Matthew Henry John Bartlett

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Sunday 25 July, 02004

by Matthew Bartlett @ 11:22 pm

Trouble with The Purpose Driven Life

8 responses to “”

  1. Tim says:

    There are a lot of verses taken out of context in that book.

  2. kate says:

    yeah, I agree with that comment Tim. But on the whole I think the basic message is correct – that everything we do should be done to glorify God. If you’re mature enough to be able to read the book critically, there’s no harm in it I feel. I personally got a lot out of it, and it really helped me with my decision to do my P.O.F.

  3. david says:

    That was a good article Matt. It was good to read the comments on his site too and hear that he does not consider it to be all bad and that he recognises it does have some value. I read the book and as Kate said, if you are mature enough to be able to read it critically, it can still be very challenging.

  4. John says:

    And it patterns itself after the sweet sweet Westminster Shorter Catechism – that bastion of Reformed thought -you must commend that. Some of my evangelical and pentecostal friends and former flatmates have read and enjoyed it, a good step towards introducing them to the beauties of the Reformed persuasion in the church universal, and a great vehicle for promoting unity through truth within the wider body (despite all the books faults).

  5. bart says:

    Coming from an Open Brethren background that embraced ‘The Purpose Driven Church’ church growth movement, I have a lot of problems with the whole philosophy/doctrine behind it. http://tinyurl.com/5n34d sums it up nicely. http://tinyurl.com/3zt6o would describe my feelings toward the ‘Purpose Driven Life’ book.
    After doing the ‘Church Hop’ around Manawatu – have settled on the Palmerston North Reformed Church and have no intentions of ‘hopping’ around anymore.

  6. Tim says:

    If the book is only appropriate for the mature reader it seems a bit sad that it’s being widely used for new converts.

  7. John says:

    Great critiques of the book. I haven’t read it, and have relied on the descriptions given to me by others. The impression that I was given was that it was advocating a practical Reformed doctrine applied to life based on the shorter Westminster. The critiques in the links provided by Bart above look spot on, and seriously suggest otherwise. Thanks for those – some of the better analysis I have seen on this blog for awhile.

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