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God's answers to life's difficult questions

Shoehorning Scripture

GOD’S ANSWERS TO LIFE’S DIFFICULT QUESTIONS
By Rick Warren
Zondervan. 198 pages. £5.99
ISBN 0 310 273935

Rick Warren is well known as the author of the multi-million selling The Purpose Driven Life and as founding pastor of Saddleback church, California, one of America’s largest churches.

God’s Answers to Life’s Difficult Questions comprises 12 simple studies addressing common emotional and physical problems such as stress, depression and lack of ambition. In style, it is not a million miles away from PDL, the focus here being about living with purpose.

With each study (or homily), the author aims to squash each problem by bringing the Bible to bear on it, through the example of a biblical character. The approach is to meet the needy reader on his/her own ground first and then to parachute the biblical metaphors in.

Though the style is light, this is not ‘pop psychology’, warns Warren in the preface. This is helpful because, at times, it seems to fit that bill quite well. What, for example, is the diligent reader supposed to understand from the following typical statement: ‘As long as your horizon is expanding, you will be an emotionally healthy human being’ (p.66)?

Of greater concern, though, is the way that Mr. Warren applies Scripture to what are often modern-titled problems. Yes, he wants to meet the reader in their situation, but is it really legitimate to say that our Lord was ‘successful’ because ‘he based his life on sound principles of stress management (p.14)? Is this not trite, arrogant and irreverent?

GATLDQ is not without its uses. Some chapters are better than others and the author makes plenty of helpful points such as stress is largely a result of our ‘choosing to allow other people to put us under pressure’ (p.17).

But these are mere drops from the tap compared with the springs of living water that a fuller study of these Bible characters might have produced. The reader seriously concerned about the problems this book purports to address might better turn to other books first.

Stephen J Doggett,
Stanmore Chapel (FIEC), Middlesex