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My sister slept with the light on until she was 27. She rightfully blames me. I would leap out of closets with my hands made into claws. I would... Continue »

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Benjamin PercyBenjamin Percy 9781455501663

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Grand Theft Jesus: The Hijacking of Religion in America

by Robert S Mcelvaine

ISBN13: 9780307395788
ISBN10: 0307395782
Condition: Standard
Dustjacket: Standard
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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

“Jesus never wrote a book, but I recognize his handwriting in Grand Theft Jesus. Like Jesus, McElvaine uses lively illustrations and a serious sense of humor to cleanse the temple of exclusive and exploitative religion.”

–The Reverend Alan Storey,Calvary Methodist Church, South Africa

“Were mad as Heaven, and were not going to take it anymore!” declares historian Robert McElvaine in this passionate and often hilarious rallying cry for sincere Jesus Followers. He lets the rest of society know that the extreme right wing wont be allowed to speak for all Christians any longer. His whip-smart, take-no-prisoners polemic lays bare the Christian Rights “Easy Jesus” creed, in which people who claim to accept Jesus get a free pass to lie in his name. Grand Theft Jesus exposes the televangelists and the leaders of megachurches as the people Jesus warned us about–the wolves in sheeps clothing of our day.

The religion that McElvaine calls ChristianityLite resembles schemes that promise “Lose weight without diet or exercise!” Its leaders say, “Be saved without sacrifice or good works!” Run by a crew of politicians, megachurch preachers, televangelists, hypocrites, and snake-oil salesmen, it has hijacked true Christianity and distorted it into something Jesus wouldnt recognize. Its leaders have taken the generous and loving ideals of Christ and twisted them into a religion that advocates war and intolerance, values money above charity, preaches hatred instead of brotherhood, and promises “true” believers the keys to the gates of the kingdom of God–and to the bank vault.

Jesus radical message of love and peace has been drowned out by the bluster, the hate, and the selfishness that often passes for Christianity in America. McElvaine names names in his list of “Leading Lites” who have earned spots on Jesus Ten Most Unwanted List and exposes the hypocritical (Ted Haggard), the disgraceful (Pat Robertson), and the shocking (Ann Coulter). Grand Theft Jesus blends outrage and humor in a compelling argument that will help to resurrect the real Jesus, who has been crucified and interred by the “Right Reverends” who recite the Apostles Greed, are pro-choice on wars of choice, and preach the Greater Gory of Christ.

Book News Annotation:

Promising that he will not hesitate to call a spade a spade, McElvaine (history, Millsaps College, Mississippi) gathers into one lively volume accounts of the greed, corruption, scriptural distortion, political opportunism, and other sins committed by people in the US today not only pretending to be Christians but also claiming to speak for Jesus himself. The easy road to heaven, biblical inerrancy once Jesus is purged, unintelligent design, and blaming women are among his areas of investigation. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

About the Author

ROBERT S. McELVAINE is Elizabeth Chisholm Professor of Arts and Letters and chair of the Department of History at Millsaps College in Jackson, Mississippi. He is the author of nine previous books and dozens of articles in such publications as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Newsweek. Visit his website at www.GrandTheftJesus.com.

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: Dan Starr, August 19, 2008 (view all comments by Dan Starr)
An important book, though also a seriously flawed one. As sara1968 observes, the author's penchant for puns and sarcastic comments often get in the way of his message. But the message is an important one: that the "religious right" has often abandoned the teachings of Jesus in favor of a doctrine that emphasizes certain ritual sins (particularly homosexuality) while giving a free pass to sins that have real victims (particularly economic sins). McElvaine takes way too long to make his point, his evidence is often hard to find due to his sarcastic writing style, he is not much of a Biblical scholar (he tends to misinterpret the Hebrew Bible and the writings of Paul), and his last couple chapters take off on a feminist tangent that has little to do with the rest of the book (but may summarize an earlier book). Still, McElvaine gets the right idea--that the behavior of the religious right needs to be examined from the viewpoint of the Bible--and therefore this book is a step in the right direction.
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: sara1968, August 1, 2008 (view all comments by sara1968)
Puns and incessent word-play do very little to conceal an almost vicious attack against some of the Christian leadership in the country. The good points McElvaine makes in his book are greatly overshadowed by the fact that his suppositions on their crime of "pick and choose" scriptural followings are based upon his picking and choosing of scripture as support. In his zeal to point out the lessor aspects of today's Christianity, McElvaine resorts to name-calling, judgment and finger-pointing instead of making a calm and rational argument for his points.
The point he is trying to make is that Christians should not simply rest in the promise of salvation, but their lives should be spent in producing the fruits of said salvation. Good point...however:
Dubbing those he so greatly disdains as "Xians" or "Christian Lites," McElvaine seems to go so far as to dismiss the gift of Jesus' death and put the burden of salvation squarely upon the shoulder of good works. With a few twists of penstrokes and cleverly coined phrasing, McElvaine panders to a very socialistic view of Jesus, using scripture and quotes out of context to support his theories. He is just as guilty of hijacking a slanted worldview of Jesus as those he so harshly criticizes.

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Product Details

ISBN:: 9780307395788
Subtitle:: The Hijacking of Religion in America
Author:: Mcelvaine, Robert S
Author:: McElvaine, Robert S.
Publisher:: Crown
Subject:: Christianity - General
Subject:: Church History
Subject:: Christianity and culture
Subject:: Christianity - History - General
Subject:: United States Church history.
Subject:: Christianity and culture -- United States.
Subject:: Christianity
Publication Date:: 20080325
Binding:: Hardback
Grade Level:: General/trade
Language:: English
Illustrations:: Y
Pages:: 336
Dimensions:: 9.38x6.46x1.17 in. 1.19 lbs.

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Related Subjects

Religion » Christianity » Church History » American
Religion » Christianity » General

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