This particular comment was from Vicki, but I saw several others make the
same type of comments:
>>The main point of contention with the book _Conversations
with God for Teens_ was the fact that the author of this book wrote
the answers to the questions (thus making himself God). A few
excerpts were read from the book where the answers did not mesh with
what is found in the Bible.
I am certain that my comments will raise peoples hackles again, but I offer
them merely as a counterpoint. I have *not* read Conversations with God for
Teens, however, I have read Conversations with God: an Uncommon Dialogue,
Book I, which is one of the adult titles, so I know a little bit more about
the series than those who have only heard about the book on the radio.
LOC has assigned this book the call number 133.9. The 100s as we all know
are philosophy and psychology; 133 is Parapsychology & occultism. It has not
been classified as a religious work, so the radio host may be right that it
doesn't belong on the list for a Christian school.
That said, I want to share what my husband who was raised Catholic was told
by our minister at the Lutheran church during our pre-marital counselling
sessions. John was questioning the differences in the teachings of the two
religions. The pastor said, "You can look to the Bible to support or refute
most ideas."
I will say that the author Neale Donald Walsh does not "make himself God".
In fact, in the course of the book, he repeatedly discusses his concern that
people will call him blasphemous. To presume that writing the book makes him
God is like saying that anyone who wrote any of the Biblical scriptures did
the same. The book encourages the reader to be THOUGHTFULLY religious,
rather than blindly religious and to consider the things you know in your
heart to be truths rather than to presume that what we are told by someone
else is the absolute truth. If you were to read the book with an open mind,
you might just find that your faith (your personal faith) is renewed and
strengthened.
The things that I read in CWG reinforced the things I believe and that I was
taught as I attended Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, preparation for
my first Communion and my Confirmation. Ironically, my father gave this book
to me as a gift at Christmas and I resisted reading it at first.
After our In God We Trust discussions last month, I talked with him about
the arguments I made on that topic. (I received several nasty emails telling
me how horrible I was for what I believed.) My dad said to me, "Kimberly,
have you read that book I got you for Christmas?" and I told him I hadn't.
He asked me to please read it for him during my summer vacation. He
suggested that I look at it as a novel.
I sat down a few days later and began to read. And you know what? The book
makes sense. It reaffirms my faith. It is supported by the Bible. But it can
also be controversial because people want to cling to the security of what
they've always learned that God is about.
That said, I encourage everyone else, of any faith, to sit down and give the
book a chance through the first chapter. It's an interesting read.
Kim
Kimberly A. Brosan, Librarian
Mid-Carolina High School, SC
kim@bigbadwolf.org <mailto:kim@bigbadwolf.org>
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