I got this book for free to review from Litfuse, and they say they want my honest opinion.
Oh my.
First, here is what they have to say about the book:
"Thou shalt tolerate every opinion...
except the Christian's. Today's postmodern "prime directive" leaves many
followers of Jesus tongue-tied. In the global village, isn't it unreasonable,
and even dangerous, to suggest that the Bible has a monopoly on truth?
The church needs a new breed of
Christ-follower. We need Christ-followers who are alert to today's touchy ideas,
the truths that fire up more heat than light. We need Christ-followers who can
make a clear case for the Bible's worldview; who are ready to help our friends
think through their beliefs; who can recognize inconsistencies and challenge
them; and who can do all of this with humility, confidence, humor, and love. For
more information visit http://fourletterwords.org. "
This is what they tell us about the author.:
About Bill Giovannetti:
"Dr. Bill Giovannetti
is a professor at A.W. Tozer Theological Seminary and the senior pastor
of Neighborhood Church of Redding. An experienced speaker and author, Bill
informs the mind in ways that touch the heart. He enjoys life with his wife and
two kids in northern California. For more information about Bill and his other
books, visit http://maxgrace.wordpress.com and http://fourletterwords.org. "
And, here is what I think about this book.:
At first, when I read chapter two of this book, I was highly offended. I thought that this author has just shown Christianity at it's most offensive and he is defending it. He begins Chapter two, titled "True" with this statement: "1. Some ideas are true and some ideas are false." That statement annoyed me. Ideas are opinions, not facts, therefore, they cannot be "true" or "false". The author explains in this chapter why he thinks otherwise. He also goes on to say that "Christians define truth simply: "truth is reality as God sees it." Yet, he quotes John 14:6 on the first page of this chapter, in which Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life." Jesus did not say that truth is "reality as God sees it". Jesus said that He, Himself is truth. That is not the same as the author's "Christian" definition of truth.
Throughout the book the author defines and describes many different religious and world views and then explains how and why each is one is wrong, and that the Christian viewpoint that he believes in is the one and only true opinion. Each chapter ends with a list of "Talking Points" designed to help young people - I think high school and college age - to express his their the Christian viewpoint that he believes is the one and only correct view. The book is designed to help young Christians to defend the Christian "belief system" as the author defines it.
After being offended by chapter two, I was prepared to hate the entire book, but I did not. I found the book to be very interesting and thought provoking. I agreed with and enjoyed many of the points that the author makes. I really liked the "Wait" chapter and found some of his information about other religions and beliefs very interesting. There are some things that he shares, however, that I do not agree with. I think that one reason that I did not despise the rest of the book even after finding the beginning premise so offensive, is that while the author clearly believes that his view of God and Christ and religion are the only correct way to believe, he does not seem to be rude and hateful towads those of us who do not agree with every single one of his opinions.
This book is QR enabled and has links to his site and other sites that the author recommends.
Here is a link to the blog tour for this book so you can read other people's opinions of this book as well:
Also:
"Bill is celebrating the new Kindle edition
of Four Letter Words (for only $4.99)! He’ll be traveling coast to coast
over the next few weeks on this virtual book tour and he's celebrating by
hosting a great giveaway!
Click here (http://fourletterwords.org/2012/01/contest-giveaway)
to find out how you can win two gift certificates to Amazon (in the amount of
$50 and $25) and free downloads of his yet-to-be-released title,
Recession-Proof: Living a God-Blessed Life in a Messed Up World."
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