Purpose Driven life question?

Hi, i'm new here, and i just have a question that i've been debating for a while, and i feel stupid asking it...Ok, i'm sure you're all familiar with the book "purpose driven life". Is it ok that I would rather put my beliefs on that over the bible? I've been reading it the past week or two, and i find it a lot more informal and helpful, it put's it in lamens terms for me. I was wondering if it was wrong that i would look at this book before the bible when it comes to christianity?

Depends on the issues...

Great question!

Here is what I think:

1. You must understand that the Bible is the Word of God, the Purpose Driven Life is not.

2. I have not read the book, but if it does not contradict the Bible, it is great reading. However, if there is a discrepancy between PDL and the Bible, you gotta go with the Bible.

If it brings you closer to Christ to read that more often than the Bible, go for it. Reading the Bible is wonderful but not a requirement for salvation. But be careful is the PDL is not doctrinally sound.

__________________
Reputation is rarely proportioned to virtue. ~ St. Francis de Sales, Bishop of Geneva.

B-Rad

Be VERY careful!

The Purpose Driven Life is NOT the innerant, inspiried, Word Of God . .

The BIBLE IS!!

The book is one man's interpretation of a particular issue . . but this must never substitute for the whole of God's word or even a part.

As for possible doctrinal errors that may be in that book .. and yes, there are possible doctrinal erros . . . the only way you are going to be able to personally evaluate what that book says is to be VERY familiar with what the Word of God says and what the Word of God means . . some doctrinal errors are so subtle, that they can wisk right by you if you are not aware, and it can take a long time to unlearn once learned and embraced.

The word of God tells us to study the scriptures to show ourselves approved.

If this book is tempting you to put it above the bible in importance, and to use it to base your beliefs on instead of the bible, I would run from it as fast as I could.


As Catholics, we do not base all our beliefs on only what is contained in scritpures, for we have Sacred Tradition as well as Sacred Scripture . .in fact Sacred Scripture comes out of Sacred Tradition . . but The Purpose Driven Life is NOT part of either . . And so can never substitute as a basis on which to base one's beliefs.


If you find yourself wanting to base your Christian beliefs in a book that does not fall into either catagory (It is neither part of Sacred Tradition or Sacred Scriptures), then I say this is a HUGE RED FLAG and you need to put the book down completely!

Learn what the bible says first . . learn how the Early Church interpreted the scriptures. . learn what heresies the Earky Church combated and how they did so. . . This will go a long way to helping you learn to discern the teaching of another.


Peace in Him!

__________________

Theotokos, my mother, you who bore the Lord our God in your womb, you the gate through which he entered into the world lift my prayers up to your Son. Daughter of Zion, I want to eat of this blessed fruit, the blessed fruit of your womb, who hung on a tree, who's flesh is food indeed and blood is drink indeed. The Cross became the tree of life, the altar of our High Priest and Paschal Lamb. Theotokos! Theotokos! Most blessed of all women, pray for me, a sinner

I agree with Therese, up to a point.

As she stated the Word of God can NEVER be replaced or corrected by anything man does.

I have the same book, but haven't read past the first couples of chapters yet. If and when I do decide to read it I'll have The Bible right next to it.
I noticed through out the text of "purpose driven life" there are reference numbers and the end of each chapter has the corresponding scripture reference. Make use of those references, don't trust the author to tell you what the scripture means, look it up for yourself.

I might even recommend reading all the reference scripture BEFORE reading the chapter. That way, the authors take on a verse is not the first influence on you. Hope that makes sense.
Let us know what you think of the book.

God Bless.

__________________

I am about half way through the book. The book has a few flaws but is for the most part consistent with scripture. One of my biggest critisims with the book is that warren uses many 15 different bible translations and does not give the reference directly in the text (one must go to the footnotes for it). He does take James 5:16 out of context and is occasionaly contradicts himself or is cloudy regarding the gospel message. He does do a good job of making the clear distinction between justification and santification. Keeping in mind that were are to be like bereans and compare what we are taught with scripture, Warrens book is a profitable investment of time.

Hey B-Rad

No one else will come out and say it flat out so I will. No you should never read or accept the PDL over the Bible.

Never.

Like Therese said, the Bible is the word of God, the PDL is Pastor Rick Warrens observation, interpretation, or take, on what the Bible says. To be honest with you i don't think Pastor Warren would want you to do this either. This book is designed to help you further your walk with God, not to replace your Bible.

I personally cannot read the book through. For whatever reason I get bogged down by the errors of some of the scriptures used. The 15 different translations seem to me to help him further his points rather than expound on them.

Like he will say in chapter 11' "That God would want me for a close friend is hard to understand, but the Bible says, "He is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you" '

Okay the verse he used was Exodus 34:14 using the New Living Translation. But every other translation I have read says: "For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:"

Now you might say that this is symantics but this was a warning to the people not a fluff piece made to make them feel good about the relationship God wants with them. God was saying I won't have you giving your love to anyone else. Read the rest of the chapter before and after and you will see what I mean. Does God want a relationship with you? Oh yeah.

So anyway I spent more time picking it apart than I did from learning from it, but I did find some points that were useful. As someone else said be careful and examine all the references to scripture.

More and more I am growing tired of books that spend so much time expounding on the Bible. If we spend too much time reading them and not enough time reading the Scriptures, the ideas and interpretations of others become our own, rather than we being taught by the Holy Spirit Himself.

I find much inspiration in reading books by writers who are writing more from their own experiences in everyday life. You can take their theological differences in stride, because that isn't the issue. What matters is that they are excitied about their relationship with God and they are out there making a difference in the world because of it. These stories can inspire us to be the hands and feet of Jesus to this desperate world, rather than merely armchair theologians of our particular doctrinal positions, which we too easily can become hell-bent on pushing on everyone or using to divide the body of Christ.

Of course, if we are influenced by the Scriptures, it will reflect on our lives. But, when a book is so replete with Bible verses that it looks like a commentary, I am always suspect that it was written from a scholarly perspective (influenced by man) and not written from experience. For me, it is when the Word is played out in our everyday lives that it becomes the true Living Word that God desires it to be. Action, not words is the root of true inspiration. The Bible was all action. When someone applies God to everyday trials and battles and lives to write about it, we are reading about God in action. That is the essence of real inspiration for our own lives.

Sadly, we live in a world where it has become too easy to let someone do our thinking for us. This is not always a bad thing, but when it comes to relying on man over the Holy Spirit in spiritual things, it can be a tragic aversion from the real faith God wants us to have. Faith in action changes the world, knowledge often only complicates it.

It is ok to use a book for guidance as long as it does not contradict the Bible. Whether you like reading the Bible or not, God has told you to do it, so you should do it. It doesn't matter if you enjoy it, although it would be better to find a way to make it more enjoyable. God has told you to immerse yourself in His Word. As for the book, it is a good book and from what I heard and the little I have read, it doesn't contradict Scripture. Instead, it compliments Scripture. Regardless of the issue at hand, the above applies. Different issues should not be handled differently in regards to how you decide on what to think or how to act. So, the idea that "it depends on the issue" is not the best answer. God's Word should be your guidance regardless of the issue.

Never, Never NEVER put another book above the Bible!!!!! While PDL has its good points and bad (didn't teach me anything new, I might add), it is not the Bible, it is not the whole of Christianity and the author's use of verses from different translations (or parts of verses) is not a great idea. If you are going to read/do PDL have your Bible close at hand. Look up the verses he uses and read what comes before and what comes after to see if you agree with his use of the verse. while PDL may give you tips on how to live your life according to the author's perception of God's plan, IT SHOULD NOT BE THE SOURCE OF YOUR BELIEFS!!


celtie