Real Christianity by Bob Beltz Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $6.99 You Save: $8.00 (53%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.96 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Real Christianity
Book Review: A very profound and almost prophetic read.
Summary: 5 Stars
We have all heard that history repeats itself, this statement is validated in the reading of this book. Wilberforce described the difference between "Cultural Christianity" and "Real Christianity" that were present in his day so adequately that it's plain to see we have the same spiritual climate in America today. If you are a Christian, this book should be on your required reading list (were there such a thing). It's a quick read, but you will be deeply impacted by the concepts Wilberforce puts forth.
I have just purchased three more copies to pass out, and I intend to continue purchasing this book on a regular basis in order to share the blessing I have received through it with all whom I care about.
It should be noted, this is a PARAPHRASE of Wilberforce's original book into modern English.
Book Review: Authentic Christianity
Summary: 5 Stars
William Wilberforce makes clear his intended audience are readers who perceive themselves to be Christians, people who attend church on a regular basis. Remember this book was first published in the early nineteenth century when the majority in Great Britain felt peer pressure to attend church on a regular basis. The book is a call for introspection: How will you face God after you leave this earth. The author makes distinction between the cultural Christian and to what he considers an authentic Christian. What constitutes authentic religion and authentic faith? Expresses a desire that Christians should have desire to know the scripture and have the ability to defend their Faith. Does one have a desire to be well educated over having a godly knowledge of the bible? Does one's desire for a place in society determines behavior and thought or does one's desire to grow closer to God? Wilberforce is critical of Christians who call Faith a private matter. As if it is something to be kept to oneself and not for public declaration. Does the individual feel this way because he is insecure in his knowledge of the bible, insecurity about his ability to defend his thoughts, or lack of faith in his stated belief? The author makes a distinction between being a moral person and a Christian, A moral person tries to do good things and avoid doing bad things. A standard set up by man not God.
Wilberforce argues that many a Christian have a misperception about the nature of God and the nature of sin, therefore they do not perceive oneself correctly before God. Christians do not take Satan serious and do not take sin serious. One finds oneself belittle their own guilt and not acknowledging the importance of the cross. The author lists the essentials of the Christian Faith:
Jesus came to earth to live as a human being, to suffer through the humiliations of being man as if he were a sinner, to die as if he were a sinner, to rise from the dead - so we can come with confidence to come to God for forgiveness for ones sins.
Jesus did not die on the cross so God the Father could have a more tolerant perspective about sin. Man is still worthy of hell. Man without repentance is doomed. Salvation is not about living a more ethical life. Salvation only comes from having an emotional response to a correct knowledge of one's own accountability to God and His hatred of sin. One is dependent on Jesus to avoid the punishment of sin. Behavior through the Holy Spirit will improve after conversion of Faith, but in way does the believer merit salvation.
Wilberforce goes to great lengths to express what it means to put God first in contrast an earthly attempt to be a good person, self-effort attempt to serve God, and a life lead by the Holy Spirit. Does one take doctrine serious; does one take the teachings of the bible to heart? Do you love God more than the acceptance of man? This perspective will effect how one budgets his time, use his Sunday. Does one grudgingly go to church then use the rest of the day for leisure or business? How does one study God's word, how does one worship?
The author goes into detail distinguish between man directed behavior and God directed behavior. A good reputation seeking God's will is something to seek, but one should be provoked to sinful anger or violence when one slanders you as a hypocrite. It is not the approval of man a Christian seeks, but the approval of God. Revenge and/or hate should not be a Christian response to slander or lies about ones Christian walk.
Wilberforce makes a case for a weaken nation because less people are authentic Christians. I find this regrettable because it seems to contradict his thesis about why someone should be an authentic Christian. The Author completes the book with a plea for the Christian to have a self examination of his Christian walk.
Yes, his efforts to end the slave trade and the movie Amazing Grace are two major factors in me seeking out this book.
Book Review: Exceptional
Summary: 5 Stars
Most definately the BEST book I have ever read on living authentic Christianity. I cannot recommend it highly enough..Book Review: Experienced minister Bob Beltz offers a revised and updated version of Real Christianity
Summary: 5 Stars
Revised and updated by Bob Beltz, Real Christianity is a classic text originally written by abolitionist William Wilberforce more than 200 years ago in order to denounce slavery by appealing to human belief and redefining authentic Christian life. Now, experienced minister Bob Beltz offers a revised and updated version of Real Christianity in modern English (with brief notes) for contemporary readers. Wilberforce's core messages about the true standards of Christian behavior, authentic faith, and the nature of man are unchanged and throughly accessible to readers of all backgrounds. "To live our lives and miss that great purpose we were designed to accomplish is truly a sin. It is inconceivable that we could be bored in a world with so much wrong to tackle, so much ignorance to teach and so much misery we could alleviate." Highly recommended.Book Review: I Expected Better
Summary: 2 Stars
Perhaps the problem is me; perhaps my expectations were too lofty. But I had higher hopes for this book. It turned out to be a standard exhortation to believe wholly, and to live in that belief. While I embrace that thesis, in our modern plural world, we need to push harder and further than that. And I also have issues with the adaptation in front of me.
Wilberforce states that Christianity has been hijacked by a warm, fuzzy, abstractly noncommittal set of practices that let "believers" live their same old lives without having to change. He calls on Christians to reject this nebulous religion for true faith based on prayer, Bible study, and self-sacrifice leading to more Godly lives. So far I fully agree.
But the application he proposes unnerves me, especially as his argument nears its culmination. His naïve belief in the pious potential of the rich and powerful, coupled with his patronizing attitude to women, rings hollow. Maybe I read too much Borg and Crossan or Jacques Ellul, but I can't reconcile Wilberforce's hierarchical conservatism with Biblical Christianity.
The later it gets in the book, the more Wilberforce's ideas make me squirm. He makes totalizing statements about anybody who disagrees with him, including youth, foreigners (especially the French), and secularists. He is guilty of seeking simple solutions to complex problems, putting too many people in too small a bucket. It's too pat for the real world.
Though most of his principles are stated in generalities, they're the sort of generalities that serve as code for his fellow evangelicals. When he speaks of liberal theologians who "have gutted the faith of [its] theological foundations," Wilberforce's contemporaries probably knew that was a wink to his fellow abolitionists. Modern readers likely will rush to homosexuality and other hot-button issues.
To top all this off, I have problems with the adaptation. I see why Bob Beltz wanted to update the language. But his chapter notes indicate that he took material out, such as one point where Wilberforce name-checked a list of 18th-century theologians we wouldn't recognize. At another point he also added in a quote from C.S. Lewis which he thought succinctly encapsulated Wilberforce's point.
So I have to wonder: how much else did Beltz add in or take away? How much of the book in my hands is really William Wilberforce, and how much of it is Bob Beltz? This is a major concern for me, if Beltz is trying to co-opt Wilberforce for his current concerns. Barring time and energy to read through the original text, I can only wonder at the answer to this question.
Most of the book isn't bad. In many places, it says what many self-proclaimed Christians need to hear. But his lapses into dogmatism and his right-wing tendencies may alienate as many readers as they attract. And the adaptation is problematic. Maybe I let Wilberforce's legend loom too large in my expectations, but this isn't the book it should have been.