Review of God and Humanity
1 posts
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "God and Humanity" by Jonathan Barthelemy.]
Does God exist? Who is God? Where does God come from? These are the three pertinent questions that introduce us to Jonathan Barthelemy's idea of God, His word, His values, and His expectations of us in life. Even though he maintains that God cannot be defined, in Jonathan Barthelemy's book, God and Humanity, he makes an attempt to define God as "the Superpower being, the maker of Heaven and Earth, who apart from Him nothing would ever be anything, who was and is to come, and who will continue to exist forever and for always." He also goes further to help us apply this understanding of who God is in deciphering the relationship between God and humanity, the concept of sin, spiritual discipline, sanctification, and character formation.
The book's relevance to understanding myself, God, and different aspects of His word engaged me from the first few pages. The author is rich in experience in studying God's word, and he puts his experience on full display here while strongly advising us to study and meditate on God's word to hear His voice and enlighten ourselves. I liked that the author favored a simple, straightforward approach, especially in clearing up the significance of God's creation of the Universe and His plan for humanity after the original sin. I thoroughly enjoyed and grew attached to his unique way of interpreting God's word.
Furthermore, there are several thought-provoking discussions offered at different points of the book. A few of my favorites revolve around the role of the church in a state or country and the author's stance on abortion based on God's word. I found these parts of the book highly engaging and am sure that they will be relevant in educating readers, especially in these confusing times.
Nevertheless, there are a couple of issues I had with the book. While I found most parts of it enlightening, it did get confusing when the author went on lengthy discussions about spiritual character formation in a chapter meant to compare humanity and religion or when he consistently referenced the creation of the Universe at odd points. Also, while finding eight errors might suggest that the book was professionally edited, there were a lot of sentences that I found awkward.
At just seventy-nine pages in length, the book is concise and easy to read through. The issues I discussed above make the book less than perfect. Therefore, it deserves a rating of three out of four. Its well-referenced nature and the author's ability to present God's word to readers clearly while helping them to build upon understanding God and humanity by themselves are the strongest points for me. These aspects also justify the rating. Readers looking to grow a stronger relationship with God will greatly benefit from this book.
******
God and Humanity
View: on Bookshelves |
Does God exist? Who is God? Where does God come from? These are the three pertinent questions that introduce us to Jonathan Barthelemy's idea of God, His word, His values, and His expectations of us in life. Even though he maintains that God cannot be defined, in Jonathan Barthelemy's book, God and Humanity, he makes an attempt to define God as "the Superpower being, the maker of Heaven and Earth, who apart from Him nothing would ever be anything, who was and is to come, and who will continue to exist forever and for always." He also goes further to help us apply this understanding of who God is in deciphering the relationship between God and humanity, the concept of sin, spiritual discipline, sanctification, and character formation.
The book's relevance to understanding myself, God, and different aspects of His word engaged me from the first few pages. The author is rich in experience in studying God's word, and he puts his experience on full display here while strongly advising us to study and meditate on God's word to hear His voice and enlighten ourselves. I liked that the author favored a simple, straightforward approach, especially in clearing up the significance of God's creation of the Universe and His plan for humanity after the original sin. I thoroughly enjoyed and grew attached to his unique way of interpreting God's word.
Furthermore, there are several thought-provoking discussions offered at different points of the book. A few of my favorites revolve around the role of the church in a state or country and the author's stance on abortion based on God's word. I found these parts of the book highly engaging and am sure that they will be relevant in educating readers, especially in these confusing times.
Nevertheless, there are a couple of issues I had with the book. While I found most parts of it enlightening, it did get confusing when the author went on lengthy discussions about spiritual character formation in a chapter meant to compare humanity and religion or when he consistently referenced the creation of the Universe at odd points. Also, while finding eight errors might suggest that the book was professionally edited, there were a lot of sentences that I found awkward.
At just seventy-nine pages in length, the book is concise and easy to read through. The issues I discussed above make the book less than perfect. Therefore, it deserves a rating of three out of four. Its well-referenced nature and the author's ability to present God's word to readers clearly while helping them to build upon understanding God and humanity by themselves are the strongest points for me. These aspects also justify the rating. Readers looking to grow a stronger relationship with God will greatly benefit from this book.
******
God and Humanity
View: on Bookshelves |
You are not logged in. Please log in or sign up to view members replies, participate in the discussion, and access more features.
