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Notes from the (Bibliographic) Underground

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Inwoo, May 13, 2006 (view all comments by Inwoo)
This book is an invaluable source for Christians who are going through trials and struggles who are being bruised and brought down by the waves of life; it's also for our friends who are curious about the Christian faith who may only see what is portrayed on T.V.-this feel good, health and wealth religion that Joel Osteen, Robert Schuler, and the likes label as Christianity. Christian, if your friends gave this book a chance they will be surprised that true biblical Christianity is of the Cross and in the foolishness in what we preach, Christ crucified, and not of glory-of today's evangel promising, on behalf of God, obedience for wealth and health, comfort, success, and happiness.

On a personal note, Horton's new book couldn't come at a better time. My father was diagnosed on March 11th, 2006 with terminal lung cancer that has spread through certain parts of his body. And what better remedy than to go out and purchase a mainstream evangelical self-help book which offers me a 10 step solution in how to deal with my pain, and to live a better life from it, or the prayer of Jabez, right? No. Those would only blur our theologies-making God seem like one big vending machine.
Horton's book "too good to be true" goes against this current--don't be fooled by the bright cover, it's a book that we need in these fickle times.
"too good to be true" guided my look at life through a sober lense, realizing that our tough situations are part of a bigger plot where God has redeemed His people from the fall, where through His Son has crushed the head of serpent (Gen. 3:15) by Jesus Christ's death and resurrection. This is our hope. Not just hope for the dying, but sinners in this sin-cursed world. This is our hope, Good Friday turning into Easter- and we are not to be pitied. My father, your mother, your son, your grandma who is dying or has died (not passed away as Christian Scientist, Tom Cruise put it) if he is in Christ he will be raised on that last day. This seems too good to be true, but Christ says it himself, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26). This is what this book is about and reminds and hammers this truth through.

Furthermore, "too good to be true," gives a biblical and honest view of death in this cursed world. Death is not a `portal to heaven,' a `benign passage way', or something that is natural to life, but it is a "dreaded foe." We shouldn't hide or ignore the harsh reality of death-but to see it for what it really is-an enemy due to sin, the fall. But there is assured hope, Horton takes the reader to Scripture where for those who are in Christ death has lost its sting (1 Corinthians 15:55) because the guilt and judgment have been removed. We can cry out honestly to the God at this unnatural reality of death, and at the same time sing with the apostle, "O Death, where is your Sting?" (1 Corinthians 15:55).

Horton takes us, also, through some horrible theology that many of our Christian evangelical churches subconsciously or consciously echo today. Horton touched on, some mentioned here: Gnosticism, the theology of Frederick Nietzsche, moralistic therapeutic deism, guilt driven moralism. He warned of the danger and harm that bad theology does to the Gospel, Christian churches, and to our brothers and sisters in Christ. With those warnings he brought to light the truths of the apostolic, historic Gospel that needs to be taught to Christian congregations, embraced by families, children, and men and women; old and young, and proclaimed from our pulpits on a Sabbath basis. It seems as though the mainstream evangelical churches have compromised this glorious truth of the Gospel for a lie.

On another `honest' note; the personal stories of Horton's family situations, describing his family trials and struggles were very insightful and encouraging. I'm a reader of Horton's books, and he would not travel this deep as he did here in his other writings (I might be wrong) about his family and what he went through in the past. I was always curious and interested-from hearing stories of him throwing away all of his Christian music, to writing his first draft of a book titled Mission Accomplished: The Work of Christ when he was 13!, to getting stranded on a trip to Europe and having no money were stories that were so interesting and out of the ordinary for me at the time.
I know Horton is not a fan of personal testimonies, but these were different, they were not testimonies, but personal examples of situations that served a purpose for the book.

More than just the personal stories that would come on ever so often like commercials in-between the Super bowl game; his brief, but thorough handling of the book of Job, Romans 5-8, and John 11:1-46 is where the meat and heart of the book was. Horton had covered the debate of Romans 7, and told the reader what it was not (the carnal teaching), and what it was. Personally, it gave me a little more cognitive rest since I heard different interpretations of Romans 7. I wish that he would have gone a little more into the other views like Herman Ridderbos' interpretation. Horton, maybe, could have placed a reference in the end notes regarding this debate. Horton's statement on page 144 he writes, "But even if the "I" in Romans 7 is something more than Paul himself, it is surely not less than that." This gave a comforting mood into the passage he was handling, but again, I wish he would have expanded on the debate, but I understand that it was not the place and time in the book or the book to do so. On a side note, the flow of Romans 5 through 8 seems very logical, and I stand with Calvin's (and Horton's) interpretation on the passage, but I was just wanting to know more of Ridderbos', is all I'm saying.

To end this review, "too good to be true" did not hold back any punches, and I believe in this day and age we need more of these type of books to throw these type of punches, to throw us off our horses to make us aware of the bad theology that surrounds us and that we ourselves add into the mix.

If your looking for an evangelical self-help book, buy this book. Because it will save you a lot of money because you will not need to purchase another self-help book after you read this. God willing, may this book lead sinners to this freeing Gospel and, remind us Righteous-sinners (Christians) the joy that we have because of the finish work of Christ on our behalf. May we find that joy in our Salvation in Christ through this pilgrim journey.


--Therefore we do not despair, but even if our physical body is wearing away, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary, light suffering is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison 2 Corinthians 4:16-17

Inwoo

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Product Details

ISBN:

9780310267454

Subtitle:

Finding Hope in a World of Hype

Author:

Horton, Michael S.

Publisher:

Zondervan Publishing Company

Subject:

Christianity

Subject:

Faith

Subject:

Consolation

Subject:

Suffering -- Religious aspects -- Christianity.

Publication Date:

May 2006

Binding:

Hardcover

Language:

English

Pages:

189

Dimensions:

7.30x5.62x.86 in. .62 lbs.