The opening assertion upon which this book is based--that there are no accidents, that God doesn't make mistakes, and that God had every minute detail of your life planned even long before you were born--makes ridiculous Warren's later assertions that God tests you to gauge the extent to which you contribute to His enjoyment, that He causes you pain to reawaken you to conscience glorification of Him, etc...

You see, initially Warren professes fatalism, a human race devoid of free-will. Later, he perscribes consciousness and choice--much of it demanded, often arbitrarily, by God--that Warren has already declared precluded by fatalism.

I know of churches that have integrated this book into its sermons and discussion groups. Fair enough...let the congregation determine what it believes via open and frank discussion. But proceed with caution. Recognize that Warren is just a guy who wrote a book. Badly.

The polarization evident in the majority of reviews of this book indicate the sorry state of contemporary religious dialogue in this country. We have secularists who disparage relgion generally, secular humanists who see some redeeming quality in spiritual sensibility, if not, organized religion. Then we have the believers who have little tolerance of one another, coming from the left and the right. Warren's book appears to be a lightning rod for these crosscurrents.

First, the book is no theology text, nor a primer on Christianity, nor even an adequate introduction to Christian life generally. I would fault it, like others, for too often appearing to assert quasi-doctrinal points as if they were generally accepted Christian beliefs. Warren's overconfident assertions not only of what God said and meant, but what God is like, how he thinks and feels, and what his motives are, though nearly always supported by one of his free paraphrases from Scripture, tend to presumption. It is one thing to speak of God with confidence as to what is clearly taught by Christian doctrine or in relation to one's own spiritual experience. It is another to speak in such a way theologically about God based on one's personal interpretation of diverse scriptural passages. But Warren puts no such disclaimer on his interpretations. Thus he can say "We often forget that God has emotions, too. He feels things very deeply." He then catalogues various emotions God is said to have expressed which mostly appear to have come from OT accounts in which the anthropomorphism is distinctive.

Adding to what others have objected to about the dubious practice of paraphrasing and free translations of highly selective partial passages of the Bible, the most troubling rationale Warren provides is that his "model for this is Jesus and how he and the apostles often just quoted a phrase of the Old Testmament to make a point." Somehow, I don't think many serious Christians are going to accept that Reverend Warren has the same authority with respect to the New Testament as Jesus had with the Old Testament!

Yes, the book is also at times repetitive, its language sometimes jarringly narrow and "evangelical," and its emphases unbalanced. But why has it been so popular. Like Ignatius of Loyola's Spiritual Exercises, it endeavors to be practical and psychological, e.g. in the digestible 40 day format for reading, the points and questions at the end of each chapter, etc. But the main point is that it is a relentless invitation to a serious (i.e. real, practical, daily-life altering) approach and commitment to Christian religion that puts spiritual practice at the center of one' life.

To this end, there is in fact, mixed amongst the dubious assertions and exhortations, a wealth of tried and true Christian spirituality that is expressed in a simple, sincere, and contemporary language. That this is no mean feat seems to be attested by the phenomenal success of the book. Granted, some of us will have to overlook what is off-putting and there are undoubtedly better books for many types of readers. But the book is what it is, and what Warren tried to do he did pretty well. Some Evangelicals did not find it fundamentalist enough (too many "New Age" notions and not enough about sin and redemption) while folks on the liberal side find it too simplistic and idiosyncratic. I find it a bit of both plus not tightly enough edited and presented in order to have maximum impact. But perhaps all these "problems" account for its obviously wide appeal.

Worthy (and much better written) alternatives are such classics as A.W. Tozer's PURSUIT OF GOD, Richard Foster's CELEBRATION OF DISCIPLINE, Dallas Willard's SPIRIT OF THE DISCIPLINES, Brother Lawrence PRACTICE OF THE PRESENCE OF GOD, Ignatius' SPIRITUAL EXERCISES, Thomas Keating's OPEN MIND, OPEN HEART, Thomas Merton's LIFE AND HOLINESS (among others), Simone Weil's WAITING FOR GOD, various works of Henri Nouwen, Teilhard de Chardin's DIVINE MILIEU. For the more analytical minds, Ronald Rolheiser's HOLY LONGING or Hans Kungs's ON BEING A CHRISTIAN. For a worldwide, less "religious," yet inspiring perspective on sprituality, Aldous Huxley's PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY, William James' VARIETIES OF RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, Huston Smith's WORLD RELIGIONS. And yes, how about reading the Bible, or the lives of the saints -- like Adrian House's FRANCIS OF ASSISI or Teresa of Avila's Autobiography.

I could not find a place to contact Amazon so I used this review. I contacted the Purpose Driven Life Mininsties, but they didn't recognize the order number. Why did your order list this as "Five Browns"

Very satisified with the first 4 discs, however the disc #5 was too garbled to listen to.
We ordered and received two RICK WARREN audio tapes --Purpose
Driven Life and Purpose Driven Church. When we got to the last disc of the first set it was defective.

Please advise us how we can get a replacement for theis disc #5.

Brad Beeler
303-499-4225
bradbeeler@juno.com

The first sentence of this book states "It's not about you.", then proceeds to tie our purpose in life inseperably to God. However, is Warren's theme of the book the same as finding a living relationship with God? That remains to be proven.

The cynic in me suspects this is just another "great mind" seeking to soften the reader's will, intellect, and personality in order to impress their own agenda. While there's a selection of quotes that may suggest the reader is embarking an open-minded journey towards "knowing God", each chapter is rife with proclamations like "focusing our selves will never reveal our life's purpose", "nothing matters more than God's purposes for your life", "you were put here to prepare for eternity" and so on.

That's all well and good, but reciting such well-worn phrases from the preaching circuit is one thing; it's a different matter entirely how an individual personalizes this towards a living faith. And there's the core problem I see with this book: once the author establishes "it's not about you", how can it be personal, honest and relevant to your life? Is finding "purpose" about giving up yourself, as Rick Warren alleges, or is it more a personal collaboration with God?

This just highlights some of the problems I had with this book, skimming through on a friend's advice. I've just touched the surface of how personally limiting I find this "The Purpose Driven Life". While I realize this book is hugely popular, it simply underscores how many people want to find God, but substitute an interesting, personal journey for some easy solution: mass-produced, pre-packaged, and "approved by church". I refuse to think God is so boring, church-culture bound, and simplistic towards our lives.

I recommend Robert Jay Lifton's book "Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism", examining a related topic: the dynamic of thought conformity and control within groups. This work can be read as relevant commentary on today's church.

Quite by coincidence, I audited this CD immediately upon the heels of auditing Plato's "Phaedo." "Phaedo," set upon the day of Socrates's execution, gives a mediation upon how we should live given the immortality of the human soul. In Phaedo, Socrates argues for immortality of the human soul and then speaks of how that should influence our behavior. "Phaedo" is Plato's version of "The Purpose Driven Life."

Much of what Warren says echos the words Socrates spoke over 2,000 years ago. Warren's book certainly doesn't compare to "Phaedo" as either great literature, great philosophy,or great theology. His language is much simpler, and he buttresses his arguments with scriptural citations where Plato supports his with logical analysis. I doubt that Warren set out to write great literature, but he succeeds well in giving an easily understood exposition of how Christian faith should affect our actions.

"The Purpose Driven Life" doesn't quite put the moral philosophy of "Phaedo" on a Christian foundation, but sufficient parallels exist to suggest that a "purpose driven life" can transcend Christianity.