Evangelicals won't like this . . . | 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: (But Can't, Because He...

Too bad the title is a lie | 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job) | Oliver Thomas

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	• 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job) Oliver Thomas St. Martin's Press, 2007 - 128 pages average customer review:based on 28 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Hallelujah!

Every fire-breathing, self-righteous, Bible-thumping evangelical on the planet should buy, read and commit this book to memory. (Normal, well-grounded folks would do well to read it, too) Thoroughly enjoyed this thoughtful, informative book. Highly recommend it.

Evangelicals won't like this . . .

. . . that is, the book itself, or my review, doesn't matter!

As a former evangelical with Theology degree from a well-known Bible College (back in the early 70s), I always felt something was not quite right with my evangelical world-view, but didn't have the courage to examine or question it. (After all, I would probably go to Hell if I jettisoned those years of training and indoctrination.)

This book PERFECTLY expresses why a lot of those fundamentalist, evangelical doctrines no longer hold any water for me. Completely logical and well-researched arguments, expressed in plain english. This is not a book for scholars, but for the everyday Christian or searcher who senses there is more (or LESS!) to this faith than the Four Spiriual Laws!)

The author clearly has a strong faith in God, without all the evangelical baggage that so many of us grew up with. Only read this book if you think you might not have all the answers. Those who have life and faith wrapped up in a nice little package, will not like this book, and will probably label him apostate and doing the devil's work!!

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Too bad the title is a lie

I think the book provides some excellent food for thought and would have rated it five stars, even though I disagree with about 60 percent of what the author says; however, since the title is a blatant lie, I cannot rate it that high. I traveled the United States with my father as a teenager. He was an evangelist and we visited at least 250 churches. All 250 of these church pastors would have disagreed with about the same percentage of the book that I did. In fact, if these pastors preached (and they do) the 40 percent that I agreed with, there jobs would in no way be jeopardized. The title is simply false for the majority of Baptist, Independent, Charismatic and Pentecostal churches.

As for the arguments in the book, they are weak at best. The author clearly did not intend to prove his case (at least I hope he didn't), but rather to preach a message to those who would already agree with him and possibly pull a few non-thinkers over to his side. Now, let me be clear: I'm not saying people who agree with Buzz are non-thinkers all; however, anyone who is persuaded to agree with Buzz based on the contents of this book is certainly a non-thinker.

The author not only fails to mention very strong counter arguments to his position and rebuttals to those arguments, but he also fails to give any real evidence for his positions with just a few exceptions (such as end-time prophecy where he does provide a bit of proof). For example, he blanketly states that the "best evidence" of science proves that homosexuals and lesbians are born that way. This is debatable at best and still in the state of philosophy as opposed to science at worst. I don't pick this as an example for any reason other than the clear example it presents of the extreme type statements the author makes that cannot be supported with arguments nearly as strong as those that can support counter arguments to his points.

In the end, I know that my pastor does not want to tell me these 10 things. I have, in fact, had telephone conversations with 7 different pastors in the last 24 hours to discover their thoughts on these issues and they certainly don't want to tell their people these things. Among the denominations represented by these pastors are Methodists, Baptists, Assembly of God, Vineyard, Nazarene, and Church of God. In fact, 3 of the pastors informed me that they had preached apologetic style messages related to point 1-How it all began, point 3-What is the Bible and point 9-Death and Beyond. They had argued against exactly what Buzz proposes and did so because their research led them to a different conclusion. Interestingly, they had not heard of this book.

Apparently, this author was conned into using a cotroversial title for a book that is false when compared to its title (in that very few pastors want to tell their people these things or even agree with them). Too bad.

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Good news for intelligent Christians

An absolute revelation!10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: (But Can't, Because He Needs the Job) For millions of life long/thinking Christians who feel swept out of the church by the Evangelical (fundamentalist) flood of the last two decades, this book is the ultimate reassurance. In just a few pages, and with a clarity that most liberal theologians never approach, Rev/Counselor Thomas finally explains that knot in the collective stomach of main line parishioners, now marginalized by the new church of God Lite. Finally, a thoughtful believer unafraid to challenge the Jesus-on-a-tee-shirt crowd.... with the very biblical text they habitually misapply! In just over a hundred pages, the God box of contemporary, consumer driven American Christianity is torn open and the Creator is restored to the mysterious, awesome nature that rightfully and historically are God's realm. A very important and very enjoyable read.

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Returning to the Core of Christianity - Love and Humility

The Rev. Buzz Thomas is one of those rare birds we don't get to see very often -- a Southern Baptist preacher who embraces a modern understanding of Christianity. If militant fundamentalism -- of any stripe -- makes you shiver, this little book is just what the doctor ordered.

Rev. Thomas begins his narrative with a quote from one of his mentors, a fellow minister who said: "Religion is what you live. The rest is little more than pious platitudes." From this simple beginning, we embark on a fun, factual and fascinating trip through the hottest religious issues of the day, including:

-- Evolution vs. creationism
-- Science and faith
-- God's purpose for our lives
-- Biblical "inerrancy"
-- Miracles and their historical context
-- The role of women in the church
-- Homosexuality
-- Death and heaven
-- The end of times

Each major point is backed up with citations not only from the Bible but also from Christian history, archaeology, linguistics and the author's extensive knowledge of how they all fit together. Thomas demonstrates in the clearest terms possible that one can be a fully functioning, fully engaged Christian without descending into fundamentalist hypocrisy or intellectual prevarication.

Thomas main message is simple: God is love, so let's live our lives accordingly. To be a good Christian, you don't have to hate gays or Charles Darwin. You don't have to read the Bible like a science textbook or some ethereal document transcribed by angels. You don't have to treat women like second-class citizens. And you certainly don't have to be a "purist" (modern day Pharisee) who selectively adheres to some parts of the Bible when its convenient to advance a particular political agenda.

Many years ago Thomas' favorite poet -- Carl Sandburg -- was asked to name the dirtiest word in the English language. Sandburg said: the word "EXCLUSIVE."

That's the clever segue into Thomas' bottom line: When we seek to exclude our fellow human beings from the love of God by building walls of hatred and doctrinal exclusion, we fail as Christians. When we claim to speak for God, we end up speaking only for ourselves. Kyrie eleison.

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"How did it all begin?" "What happens when we die?" These are just two of the questions Reverend Oliver "Buzz" Thomas hears centrist Christians asking as he travels across the U.S. and he knows that their voices are not being heard. They're people of faith, not of politics, and they want more from their religion than a voter's guide. In 10 Things Your Minister Wants to Tell You: But Can't Because He Needs the Job, Rev. Thomas has written a book that will become the liberal Christian answer to The Purpose Driven Life. He writes sensitively about the reason we were put on this earth, the significance of the Bible and how one pleases God. He answers difficult, contemporary questions like "What about homosexuality?" and "What about other faiths?". In 10 Things, Rev. Thomas weaves a Christian theology for today that people will embrace as a guide to sensible, modern living.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

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