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Modern Pharisees: Tough Questions for Serious Christians

M

Matrika52

New Member
This is an e-book by someone who calls himself A. Christian Mann - almost certainly a pen name. it brings up a lot of things held by most conservative Christians to be absolute "musts" in the practice of their faith. And he holds it up to the light of scripture, holding it up to what he sees the Bible as saying and challenging readers in the intro, as well as each and every chapter, not just to change their beliefs because of what he says or to stick with their current belief because that is the way it's always been; but, to answer the questions for themselves. i know for a fact it would freak out my LDS Mormon church! (LOL!)

the questions are super-controversial for sure and i can't say i'd agree with the conclusions he SEEMS to come to on every topic; however, i'd be amiss if i did not point out to folks here the chapters on marriage and one in which he discusses Plural Marriage in a way that i think most active members on this site would agree with and embrace, well, i'd be amiss if i didn't share this with my friends here.

the book AT THIS TIME is a free e-book on Smashwords.com and anyone can get it. But i'd esp. recommend it for anyone on here who is having to defend their practice of marriage or plural marriage to ANYONE - a church leader, parents, whoever. Oddly the one verse he did NOT put into it, is the one i'd have put in for sure - Isaiah 4:1 in which it says that several (i think 7) woman will come to one man and say we will support ourselves but let us marry you and take your name to "take away our shame" i believe is how it puts it. Or is that chapter 7 verse one? i am getting to be almost 60 and my short term memory sometimes gets confused. But it's a fascinating verse to me because it doesn't denounce it as wrong and Isaiah is not noted for mincing words when he believed some behavior or another was wrong! j/L "Granny" Matrika (Rolling Buffalo Woman)

And the great thing is that even the author him self, doesn't seem to expect everyone to agree with him on everything.
 
Thanks for the review - I've just downloaded it and will begin to read it soon.
 
Downloaded and read it last night. It is a good book, I would recommend it also.

The book does not teach anything about any topic. Rather, it presents the actual scriptures relating to a topic, and asks a million challenging questions about them. The topics covered include Gambling, the Lord's Supper, Christian marriage, Divorce, Polygamy, Honesty, Temper, Violence, whether we can use God's "Original Intent" as a valid guide to moral issues, creation vs evolution, slavery, and church denominational divisions.

The book does not come to any conclusions on any of these issues (although in some cases the questions lead you towards particular conclusions). The verses selected are far from complete, each topic is only covered at a cursory level. If you were interested in any one topic, you should also read the Bible a lot more, but also read books written by others specifically on that topic to help to see how the various apparently conflicting verses (in some cases) can fit together into a consistent whole. This book does not attempt to show you the consistent whole picture, rather to simply shatter your current picture and leave you to put the pieces back together yourself. But this book is good to show you that there is something to ponder.

The intent is to challenge everything you've ever thought the Bible says. But the author has not challenged his own views entirely. For instance, when discussing the Lord's Supper, he comes entirely from the standard church-tradition perspective that it is a special new meal that we are to have regularly to remember Christ. He does not consider that it could just mean that we are to celebrate Passover as the apostles did, and when we do so it is now to be done to remember Christ. So the questions asked on the issue, although thought-provoking, are incomplete and could be a lot more thought-provoking. But within the parameters that he has considered the issue, he questions it well and suggests an excellent conclusion. The same general comment would also apply to many other issues.

This is simply because, like all of us, the author is on a journey from church traditions to the true teaching of God. I am still on that journey. This book is great to get someone at the early stages of that journey thinking deeply and realising that they need to take their instruction from the Bible, not from the words of man. And anyone who reads it should then proceed to journey even further.

Direct link: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/564523

Example text. Here the author has been questioning whether the 9th commandment really means "do not lie", or whether it is far more limited. He is going through examples of people in scripture lying:
John 7:8-10 Go up to the feast yourselves; I do not go up to this feast because My time has not yet fully come.” Having said these things to them, He stayed in Galilee. But when His brothers had gone up to the feast, then He Himself also went up, not publicly, but as if, in secret. ...
Did Jesus deceive his brethren? If He did, did He lie doing it? Did He bear false witness against his neighbor and break the 9th Commandment? If Jesus’ actions don’t conform to our current understanding of honesty, which is correct? What would that mean for us today?
Click to expand...
 
I am replying so I can find this post without to much trouble. I want to down load it just not on my phone.
 
Great read! Quick and easy yet challenging! Already suggested it to my wife! [GRINNING FACE WITH SMILING EYES]
 
just to let you know the author -posted this on his FB page:
The book is set back to free for a limited time for the holidays. If you enjoyed it and want to pass it along, now is the time.

Also, if the book left a positive impression, leaving feedback at your eBook store would be greatly appreciated.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and God Bless.

i thought it was interesting that when he did charge for it, he charged 3.16 USD - for John 3:16~!

i'm sorry i have not been on this site much - i've been very sick. i've been in 3 hospitalizations in 3 months and have also had a UTI - not the primary problem - on top of it for about 2-3 months. For the primary problem which is too personal for me to talk about comfortably, i had to have an embarrassing invasive procedure. i miss you all.
j/L
 
Sorry to hear you have been ill. Praying for the answers and health you need. May 2016 bring many blessings.
 
To everyone, thank you for your kind thoughts, wishes and prayers - they are needed. i'm glad you have enjoyed reading the book too.

j/L "Granny" Matrika (Rolling Buffalo Woman)
 
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