buck) observed, ‘The discovery of a supreme god named Io in New Zealand was a surprise to Maori and Pakeha alike.’" (Wikipedia). But it is not the most important thing. I agree that God let Himself be known to all peoples, there were no atheists. But the fact we, Christians, accept as the basis of our belief is that from all the peoples of the Earth God chose Israel as the one to whom He gave His law (Thora and then the whole of the Old Testament). Jesus said: "The salvation comes from the Jews" (John 4, 22) and then: "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me." (John 14, 6) Peter said: "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”(Acts 4, 12). So when the missionaries came to the New Zealand they did their best to preach this good news so that Maori could be saved and would not go to hell. And they did it excellently. Needless to say they did it without the practice of back and forth conversations with MG. As a result Maori among other things abandoned cannibalism, the last being committed in 1842 (zetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-...). The Maori religious believes, might they be very interesting subject of anthropology or ethnology etc., did not and do not lead anyone to salvation. The question then is: what is the agenda of this MG? 2. The injustices committed by Europeans to Maoris. No dispute, there were injustices. But on both sides. When the author points to the fact that there were also some injustices committed by Maoris, MG replies, that it is not the matter to be talked with Europeans, that he is talking about them with Maoris. Thank be to the author that he exhorts the Maoris to write (and publish) their part (p. 24). But still, the author let the book be published (undoubtedly after consulting it with MG) for the mixed audience, for Maoris as well as Europeans and others, impressing on their minds the image of bad guilty Europeans and poor victims Maoris which evidently doesn't bother the otherwise justice seeking MG. 3. Guess where is the solution? It is not repentance. When the author several times asks about repentance, he is rebuked. For example on the page 162 it is called "religious behaviour" by MG. What about John the Baptist's (Matthew 3): “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! ... Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance." And (Matthew 4): "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Has MG forgotten what the true repentance mean? Similarly, there is no way the church can play any part in fixing the problem. On the page 119 we read: "The church can't fix the problem. The church, as an organised body, doesn't recognise there is a problem. Some of you have heard me speak about it, but an organised body, the church is not aware there is a problem that I want to address. ... As a group, organised Christianity doesn't really know how to listen to me..... But that's OK, I have time for them to learn..." It is because there is "The spirit behind the church, the great and powerful principality called Religion" (p. 99). And: I want you to come innocent of Religion, innocent of the complexities of Religion and Politics, those happy filthy bedfellows (p. 126). So, where is the solution? It's the conversation with MG. "You just have to have a conversation with me and learn to hear my voice." (p. 138) "The whole purpose of relationship, any relationship, is to make you aware that you cannot hope to understand the other without me" (p. 74). The second part of the book: conversations with "God". Though the title of the book suggests that the main focus is going to be on Maori, Europeans and the land, the underlying omnipresent goal is to entice readers to follow the practice of back and forward conversations with MG. This goal is clearly expressed by the author on the p. 24: I'm asking you to do something different, to have your own back and forth conversation with God about this...Then, there is a Special Bonus Book: What They Never Told You about How to have a Back and Forth Conversation with God. This bonus book has 117 pages (the "main" book comprises 137 pages). But that's not all, at the end of each chapter we are invited to read the second part and even in the body of the conversations we are several times again and again called to embrace the practice of this kind of conversations.
1. The conversations versus the Bible The author states several times in the book that he clearly prefers practicing the conversations over the Bible reading. For example on the p. 267 we read: The Bible is the written words of God but putting it above listening to God direct is not what Jesus and Paul taught. They both made it clear they spent more time listening to God than they did reading the scripture (John 5,30), (Gal. 1,20). Jesus chastised the Pharisees, and Paul the Galatians, for putting the scripture above listening to the Spirit.
This is not true. Just a small reminder: they both (Jesus and Paul) knew the Scriptures excellently. Luke 24 has Jesus and the disciples going to Emmaus: And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Evidently Jesus knew the Scriptures (by the way, in Mark Holloway's book written with small "s") and considered them to be sufficient to explain what had happened with Him in Golgotha. Paul was the disciple of Gamaliel (Acts 2) and a Pharisee (Philippians 3) and his writings are full of Bible references.
2. The usage of the Bible references in this book is incompetent, superficial, misleading. There is no place enough here to deal with them individually (I would gladly do it on other occasion), just one example for all (this one is with MG's interpretation): On the page 160 we read the passage form Romans 8, 18-22:
"For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from the bondage of decay and brought into freedom and glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."
And here is the MG's interpretation that follows: "The land feels your attitude! Read the passage carefully, Mark, think about what it says - it talks about creation waiting, and being frustrated in bondage to decay because of the wait. And why the wait? Because you humans are not learning what you were born to do - to be led by me. You are not having a back and forward conversation with me. If the author had undergone the pain to read the verses in their full context, he would have realised the true meaning (this is New King James Version): 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labours with birth pangs together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. 24 For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance. The creation is waiting not for us all to have back and forth conversations with MG but for the glorification, the redemption of our body (which is not the consequence of practicing the conversations with MG but of the second coming of Jesus). 3. Generally, the most obvious error in using the Bible verses is ignorance of the fact that the Bible consists of two parts, The Old Testament (Covenant) and the New Testament (Covenant). Jesus said (Matthew 5, 17) that he did not come to abolish the law (and the books containing the law) but to fulfill the law, to satisfy the law, to pay the penalty for sin and bring about the new covenant. He died, raised from dead, ascended into Heaven, sent the Holy Spirit so that anyone who believes in Him can be born again and led by Spirit in new life. Paul writes it clearly in Romans. The consequence is that salvation is not through works of law but through faith and is for Gentiles as well as for the Jews. This was the new revelation brought by Jesus to disciples and personally to Paul. That is why Peter got the vision in Acts 10, that is why Paul chastised Galatians returning to the covenant based on law etc. The new covenant , the good news, was really new in their times and mostly heard from apostles and their disciples, that is why in some occasions we have the word "hear" (as in Galatians). It has nothing to do with the practice recommended in this book. Now we have the written form (New Testament) and whoever is born again from the Holy Spirit can read it with understanding. Yes, it can be sometimes difficult, but today we have access to plenty of resources to enhance our understanding, we have churches, Bible study groups etc., we have plenty of opportunities to study and understand. But let us hear what MG says about studying the Bible (p. 93 - 94): "I want you to learn more and more scripture (sic!) but I want you to learn it direct from me. ..I mean ask me what it means. Allow me to interpret it for you. Only learn it as fast as fast you can hear me interpret it. Learning it without me - it is words." 4. The doubts, verification. I am really thankful to the author that he is very open about how he practices the conversations and also about his doubts, which he ascribes to the entity called "Doubts", evidently a demon for him. He writes on the p. 233: "One time I sat at the kitchen bench for four hours alone, shouting at you ("God") in frustration. Weeping. Shouting at the enemy. Knowing that I had not heard clearly and peaceably what you'd said. I stuck at it for four hours until I knew absolutely for certain what you'd said." (Just imagine how many pages of the Bible you can read in four hours!) What method does the author use to make sure that it is MG whom he hears? Repeating, repeating and repeating his questions and writing the answers he hears plus sometimes "shouting" at the enemy. It means he uses the same method that should be proved to be the right one. This is called circulus vitiosus, the vicious circle or circulus in probando: proving in circles, using a conclusion as the premise in an argument, thus going around the proof, it means it proves nothing. As verification of his perceptions the author relies on his inner testimony, sometimes called by him satisfaction. Evidently, he forgot (doesn't know?) Jeremiah 17, 9: “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked; Who can know it?" That's why the church (!) was given the gift of the Holy Spirit of discerning the spirits, and in 1 Corinthians 14:29 Paul says, “Let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge or evaluate.” Of course, this is happening in the church, which as an organised body is anything but despised by the MG (p. 99, 119 ...). Conclusion: 1. To the problem between Maoris and Europeans: the book does not bring any facts that we didn't know before and is extremely biased. The proposed solution: talk, first with the MG then together is no solution at all. The only way how to become united is to become united in Christ through repentance, being born again, following Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life, who, significantly, plays only marginal, or to say it more exactly, no role in this book. Concerning this problem I would recommend Ian Wishart's The Great Divide. 2. To the problem of conversations with "God". MG, the entity called here "God" is not God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is not Jesus Christ, is not the Holy Spirit. 1 John 4: Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. The striking lack of any straightforward mention of Jesus Christ, His death, resurrection, redemption of mankind from the bondage of sin which is the core of the Christian belief and which is the only way for anyone, Maoris including, to God, Godly life and reconciliation is at least suspicious. Matthew 7: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. What fruit of the conversations with MG we can expect? 1. The loss of freedom. The author himself confesses his addiction to it. 2. Individuals having conversations with MG believing he is real God without any verification except for other (even hours of) conversations, shouting, individual feelings of satisfaction. What will be their mental health like after a while? 3. Less and less knowledge of the Bible, less and less true faith. More and more people will seek this kind of "spiritual" experiences, the easier and shorter way than reading the Bible, studying etc. The truth will be dimmed and then will disappear and the MG will be able to manipulate the people as he wants. 4. The dismantling of the church. Though not expressed like this in the book, the tendency to this is obvious. I would say that the next stage announced by MG will be the spiritual warfare against the spirit of Religion, proclaiming that whoever does not have the conversations with MG is actually not a Christian. Alexandra Corbett
What Mark THINKS or IMAGINES god said to him about maori, non maori and the land etc. There is NO EVIDENCE of god & NO EVIDENCE god spoke to him. I think he doesn't know the difference between psychology and (supposed) spirituality when it comes to what he thinks he hears. There is evidence that he can produce a book that a limited audience will buy though. Sadly.