Pastor Rick Warren's "The Purpose-Driven Life" has been both a commercially successful best seller and a widely influential book in the Christian community. As a rejoinder to the fundamentalist assumptions of Warren's book, Robert Price, a biblical scholar, a member of the Jesus Seminar, and a former liberal Baptist pastor, offers this witty, thoughtful, and detailed critique. Following the concise forty-chapter structure of Warren's book, Price's point-counterpoint approach emphasizes the importance of reason in understanding life's realities as opposed to Warren's devotional perspective. Price, who was once a born-again Christian in his youth, is in a unique position to offer an appreciation of the wisdom that Warren shares while at the same time challenging many of his main points.In particular, Price takes issue with Warren's use of numerous scriptural quotations, demonstrating how many of them have little to do with the points Warren is trying to make. An important section of the book shows that the popular evangelical notion of 'a personal relationship with Jesus Christ' is utterly without any scriptural basis. Besides criticism, Price also provides many persuasive arguments for the use of reason as a tool for developing moral maturity and an intelligent, realistic perspective on life's highs and lows. Ultimately, the reason-driven life offers a healthier, alternative approach to wisdom and motivation, says Price, than the simplistic answers and feel-good emotionalism at the heart of Warren's prescription for life.
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From Publishers Weekly
Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life has sold more than 25 million copies and been translated into dozens of languages. Until now, its premises have gone largely unchallenged by mainstream Christians. Recovering fundamentalist, member of the Jesus Seminar and former Baptist pastor Price offers the first parody and critique of Warren's bestseller. Following closely the structure of Warren's book, Price divides his book into 40 days. On each day, he criticizes Warren's message for the day-worship, salvation, eternal life, the Bible-and offers his own interpretation of the reasons we live our lives the ways we do. As his title indicates, Price argues that individuals need not be told by an outsider how to find purpose; rather, they can use their own reason to ferret out the meaning of life. Price argues that Warren's view of a personal God conflicts with our morally neutral universe, creating an unhealthy, superstitious approach to life. Warren's God, Price says, is a "Frankenstein Monster, a divine bully, and an obsessive stalker." Although Warren's book is certainly ripe for critique, this one falls short: Price violates three of his own principles (get to the point as quickly as possible, stay on topic and do not grandstand) as he smugly plods through the 40 days of reason.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
About the Author
Robert M. Price (Selma, NC), Professor of Scriptural Studies at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is the editor (with Jeffery Jay Lowder) of The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave and The Journal of Higher Criticism. He is also the author of The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man: How Reliable Is the Gospel Tradition?; Deconstructing Jesus; The Widow Traditions in Luke-Acts; and Beyond Born Again.
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More About the Author
Robert M. Price (Selma, NC), professor of scriptural studies at the Johnnie Colemon Theological Seminary, is the editor (with Jeffery Jay Lowder) of The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave and the Journal of Higher Criticism. He is also the author of Top Secret: The Truth Behind Today's Pop Mysticisms; The Paperback Apocalypse: How the Christian Church Was Left Behind; The Reason-Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For? and many other works.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
38 of 39 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book set me free.....,
By A Pilgrim (San Jose, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Reason Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For? (Hardcover)
Really, It did. When I started reading this book I was teetering on the edge. For years I had followed the beliefs and practices as promoted by Rick Warren...White North American Evangelicalism. After years of obsessive prayer, bible study, and "worship" with shoddy church music, I was burnt out, unhappy, and hungry for something deeper.
Price, in his paradoxically humble yet arrogant, ferocious, and sardonic style, dismantled the edifice that the Evangelical church had tried to build in my mind. While doing so he also introduced me to some of the teachings of the Stoics, Buddhists, reflections from the venerable Eric Hoffer, author of the "True Believer," and Berger and Luckmann's "The social construction of reality." Rather than a cut and dry polemic then, Price pulled together a wide variety of religious and philosophical literature and traditions, and used them to interpret, criticize, or contrast the evangelical beliefs of Rick Warren. I find this eclectic and literate polemical style to be very interesting and personally rewarding. What most reviewers have not pointed out is that this book is Price's reflections on and reactions to each of the 40 chapters found in the Purpose Driven Life. Since Rick Warren revisits the same issues and beliefs in different chapters, Price must return to the same number issues, like the nature of mass movements or the nature of God, for example. This approach may prove too repetitive for some people, but, for me I found it to be almost meditative. After all, meditation is often derived from the repetition of a thought, chant, or breathing pattern. Every chapter is short, usually a page or two, and can be read in a matter of minutes. So, again, in a way then, Price's book was almost devotional or meditative for me. While Price may be harsh at times, his piercing words set me free and pushed me over the edge into a strange new place of existence, far more exciting and fulfilling than my life under the single vision of a protestant denomination. Were it not for Price, I might not have taken that existential plunge. For that, I am grateful to him; and I encourage people who are questioning their Evangelical faith to read this book. If you don't fall into this group, or don't have much interest in religious criticism, you might want to pass this book up, it probably will not be relevant to you.
82 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Best so far,
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This review is from: The Reason Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For? (Hardcover)
I was very excited to find this book. I'm a real fan of Robert M. Price and deeply enjoyed his Bible Geek podcasts. I had been familiar with his name from the Jesus Seminar and have a copy of his book "The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man." For those who don't know, earlier in life Price was a born-again Christian. During his years in seminary, and as a Baptist pastor, he eventually became a nonbeliever. Price occupies a somewhat unique niche in that he continues to support and participate in religion in spite of totally abandoning theism and what seems like most of Christian doctrine.
While his other work focuses on biblical scholarship, this book is very pastoral in nature and mainly attempts to bring forward a more mature life philosophy than that presented by Rick Warren in "The Purpose-Driven Life." My experience so far is that people who have read and reread Warren's book have by now awakened to the fact that they are not Southern Baptist fundamentalists. In my opinion, it is prime time for a book like this, but Price's approach falls short in several ways. It might be a better statement to say that "The Reason-Driven Life" is just too large of a leap for most religious people to make. I suspect this book will be enjoyed mostly by those who are already considering a transition to a fully-natural worldview, but are hesitant. Persons who consider themselves "believers in exile" or "the church alumni association" (terms popularized by Bishop John Shelby Spong) will enjoy this book. Those who have listened to Price before will recognize his sometimes irreverent humor in the text. This is definitely a book with attitude. The problem is that he is so critical of Warren's philosophy, that a good bit of his text comes off sounding like ad hominem attacks. The text is long and follows Warren chapter for chapter. The page counts of the books are approximately the same, but Price's text is denser and, in my opinion, written for somewhat more advanced readers. Several of the later chapters (somewhere in the 30's) I found difficult to follow. Price does a nice job of demolishing Warren's misuse and misinterpretation of scripture. People involved in small discussion groups will enjoy his humorous insights and tales of Heretic's Anonymous (Chapter 18) and his Ten Commandments for good discussion (Chapter 19). Price has an annoying habit, in my opinion, of paraphrasing people instead of quoting them directly. I love this one: "you have to get rid of fear of damnation to think clearly about faith". I'd love to quote that, but who said it, Price or Kant? There are some real jewels in this book and I will definitely be reading it again. The book is really designed for discussion groups and each chapter ends with a "Point to Ponder", a "Quote to Remember" and a "Question to Consider". It would be really fun and challenging to be read side-by-side with Warren's book and discussed in a group setting. I'm not expecting to see that happen in Sunday school anytime soon.
79 of 93 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Quirky and Intelligent,
By A Discerning Reader (Cedar Rapids, Iowa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Reason Driven Life: What Am I Here on Earth For? (Hardcover)
Thankfully, someone with a brain had the patience to read The Purpose-Driven Life. I guess it moved Bob Price to eloquence, and his respectful response is this collection of thoughts prompted by Rick Warren's mega-seller. It essentially tells us to avoid joining any church remotely like Warren's stadium church/rock concert cults, because these teach that you shouldn't think for yourself; that you should take Bronze-Age myths literally; and that you should bathe yourself in that lifestyle so there'll be no time in your schedule for reflection or to address the cognitive dissonance that will inevitably arise if you have one neuron left in your skull.
There is some wonderful wisdom here, and Price has plenty of experience in teaching the reader about Bible mythology and the illusion of god. The main problem with this book is that some of the forty mini-chapters that make up this book are fairly boring. In each chapter, Price is addressing a topic from the same chapter in Rick Warren's book. So while these less-engaging chapters are useful in a comparative sense, you may find yourself skimming over a few of these entries. Price is a treasure, and I heartily recommend this humorous answer to evangelical balderdash.
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Prometheus Books, Rick Warren, Reverend Warren, New Testament, New York, The Purpose-Driven Life, Pastor Warren, Grand Rapids, Jesus Christ, Eric Hoffer, Son of God, Garden City, Paul Tillich, The True Believer, Sons of God, Friedrich Nietzsche, Heretics Anonymous, Old Testament, Oral Roberts, Mere Christianity, Holy Spirit, Doubleday Anchor, Mystery of Being, Nature of Mass, Hugh Prather Browse Sample Pages:
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Prometheus Books, Rick Warren, Reverend Warren, New Testament, New York, The Purpose-Driven Life, Pastor Warren, Grand Rapids, Jesus Christ, Eric Hoffer, Son of God, Garden City, Paul Tillich, The True Believer, Sons of God, Friedrich Nietzsche, Heretics Anonymous, Old Testament, Oral Roberts, Mere Christianity, Holy Spirit, Doubleday Anchor, Mystery of Being, Nature of Mass, Hugh Prather Browse Sample Pages:
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This book cites 100
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- The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren on 41 pages
- The True Believer by Eric Hoffer on 11 pages
- Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis on 8 pages
- Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis on 8 pages
- Thus Spake Zarathustra (Dover Thrift Editions) by Friedrich Nietzsche on 7 pages
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