The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren

Our church hasn't 'taught' this book but I do know one young mom who is reading it on her own and she said it's helping her put things in persepctive.

Diane

 

SBCbyGRACE,

What rebuttal did I refuse to answer? I have provided quote after quote, with citations, and you have YET TO RESPOND to the content of what he said.

You seem obsessed with "everyone makes mistakes" or "no one has flawless exegesis." Should our aim not be to seek after those men who teach the scriptures faithfully and don't have secular psychological influences color their exegesis? I could provide quotes from Warren's PDL that are very, very similar to unsaved psychologist Carl Jung, but I doubt you will address them.

If you are interested in discussion surrounding the actual issues, then I would be happy to engage. At this point, you have provided virtually nothing in the way of refutation of the specific examples that I provided.

It's very telling...

 

What rebuttal did I refuse to answer?

For the 4th time ... Warren simply applies the principle of exponential thinking. He is not trying to build a "theology" of exponential thinking like your article reasons. Exponential thinking is grounded in faith. I will ask again: do you believe God can use faith as a means to accomplish his plan, bless people, and grow his church exponentially???

I have provided quote after quote, with citations, and you have YET TO RESPOND to the content of what he said.

I have responded repeatedly: WARREN DOES NOT ALWAYS GET IT RIGHT!!! I don't usually shout but evidently you cannot hear me when I am talking

You seem obsessed with "everyone makes mistakes" or "no one has flawless exegesis."

Point being that your accusations against Warren are true of your favorite Bible teacher as well. By the way, Warren is not my favorite.

Should our aim not be to seek after those men who teach the scriptures faithfully and don't have secular psychological influences color their exegesis?

There is an unbiased statement for you.

I could provide quotes from Warren's PDL that are very, very similar to unsaved psychologist Carl Jung,

And I can show you where Paul quotes the pagans of his day. Give me a break. Can you see the error of your own reasoning?

If you are interested in discussion surrounding the actual issues, then I would be happy to engage.

Evidently not. Go back and read my previous post. There are several issues there with which to start.

 

SBCbyGRACE,

You continue to emphasize that theology is not the same as methodology, but I have an issue with this.

By making this statement, you seem to infer that one's theology has no impact on their methodology. If this is your position, then you are wrong.

Do you not believe Warren's approach toward "exponential growth" is based on his view of God? (Theology=God Talk in Greek). As you well know, theology is what we say (or think) about God.

His teaching on exponential growth has NO BASIS in scripture, whatsoever. I have posted specific examples of how the entire concept is built on faulty exegesis and you seem to ignore it. His view is much more in line with the Word Faith movement than the Baptist beliefs. I proved that with direct quotes from the video.

I'm still waiting for you to address those points...

Brian

 

you seem to infer that one's theology has no impact on their methodology. If this is your position, then you are wrong.

Which is why you should not base your arguments on inference. I have never said theology has "no impact" on methodology. I have said that there is an innate danger when blending the two.

Do you not believe Warren's approach toward "exponential growth" is based on his view of God? (Theology=God Talk in Greek). As you well know, theology is what we say (or think) about God.

If you will answer the question I have repeatedly asked, this discussion can progress. Can God use faith as a MEANS to fulfill his plan, bless his people, and grow his church exponentially???

Answer this question.

His teaching on exponential growth has NO BASIS in scripture, whatsoever. I have posted specific examples of how the entire concept is built on faulty exegesis and you seem to ignore it.

Again you are missing the primary point here. Warren is APPLYING a principle. He is not building a theology of exponential growth. Do you understand the difference???

His use and application of the principle is not "based upon" exegesis. The verses Warren cites are EXAMPLES of times that God worked exponentially. Until you understand the difference to which I have repeatedly referred, you will not understand what I am saying.

 

Not to keep the thread going here, but in my humble opinion, I feel if a person has a FIRM foundation in the Word of God, reading this book and taking the good parts from it would be beneficial. If a person does not have a sound basis in the Word, then reading any book written by man is an iffy proposition at best... because the true spiritual discernment needed is absent. The better grounded in the Word we are, the better we can pick and choose what is true from the books we read by authors giving us advice and teachings on how to grow in our Christian lives.

 

I still have not seen any evidence that PDL leads anyone down the path of compromise with scriptural truth! Quotes from The Message are problematic (and there are other minor, problematic issues with the book) but do not lead to apostasy, especially when the basic message is to live for Christ and let Christ live through you. I am talking about PDL here, which has nothing about church growth in it that I recall.

 

Bob C,

Based on your posts, leaving your church might be the best thing for all involved parties. I know if you were in my church, I would recommend you find a church that held similar beliefs as yours.

 

But the same can be said of many Baptists. And Methodists, Nazarines, etc.