Wilson Deaton
April 18th, 2010, 11:37 PM
Eldredge, John. Waking the Dead.
I have mixed feelings on this book.
There were a few thoughts that I really liked. A lot.
There were other parts I wasn’t so in to.
What I liked:
Eldredge uses a lot of well known, popular stories to illustrate some of this points. Part of his main message is that all the epic, myth stories are reflections of our actual spiritual lives. (He defines myths more similarly to parables than as simply “false.”)
By epic, myth stories I’m talking about stories like Narnia, Fellowship of the Ring, Matrix, Star Wars, etc. He says there are three main themes in all of them that true for all of us:
1) Things are not what they seem. “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Neo becomes aware of the Matrix. Jacob saying, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I wasn’t aware of it.”
2) We are at war, a battle is under way. Think of Luke’s first encounter with Ben Kenobi or Frodo learning about the ring. Or Biblically, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
3) We have a crucial role to play. Frodo, Skywalker, etc., had a hard time accepting this. So did Moses.
One area some will question is his discussion of the heart. He is really into the idea that Christians have “good hearts.” His description is similar to that most holiness folk reserve for those “entirely sanctified.” That is, those having been cleansed of original sin. His point, however, has to do with trusting our hearts. If our hearts have been cleansed then we shouldn’t be afraid to seek our heart’s desire, etc.
He makes a great deal of spiritual warfare. When something goes wrong, etc., he wonders why we say stuff like, “Well, it was God’s will.” He says we often quote, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” while we ignore the words that immediately precede it: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;” He says when someone dies, when the job offer doesn’t come, etc., why don’t we blame the thief? Afterall, we are at war!
The area I wasn’t very into had to do with his approach to some of the Spiritual warfare. I accept that we are at war and that we should pray, be aware, etc., but he was a bit too into the mechanics and personalization for me. If you are feeling selfish, for example, then you should be praying about the demon, “Selfish,” who has gained a foothold in your life, etc. I like the concept as a mental picture but he seemed to see it as literal reality.
There were of course, many other things he said but I can’t just reproduce the book here!
My final conclusion: I would like to remove a couple chapters but I’m extremely thankful and glad I read the book. I suspect there will be plenty who even like some of the parts I didn’t.
Wilson
I have mixed feelings on this book.
There were a few thoughts that I really liked. A lot.
There were other parts I wasn’t so in to.
What I liked:
Eldredge uses a lot of well known, popular stories to illustrate some of this points. Part of his main message is that all the epic, myth stories are reflections of our actual spiritual lives. (He defines myths more similarly to parables than as simply “false.”)
By epic, myth stories I’m talking about stories like Narnia, Fellowship of the Ring, Matrix, Star Wars, etc. He says there are three main themes in all of them that true for all of us:
1) Things are not what they seem. “I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore.” Neo becomes aware of the Matrix. Jacob saying, “Surely the Lord is in this place and I wasn’t aware of it.”
2) We are at war, a battle is under way. Think of Luke’s first encounter with Ben Kenobi or Frodo learning about the ring. Or Biblically, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”
3) We have a crucial role to play. Frodo, Skywalker, etc., had a hard time accepting this. So did Moses.
One area some will question is his discussion of the heart. He is really into the idea that Christians have “good hearts.” His description is similar to that most holiness folk reserve for those “entirely sanctified.” That is, those having been cleansed of original sin. His point, however, has to do with trusting our hearts. If our hearts have been cleansed then we shouldn’t be afraid to seek our heart’s desire, etc.
He makes a great deal of spiritual warfare. When something goes wrong, etc., he wonders why we say stuff like, “Well, it was God’s will.” He says we often quote, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” while we ignore the words that immediately precede it: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;” He says when someone dies, when the job offer doesn’t come, etc., why don’t we blame the thief? Afterall, we are at war!
The area I wasn’t very into had to do with his approach to some of the Spiritual warfare. I accept that we are at war and that we should pray, be aware, etc., but he was a bit too into the mechanics and personalization for me. If you are feeling selfish, for example, then you should be praying about the demon, “Selfish,” who has gained a foothold in your life, etc. I like the concept as a mental picture but he seemed to see it as literal reality.
There were of course, many other things he said but I can’t just reproduce the book here!
My final conclusion: I would like to remove a couple chapters but I’m extremely thankful and glad I read the book. I suspect there will be plenty who even like some of the parts I didn’t.
Wilson