Posted on 03/14/2005 10:28:37 AM PST by blue-duncan
For all of you Rick Warren fans out there, did you happen to catch the interview with the Brian Nichols, ex-hostage Ashley Smith? She was reading "Purpose Driven Life" as part of her devotions and read part of chapter 33 to him and then asked him what he thought his purpose in life was. This was part of the discussion that convinced Nichols to give himself up. We should all have her boldness in the face of trials.
I Cor.13:5 (Love)...thinks no evil...
If you'd like a scripture brick try 1Pet 3:15
"But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."
Great passage, thanks. Oh, I used the bold on my favorite part.
For explanation go to the link.
With the media going full speed ahead in promoting PDL as the most significant book in recent history, I was reminded of other evangelical books that have made similar splashes.
Top of the List: Hal Lindsey's The Late Great Planet Earth. Numbers are hard to get straight with this book, but purchased and free copies appear to be over 30 million copies. It was easily one of the most significant books of the 1970's. It changed evangelicalism profoundly, and really influenced all of American Christianity towards a kind of dispensational eschatology, and more significantly, towards a kind of historical, cultural pessimism. Between the Scopes Trial and The Late, Great Planet Earth, evangelicals felt they were fully justified in abandoning culture.
Right alongside of this are the 55 million copies of the Left Behind series. LB is an echo of the same kind of "Bible and newspaper" apocalypticism, with similar results.
In that sense, Purpose Driven Life is a much more positive book, and one that should have some positive effects on evangelicals. Despite the mediocrity of the presentation, Warren has written a "Wal-Mart Theology" for a Wal-Mart time in history. PDL is the book one would expect with the most prominent evangelical in the world being President Bush. He's the perfect example of the kind of Christian PDL is promoting. If anyone has the "purpose driven" approach to faith, it's President Bush. Warren understands the soccer moms and Nascar dads that make up Red State culture, and PDL provides an apologetic of sorts, a "non-systematic, devotional" theology that explains what evangelical faith means.
In comparison to the usual Charismatic/Pentecostal/Fundamentalist voices that speak through evangelical publishing, Warren is solidly evangelical and middle of the road. I am grateful that he, rather than Pat Robertson or Jerry Falwell, has the ear of the public. With Osteen ascending, there is some hope that Warren will provide more Gospel in his books (though I want to be clear that Warren's Gospel presentations are woefully muddled and deficient in their explanation. But they do lead you to the real Jesus. However, his recent column in Ladie's Home Journal demonstrated that Warren may use his audience power to say little about the Gospel, choosing to draw readers in to his books or other presentations. One hopes Warren learns from Billy Graham that if you are a famous evangelical, you should not be afraid to sound like one in any media setting.)
It is the perfect book for a post-literate, consumeristic church. It's the perfect book for a church that really doesn't like theology, can't make up its mind about Bible translations and doesn't want to argue about homosexuality and women in ministy. It is the pop and fizz version of Mere Christianity. In fact, realizing that Mere Christianity and Purpose Driven Life really set out to do much of the same thing will demonstrate what has changed in evangelicalism in half a century. Both are books that seek to make the essence of Christianity understandable to the masses. Both are written by men whose skills at communication are highly valued. Both have the non-Christian as the audience, though Warren's book is often criticized for not being more plainly evangelistic.
PDL is a book that is meant to take the reader into the church. That's a good thing. It is also an optimistic book, with a strong emphasis on missions and vocation. That's good as well. The theological, Biblical sloppiness and shallowness of PDL are the reasons the book is popular. If it had been more theologically correct and Biblically founded, it would never have gotten out of the evangelical ghetto and into the culture.
Warren has a via negitiva that should be noted. He built his church around what people DIDN'T LIKE about the churches they attended. In much the same way, PDL is a book that is written with an awareness of what NOT to write, and a purpose of providing what people WANT TO HEAR in the times in which we live. This isn't The Cost of Discipleship. It's not a biography of a great- but inimitable- Christian, like Born Again, Joni or Cross and the Switchblade. It's not a trendy topical book on the end times or how to get wealthy. It's miles ahead of the positive thinking pablum of Osteen or Schuller. As flawed and mediocre as PDL is as compared to hundreds of other books, it is by far the best "smash hit" Christian book to overflow into the culture in the last decade.
(From "Boar's Head Tavern;" link is here.)
Cool.
Ok. Group hug!
just curious - do you have a 401k?
I know where you are going with this.
The fact is they are a very large company with lots of affiliates who publish many things for Schools also.
I certainly avoid buying anything they have to offer whenever possible
but likely hold interest in big tobacco and pharmaceuticals that make RU486 or harvest stem cells from aborted babies
You see my point - I see yours -
Oh great, I just feel so accepted in the beloved. Wow!!
you mean like when the Archbishop of Canterbury removed the Apocrypha from the KJV1611 in 1885
so just out of curiosity - does your KJV contain the Apocrypha ? or is it a New Age version
Lets not even talk about the printing errors as well - which most notably said "thou shall commit adultery"
There has been over 60,000 words removed from the NIV in comparison with the KJV.
sources please - It looks like you got your info here at the bottom of the page and then misread and twisted it - according to this web page, 60,000 changes have been made between the KJV and the NKJV - so which is it
Your 1769 Edition has corrected printing errors made back then and it has made proper changes in spelling and punctuation that should be today.
Who taught this guy grammar?
According to this site 64,576 words have been removed.
It backs it up very well also
http://www.purewords.org/kjb1611/html/niv.htm
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissension, heresies, envy,murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like...
You do seem to be insimuating that Rev-911 is operating in those fleshly works. If you are not, then what was your purpose of posting them to Rev-911?
It was the goodness of Christ being exhibited in her that convicted that guy of being totally depraved and in need of a Savior.
He certainly didn't conclude that he was a "good person" as popular pyschology and postmodernist thought concludes.
If God loves everyone equally, unconditionally and has a wonderful plan for everyone, then why does God send most to hell?
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