Book Description
Enjoy what you eat.
From the author of the national bestseller The Culture of Fear comes a rallying cry to abandon food fads and myths for calmer and more pleasurable eating.
For many Americans, eating is a religion. We worship at the temples of celebrity chefs. We raise our children to believe that certain foods are good and others are bad. We believe that if we eat the right foods, we will live longer, and if we eat in the right places, we will raise our social status. Yet what we believe to be true about food is, in fact, quite contradictory. Offering part exposé, part social com-mentary, sociologist Barry Glassner talks to chefs, food chemists, nutritionists, and restaurant critics about the way we eat. Helping us recognize the myths, half-truths, and guilt trips they promulgate, The Gospel of Food liberates us for greater joy at the table.
Customer Reviews:
Don't Celebrate Yet..........2007-10-11
"And how reliable are estimates of heart disease and eating habits in China? Obtaining dependable information is difficult enough in our own nation of 288 million inhabitants, never mind in a country with more than four times as many people, many of whom live in rural areas with lower rates of literacy" (Glassner 18).
Well, Mr. Barry Glassner obviously didn't read The China Study, by T. Colin Campbell. In The Gopsel of Food, Glassner attacks many other studies on health, but for some reason he didn't attack Campbell's work.
"Ask general questions about whether diet matters, he advised, and you'll get platitudes in return. Force them instead to give a number - ask the percentage that diet contributes to particular diseases - and they'll sing a different tune" (Glassner 25).
Perhaps he didn't talk to Mr. Campbell because he would have recieved his precious percentage, and Mr. Campbell's tune would not have changed.
real science.......2007-06-04
if you want real science about food, not rationalizations to keep eating junk, read instead books like these:
"The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health" by T. Colin Campbell
...ISBN-10: 1932100660 Price:$11.53
or
Eat to Live: The Revolutionary Formula for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss (Paperback)
by Joel Fuhrman MD (Author), Mehmit Oz ISBN-10: 0316735507 Price:$10.19
This book really covers the subject.......2007-04-20
Barry Glassner really knows what he is talking about. I lost 32 pounds eating Irish potatoes!!! I also avoid organic food like the plague. I do know something that he doesn't mention. It costs as much to get a new pesticide on the market and takes at least as long as it does to get a new medicine on the market. Therefore any agriculturalists who are still in business use pesticides as little as possible because every time they use one it subtracts from their bottom line.
I also think he has a very valid point about diets causing obesity. At least the diets that try to forbid you from eating certain foods. When I started losing weight I wasn't forbiding myself anything. All I was doing was trying to eat more of the fruits, vegetables and whole grains which are healthy for you and trying not to stuff myself.
Balanced approach to many food topics.......2007-04-20
I was hooked on this book after the first few pages and the discussion of "nonundelows" and the study where more nutrition was taken in by food enjoyed by subjects.
The book does seem to meander in the middle, taking so much time to talk about restaurant critics and expensive restaurants, but it ties together in the end somewhat.
Glassner goes to the sources of the "facts" quoted in many studies and finds them lacking or debatable or that the study never existed. The analysis of the studies and consideration of the reports so many "facts" are based upon makes this book worth reading.
Arguing for a balanced perspective ... and eating habits.......2007-03-27
"Call it the perfectibility trap, this impulse to idealize some foods while devaluing others that are plenty good for their intended purposes but don't further a pet view of proper eating." - Barry Glassner
Perhaps you know someone whom THE GOSPEL OF FOOD author Barry Glassner would call a "devotee of the doctrine of naught", i.e. one who eats food based on what it doesn't contain - too much in the way of calories, fat, sodium, cholesterol, sugar, animal products, preservatives, genetic modifications, or whatever - rather than what it does. And once an acceptable foodstuff is decided upon, it's portioned and weighed and toted up for the day's ration. To such a person, mention of any yearning for a cheeseburger incurs a look of scornful contempt that would wither the most blithe of souls. Such a person is an unofficial member of the Food Police. ("Badges!? We ain't got no badges. We don't need no badges! I don't have to show you any stinking badges!!")
Perhaps you're one of them.
A professor of sociology at USC, Glassner hopes to persuade the reader to accept a more balanced perspective of the food they eat that can perhaps be summarized as, "Eat what you want in moderation; eat food for what it is rather than what it's not; enjoy one of life's great pleasures because you've only one life to live."
Glassner is, of course, at odds with the hand-wringing government nannies and assorted self-proclaimed nutritional do-gooders that say you're too fat because you eat the wrong foods - especially fast foods - and are doomed to a premature death. With that in mind, perhaps the most interesting chapter in THE GOSPEL OF FOOD is "What Made America Fat", in which Barry examines the reasons ranging from the probable, such as the binge eating of constant dieters, to the interestingly plausible, such as adenovirus-36, to the downright improbable, such as inadequate breast feeding as an infant. Indeed, after referencing the iconoclastic book by law professor Paul Campos,The Obesity Myth: Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to Your Health- see my 6/14/2005 review entitled "Recommended reading for all past and present 'husky boys'" - Glassner reiterates:
"... not a single published study demonstrates that heart disease among the overweight and moderately obese results from their heft rather than from other factors that contribute to obesity and heart disease, such as smoking, poverty, stress, genetic predisposition, physical activity, depression, and quality of medical care."
I give my read books away to friends, usually in pristine condition. This one, I fear, has a stain of Secret Sauce and a smear of french fry grease on page 173 because I, like Glassner:
"... can't help but wonder how hundreds of millions of people have enjoyed fast-food burgers and lived to tell the tale if Mother Nature had entirely different plans."
On my death-bed - perhaps sooner, perhaps later - I may have cause to remember a particularly delicious meal I once ate. I can assure you that it won't be my dear wife's stir-fried veg with tofu chunks, which, bless her good intentions, is edible enough. Rather, it may be that deep-dish, pepperoni, sausage and mushroom pizza dripping with melted cheese and grease, and washed down with a cold beer, because, for an all too fleeting span of time, it contributed to a life worth living. I think Glassner would agree.
Customer Reviews:
Handy little book.......2007-06-08
This is a very handy book to tuck in your purse or keep in your pocket as you follow the First Place Live-It plan. Lists not only foods you prepare but also exchanges from some of the most popular chain restaurants.
Handy, but limited.......2007-04-06
This handy pocket guide is a helpful resource for anyone following an exchange-based dietary plan (First Place members, Weight Watchers, and diabetics, among others). Because of its small size, it is limited. Not all foods are listed. But if you want to be able to double check portion sizes for common foods, this little book will help.
Useful book.......2004-12-31
this book has been very handy and useful to use on the first place program, it easily fits in your pocket or purse and comes in handy at the grocery store.
Book Description
An A-to-Z guide to prevent and make common ailments disappear through proven natural treatments--God's way!
Customer Reviews:
Very Interesting..........2007-01-11
A must have! Everyone needs to have a copy of this in their personal library. This book has truly been helpful to me and my family! Valarie Saxon has a boatload of knowledge that should help us all!
Book Description
Is it God's will that believers be healthy, wealthy, and wise? Wise, definitely, but Robert M. Bowman questions those who teach a message of bodily health and financial prosperity through faith. In this balanced book, Bowman examines the word of faith movement by revealing the origins, teachers, and errors of this distortion of Christian doctrine. The faith healing and prosperity gospel aspects of the movement are what appeal to some and turn off others, causing a confusing and sometimes heated controversy.
But the word of faith movement is, Bowman insists, "neither soundly orthodox nor thoroughly heretical." Using the Bible as his touchstone, Bowman helps readers sort through the controversy and distinguish acceptable Pentecostal teachings from distorted offshoots. He guides believers curious about the role of faith in healing and prosperity, and encourages charismatics to pursue a rich, mature, biblically sound Pentecostalism.
Customer Reviews:
Balanced and Systematic approach.......2006-08-20
While I haven't read many books on the Word of Faith movement yet, I believe Robert Bowman's has to be one of the best ones out there. He takes a very balanced and systematic approach to dissecting the historical and theological traditions of the movement. He also does a great job--perhaps one of the best that I've ever seen in any critical work--of not interjecting his personal beliefs in with his analysis. While I'm sure his beliefs affect his analysis (as all of ours do), he does not offer social or personal commentary on his research. This is welcome and helps the reader come to his or her own conclusion.
Of course the question at hand is whether or not the Word of Faith movement is based on some heresy. Bowman argues that the best of Word-Faith theology is grounded in the evangelical healing tradition, but that some of its specific (and signature) doctrines indeed cross the line of being unorthodox if not heretical. He argues that Word-Faith is not a cult, nor do its teachers intend it to be, but that its doctrines as formulated especially by Kenneth Copeland are leading massive numbers of Christians astray. He argues this point well through a number of chapters where he analyzes each doctrinal component as compared with Scripture, as does he weave in how his assessments differ from other commentators' (such as Hannegraff and DeArteaga).
I think his more debatable and less well-argued points come in where he questions some of the faith statements of the larger Pentecostal-Charismatic community. While he is right to leave "no stone unturned" or allow any "sacred cows" to sneak in the back door, I found his biblical assessment of themes such as Christ's nature in the believer, the question of dominion over sickness, and other aspects of the Holy Spirit's indwelling to be more suspect. In no way is he hostile or polemical to charismatic theology per se, but his powerful exegesis prevalent in his other analyses (i.e. the Trinity) is wanting. I was less convinced to be worried about these aspects of the Word-Faith or larger charismatic community.
Anyway, a great read on the subject. Very comprehensive and thoughtful. Takes some time to work through.
Bowman Too Afraid To Boldly Declare Truth........2006-05-10
In his treatment of the Word of Faith movement and the controversy surrounding it, Bowman cites the weaknesses of the Health and Wealth Gospel, but he's too careful not to offend. The Word of God teaches that in the last days false prophets and false teachers shall abound whom we should neither entertain nor bid Godspeed (II John 1:9-10).
However, those of us who are not deceived by the machinations of these false preachers and teachers are to boldly proclaim the truth without compromise. Jesus Himself came not to send peace, but a sword (Matt. 10:34). In fact, chasing the money changers out of the temple was a display of how passionate He was about dispensing with the practice of greed in the church(Matt. 21:12-13). The Word of Faith movement is deeply rooted in meta-physical thought and application, which makes it a cult. No need to be so politically correct, Bowman. Be bold enough to come out and attack these false teachings that are leading millions of people astray, and quite possibly into hell. If he were writing a comparative analysis of religions or churches, then this book would be fine. However, the title implies that he's presenting an expose of what the Word of Faith movement is truly about, how it deceives, and what it is that causes such controversy.
This book would have been much more interesting had Bowman been brave enough to take a position and then defend that position using the truth of God's Word. Instead he plays it too safe and stays in the middle of the road. Bowman contends that the Word of Faith doctrine is neither heretical nor orthodox. Well, I've got news for you, Bowman: A little truth mixed with a little error is still a lie. Don't you know that "a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump(I Cor. 5:6)"? The same neither-heretical-nor-orthodox argument can be made of the discourse between Eve and the serpent in Gen. 3:1-5. Satan starts his mix of orthodoxy and heresy with, "Yea, hath God said..." And the leaven in that lump led to the death of the entire human family. When it comes to holiness, either you "is" or you "ain't". There's no option for in-between when it comes to the truth of God's Word. It's an all or nothing type deal.
Of course, we can not condemn the men and women who espouse Health-Wealth-Positive Confession theology which ultimately amounts to the Gospel of Greed, but we must speak the truth, and pray for our brothers and sisters who are obviously misled and deceived. We need to pray that the Lord will give these people repentance to the acknowledging of the truth, and pray that they recover themselves out of the snare of the devil. However, at the same time we should not be too delicate about exposing the lies of Satan that these teachers so vehemently and unabashedly propagate.
I know firsthand that these teachings are aberrant, unsound, destructive and cultic in nature. They teach that every Christian should be rich and if you are not rich, then you don't have faith. They teach that if you are sick and you are not miraculously healed then there is something wrong with your walk with God. They teach that if you are having financial difficulties then either you are not giving enough money to their church or you do not have faith. In other words, if you don't get everything you want from God, if your life isn't a utopia, if you don't follow their formulaic teachings to the letter, then your very salvation comes into question. This doctrine does nothing but consume the believer with guilt and condemnation.
It is so amazing to me how teachers like Ken Copeland, Fred Price and Creflo Dollar teach this blab and grab gospel without any consideration to the sovereignty of God. They've completely taken God off the throne and have replaced Him with Kenneth Hagin. More reprehensible is the notion that "you can write your own ticket with God" (quoting Kenneth Hagin). How arrogant and sacrilegious can one get as to think that the Holy God of the universe is there to cater to you and your materialistic whims and desires. What ever happened to teachings on humility, reverence, self-denial, a life of service, sacrifice and taking up our crosses? This is what the Bible teaches. The Word of Faith teachers are so focused on this temporary earthly existence and all the fine accoutrements of this material world that they completely miss the scriptures about storing up treasures in heaven.
I believe in miracles and healing; I have been healed myself and have seen many others healed. Conversely, I have seen a number of dedicated and loving Christians die of disease; should their Christian walk be called into question because of it? Absolutely NOT! As sure as the sparks fly upward, we will have troubles, trials, tribulations and afflictions, and the immutable guarantee that all of us (Word of Faith or no) will DIE. Kenneth Hagin himself died in a Cardiac ICU Center while hooked up to a ventilator. However, his family and co-laborers tried desperately to keep this fact a secret as it flies in the face of what they teach--that saints of God do not die of disease.
While I believe some of these Word of Faith teachers are sincere in their efforts, albeit sincerely in error, there are others who are con artists and snake oil salesmen who use the Gospel to bamboozle the unsuspecting masses. To be sure it is the easiest way to finance their glamorous lifestyles filled with enormous mansions, fleets of automobiles, and private jets.
The greatest danger of the Word of Faith cult is that it dethrones God, and seeks to make human beings gods unto themselves. In fact they believe that we are in the God class which makes us little "gods." As much as God loves us, the atonement did not deify us...wake up, people--however justified, we are still HUMAN BEINGS. One of the greatest links to meta-physics is the belief that just like God, YOU can "speak" whatever YOU want into existence, and that YOU possess the identical creative power as God Himself. And that YOU can have whatsoever YOU "say". Well, what about what GOD has to say? He's left out of the equation. His control is taken away. These are clearly tenets of New Age/meta-physics and inspired by Satan; all of this confessing what YOU want into existence is what got Satan kicked out of heaven in the first place i.e., "I will be like the most high," etc. (see Isaiah 14:12-14). Word of Faith doctrine never emphasizes our complete and utter helplessness as human beings, our sinfulness and wretchedness when measured against God's holiness, our lack of independence resulting in our need to depend on Him in our affairs, and our need to constantly look to the Blood and the Cross. As subtle as some of this seems to be, the disturbing truth is God is replaced by human agents within the Word of Faith movement, and Bowman should have been bold enough to say so.
Please read this review............2005-08-12
Why does everyone who never sees miracles and healings always believe that the people who do are "of the devil" ? Just because people like Robert Bowman have not allowed God to use them to do the "greater works" that Jesus talked about, doesn't mean that everyone who does do those greater works is a "false prophet". Just because Robert Bowman and his followers have never felt the power of God hit them so strongly that their flesh couldn't stand any longer in God's presence and they fell over backwards, doesn't mean that the people who have are participating in a so-called "false revival".
I know of literally hundreds of people who have been miraculously healed (through the laying on of hands, etc). I know of thousands of individuals who magnify God by speaking in other tongues daily. I know of many people who have been prayed for and the power of God knocked them to the floor. They walked away blessed, or healed, or at least delivered from something that they were dealing with. There are videos available through the ministries of Spirit-filled, charismatic preachers who had people in their congregation to grow limbs that were previously missing (right in front of the congregation!). I have personally heard of hundreds of people who have been healed of blindness, deafness, arthritis, cancer, and even AIDS!.. all through the laying on of hands or through the minister simply speaking to their bodies in the name of Jesus. My own brother was miraculously healed through the laying on of hands by a Spirit-filled minister of the Gospel who spoke to his back and commanded it to be healed in Jesus' name. By the way, this happened at the hands of a Bible teacher that this author would crucify if he heard his "false teachings", or went to one of his "false revival" meetings.
Why do people come up with all these labels, like "health & wealth gospel" anyways? If that's how you want to label us, then so be it. I praise God that He wants me blessed. I certainly don't want to be a part of the "sickness and poverty gospel". Then again, that's certainly not the "Gospel" at all. Forms of death (disease, poverty, sin) are not "Good News". God's will is that it be on earth as it is in heaven. God displayed His perfect will for mankind in the Garden of Eden when He created it with NO sickness, NO disease, NO poverty, and NO sin. Yet many religious folks are preaching that God wants you to be sick because He's "teaching you a lesson". Or that God wants you poor so that you'll "stay humble". Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus was the manifest will of God on this earth. What did He do? He saved ALL who would receive salvation. He healed ALL who would receive healing. He delivered ALL who would receive deliverance.
Stop believing the the man-made doctrines that most of us were taught in "Sunday school" and start believing the Word of Almighty God! He doesn't want you sick and He doesn't want you poor! It doesn't matter how bad religion wants you beat up, busted, and disgusted... stop believing the lies in books like this one and start believing the GOOD News! Stop criticizing and condemning others just because you don't agree with them and get yourself into the presence of God and deal with your hatred for other men of God. Just because you don't agree with someone doesn't automatically mean that they are a "false prophet", "wolf in sheep's clothing", or "demon-possessed". Just because Robert Bowman, Hank Hanegraaff, John MacArthur, Dave Hunt (or some confusion-breeding website) claim that someone is a "false prophet", doesn't mean that they really are! Until you accept this fact, you'll never be able to walk in love toward your brothers in Christ like you should.
Great reseach on this topic.......2005-04-07
This book was a great addition to the word of faith controversy. After reading "A different Gospel" and "Christianity in Crisis", this book give a different view. It labels the movement in the extreme wing of Pentecostalism rather than a cult. Robert Bowman also looks at the works on this subject (those mention above) and trys to show where they are wrong by taking certian people in the movement out of context. I left the book having a strange conclusion about the word of faith movement, which is that they are a cult. While I got that from Christianity in Crisis, and Bowman tries to give a balance view, he gave me more evidence to label them cultic than extreme Pentecostal.
God Bless
Mr. Bowman.
Highly recommended and balanced book!.......2005-03-06
This book is awesome! Very well-balanced in its presentation of the facts and history behind the Word-Faith Movement. I've read Christianity in Crisis and Counterfeit Revival, but I thought this book was tons better.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in doing research on the Word-Faith Movement.
Book Description
AIDS. Ebola. "Killer microbes." All around us the alarms are going off, warning of the danger of new, deadly diseases. And yet, as Nancy Tomes reminds us in her absorbing book, this is really nothing new. A remarkable work of medical and cultural history, The Gospel of Germs takes us back to the first great "germ panic" in American history, which peaked in the early 1900s, to explore the origins of our modern disease consciousness.
Little more than a hundred years ago, ordinary Americans had no idea that many deadly ailments were the work of microorganisms, let alone that their own behavior spread such diseases. The Gospel of Germs shows how the revolutionary findings of late nineteenth-century bacteriology made their way from the laboratory to the lavatory and kitchen, with public health reformers spreading the word and women taking up the battle on the domestic front. Drawing on a wealth of advice books, patent applications, advertisements, and oral histories, Tomes traces the new awareness of the microbe as it radiated outward from middle-class homes into the world of American business and crossed the lines of class, gender, ethnicity, and race.
Just as we take some of the weapons in this germ war for granted--fixtures as familiar as the white porcelain toilet, the window screen, the refrigerator, and the vacuum cleaner--so we rarely think of the drastic measures deployed against disease in the dangerous old days before antibiotics. But, as Tomes notes, many of the hygiene rules first popularized in those days remain the foundation of infectious disease control today. Her work offers a timely look into the history of our long-standing obsession with germs, its impact on twentieth-century culture and society, and its troubling new relevance to our own lives.
Customer Reviews:
A must for every person age 50 or over.......1998-10-24
I enjoyed this book, and have used it in small groups with others in church. Great feedback from others about usefulness in helping persons our age (50's) spiritually grow and find new meaning and purpose in life as we age.
Book Description
How are we to read and understand stories of Jesus healing the lame, deaf, blind, and those with a variety of other maladies? Pilch takes us beyond the historical and literary questions to examine the social questions of how the earliest followers of Jesus and ancient Judeans understood healing, what roles healers played, and the different emphases on healing among the gospels. In his comparative analysis, the author draws on the anthropology of the Mediterranean as well as the models employed by medical anthropologists to understand peasant societies and their health-care systems. Healing in the New Testament also features a complementary website with additional resources.
Customer Reviews:
Painfully mechanical application of a smattering of 20th century anthropology to 1st century Palestine and Jesus.......2006-02-23
To Pilch and other who march with him in the little known but highly influential "Context Group", anthropology provides a set of incredibly powerful (and almost infallible) tools for simply and easily "unlocking" the mysteries of the New Testament world. The result is an overly confident series of textbook like simplifications and rules: "all illnesses are always and infallibly healed, since all human beings ultimately find some meaning in a life-situation, including disvalued states," Pilch proclaims (p. 93)
If that kind of argument impresses you, then you've found your book. But actual anthropology is an empirical, not a deductive science, and Pilch seems to have missed that point altogether. Most of the theory here derives from the ground-breaking work of Arthur Kleinman (who is both an M.D. and a trained anthropologist) who began studying how different kinds of healers in Taiwan went about their crafts, how they interacted with patients, and what the results were. Kleinman's work (Patients and Healers in the Contexts of Culture) is enormously insightful, and is worth reading in its original form.
But Pilch seems fails to understand that Dr. Kleinman actually went into the field to study these healers first hand, and to attempt to measure the efficacy of a variety of non-western healing techniques. In describing his own work, Kleinman at one point (unfortunately) says, that there is a "dichotomy" between medical curing (according to Western standards--measurable change in structure/function) and the more holistic intent of non-Western "healing." (This is an oversimplification). But Pilch has taken this empirical observation made 30 years ago and built an astonishing edifice upon it, emptying Kleinman's work of its empirical intent and disregarding the very limited scope of Kleinman's one-culture, one-time period study. Whew!
The result is a series of grand, globalized statements and "laws" that appeal strongly to people who believe that uncovering "laws" in the social sciences makes intellectual life much simpler (which, I'm sure, it does.) But this all goes against the spirit of anthropological exploration. There are scores of medical anthropologists who do not treat their field data by imposing Dr. Kleinman's conceptual framework upon it...but you'll never know that by reading Pilch. Medical efficacy--which is exactly what Dr. Kleinman and his associates went to Taiwan to study--is merely a "cultural construct" Pilch proclaims.
But this puts Pilch in the position of having to imply that the lepers, the blind, and the lame of Jesus' time either couldn't tell the difference (or didn't care) whether they could see, walk, have physical relief from their very visible and frightening skin disorders. Pilch argues that since Jesus' real work involved integrating these outcasts into his new social network, they were (by definition, again) HEALED even if they still limped blindly with disfiguring skin conditions.
Hard to understand how this would cause Jesus' reputation as a great healer (which even his enemies acknowledged in their attacks on him) to spread like wildfire. As a historical explanation, it simply lacks credibility.
What Pilch has missed is that "western" medicine itself has changed enormously in its theoretical orientation since the mid-1970's when Kleinman's fateful "dichotomy" was "discovered." The emergence and growing robustness of the biopsychosocial models in medicine undermine the entire conceptual groundwork of Pilch's book because doctors know understand that there is an enormously dense two-way web between body and mind, and mind and community.
Unfortunately, New Testament scholars here, as elsewhere, have been far to eager to latch upon a handful of models in sociology and anthropology without ever interacting with (or acknowledging) the complexity and tenuousness of most models.
Last example: Pilch constantly referes to "Mediterranean anthropology" as though it were some unified, simplistic set of dictums rather than a mere hypothesis which has been challenged with increasing vigor for over twenty years.
Just because I know that a person is "Mediterranean", I do not necessarily know more about them than I did prior to applying the label. For the must erudite and amusing refutation of this kind of thinking, anthropologist Michael Herzfeld wrote a funny but serious article called "The Horns of the Medierraneanist Dilemma" in American Ethnologist back in the mid-1980's. (Lots of "horn/cornuto" in jokes for anthropologists.)
Bottom line: Those who really want the world to follow Aristotelian or Thomistic logic complete with syllogisms shouldn't be allowed to run with anthropological scissors in their hands. That's how people get hurt. (Fortunately, any such hurt can/is/always be ipso facto, q.e.d. healed...even if the patient bleeds to death.)
Ouch!
Fascinating.......2003-09-07
This book should be very interesting to anyone who is serious about Bible study. The topic is specialized enough to keep the attention of those with expertise in Biblical scholarship, yet Pilch's writing is sufficiently jargon-free and accessible for dilettantes to enjoy. Highly recommended.
Could have been better........2000-08-06
Pilch's book uses medical/anthropological models to explore healing in the NT. Chapter three, which contrasts modern medicine with that of the first century, is excellent. However, the book is poorly edited and includes a great deal of redundancy (could have been 50 pages shorter). Pilch's dim view of Jesus as healer is unimaginative and uninspiring.
Must have.......2000-02-04
John Pilch does an extrodinary job of applying medical anthropology to healing in the New Testament world. Because a majority of the world experiences ecstatic phenomenon, Dr. Pilch has brought to light culturally sensitive descriptions otherwise overlooked by Western exegetes and lay people alike. It is an important book, leading one into the world of the 1st century.
Customer Reviews:
A Taste of 'Fried Ice' [See Review & Booklet for Details].......2006-09-30
This is a review of the 2006 45-page Regent College Publishing edition. I've read many of the critiques of the so-called "Word of Faith" movement, but only recently read Fee's informative booklet on the topic which is comprised of three articles (not chapters): The 'Gospel' of Prosperity, The 'Gospel' of Perfect Health, and the New Testament View of Wealth and Possessions. I wish I read it sooner since it considers the broader biblical context for the topics of health and prosperity that is lacking in some longer critiques. For the record, Fee doesn't use the phrase "Word of Faith" to describe what he calls the "perfect health" and "wealth" or "prosperity" gospel(s), although most of the names he briefly refers to (Oral Roberts, Kenneth & Gloria Copeland, Kenneth Hagin [misspelled 'Hagen']), and the examples of biblical eisegesis he gives, fall within the Word of Faith movement. Fee mentions Robert Schuller in his first article on prosperity, but Schuller more appropriately falls within, or on the fringes of, the broader New Thought movement as does his mentor, Norman Vincent Peale. This movement along with Christian Science - which some conservative Christians call "mind science cults" - also have a health and wealth emphasis but vary widely in their understandings of the Bible, God, Jesus Christ, and salvation. Much of what Fee says also applies to them.
Since Fee is a Pentecostal, Assemblies of God minister who believes in the miraculous gifts of healing for today, he is careful when combating the distorted understanding of the topic. He also refers to the A/G's position paper on healing when discussing the doctrine that healing is available through Christ's atonement. Although I think he has many valuable, and correct, things to say regarding healing, I think he fails to solidly address the underlying concern of many Christians regarding healing as it relates to God's goodness and love for all. He ends his article on The 'Gospel' of Perfect Health by asserting that "the first sentence of a sound biblical theology may well be, God must do nothing" because "He is sovereign in all things and is simply not under our control." But this doesn't negate the belief that God MUST be and do only good. In some sensitive minds this translates - rightly or wrongly - to some healing (physical and spiritual) being available through faith to all who know the truth this side of death because "God is no respecter of persons".
Regarding prosperity and "selfishness", I think Fee could have balanced some of what he says with some of the teachings of John Piper. In his article on The 'Gospel' of Prosperity Fee quotes Gustav Aulen who, in part, asserted: "Every attempt to transform Christian faith into a religion of satisfaction and enjoyment is thereby doomed to failure. Egocentricity masquerading in the robes of religion is excluded." But, according to Piper's Christian 'hedonism', "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him." God is glorified in satisfying human needs! Also, in his third article on the New Testament View of Wealth and Possessions, Fee rightly and scripturally points out the dangers of wealth and the value of contentment whatever the circumstances, but this doesn't negate the concept of prosperity as a contented, liberated mindset that can, through financial intelligence, produce wealth for the purpose of meeting physical needs and even funding Christian ministries and socially beneficial organizations. Having said all that, I want to again emphasize the value of this booklet and recommend it highly.
Regarding the title of my review, see the second article where Fee notes that Paul confronted the false theology among the Corinthians who "rejected Paul and his theology of the cross (with its ongoing suffering in the present age)" preferring a 'glorious' Jesus to Paul's 'crucified Messiah'. Fee says: "For the Corinthians that's like saying 'fried ice.' Messiah means power, glory, miracles; crucifixion means weakness, shame, suffering." See the article for more details. In my opinion, and I think Fee would agree, what the contemporary church lacks is a biblical, Christ-centered and liberating theology of suffering (I recommend, for starters, reading Piper's chapter on Suffering: The Sacrifice of Christian Hedonism in his 2003 edition of Desiring God).
short but very sweet.......2003-05-31
Gordon fee one of the best new testament scholars, wrote a short but very helpful little 31 page book on the Word of Faith theology .....Great work for so little book....
An excellent, biblical analysis.......2001-04-14
This is a tremendous little book. Gordon Fee is a world-class New Testament scholar and a Pentecostal. He discusses the "theology" of the health and wealth teachers and preachers and how they take Scripture out of context. With all the imbalances and biblical distortions going on in the Pentecostal/charismatic scene today, Dr. Fee's book is refreshing and much-needed.
Don't miss this one!
Releasing and Thought Provoking.......2000-03-20
This book clearly presents a thorough exegisis on the key proof texts cited to justify the popular Health and Wealth teachings. He makes the point that scripture must mean to us what it meant to its author and his original readers. For example the popular verse "Beloved I wish above all things that you may prosper and be in health" was merely John's personal wish for Gaius. That is what it meant then and so what right has anyone to suggest it means anything different today. Gordon Fee also examines healing and whether or not it is part of the Atonement.
Gordon Fee is charismatic and starts of the book almost apologetically.
I think this book brings balance to the body of Christ and I thoroughly recommend it.
Books:
- The Language of Medicine: A Write-In Text Explaining Medical Terms (Book with CD-ROM)
- The Mailroom: Hollywood History from the Bottom Up
- The Mind Map Book: How to Use Radiant Thinking to Maximize Your Brain's Untapped Potential
- The No-Cry Sleep Solution: Gentle Ways to Help Your Baby Sleep Through the Night
- The Oxygen Revolution: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy: The Groundbreaking New Treatment for Stroke, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Arthritis, Autism, Learning Disabilities and More
- The Revival Slim and Beautiful Diet: For Total Body Wellness
- The Scent of Shadows (Sign of the Zodiac, Book 1)
- The Serotonin Power Diet: Use Your Brain's Natural Chemistry to Cut Cravings, Curb Emotional Overeating, and Lose Weight (Hardcover)
- The South Beach Heart Program: The 4-Step Plan that Can Save Your Life
- The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Telephone Patent Conspiracy of 1876: The Elisha Gray-Alexander Bell Controversy and Its Many Pla
- Raw
- Here Kitty Kitty: A Novel
- History: Fiction or Science
- If The Shoe Fits
- Lie Algebras in Particle Physics
- Lonely Planet Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks
- Gus Wortham: Portrait of a Leader
- Estate Planning for Baby Boomers and Retirees
- Hoover's Handbooks Index: 2001
General
| Diets
| Diets & Weight Loss
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
The Culture of Fear: Why Americans Are Afraid of the Wrong Things
Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats
Rethinking Thin: The New Science of Weight Loss--and the Myths and Realities of Dieting
Appetite for Profit: How the food industry undermines our health and how to fight back
The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation
