What is the worst book you've read recently, or in your lifetime? I have a new most-despised book, taking the place of Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis, Charles Stanley's Eternal Security: Can You Be Sure? and John Wesley: Heroes of the Faith. by C.E. Vulliamy (easily the worst biography I've ever read), at the top of my list. If you've been listening to the White Horse Inn broadcasts (the last three, in my opinion, are their best work yet on the show), one of the books Horton in particular mentions and criticizes is Revisioning Evangelical Theology by Stanley Grenz. I ordered the book from another library last week, and I must say I am utterly disgusted by what I’ve read. The book characterizes much of what is unbiblical and destructive in Christianity today. Grenz shallowly combines aspects of the emergent church, liberalism, German pietism, and early and medieval church mysticism, into one vague and poorly written package. There is little of value in the book, and only on a few occasions does he show himself to be a competent historian. I’ve found the book mainly useful for understanding contemporary Christianity and evangelicalism, even though it was written around 15 years ago. Have any of you read works by Grenz? I hear his 20th-Cnetury Theology with Roger Olson is worth reading.

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Patrick
Covenant (OPC), Brighton, MI

The worst I've read recently was William P. Young's the Shack. An awful, awful book. Left Behind was pretty bad too as is anything by Philip Yancey. I only read this junk because I have to.

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Wes Bredenhof
Pastor, Providence Canadian Reformed Church
Hamilton, Ontario
www.bredenhof.ca
Gospel Talk Radio Program

For, error Zane Hodges "Gospel Under Siege" Pure poison.

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Bruce
PCUSA
Ocean City NJ

Dianetics by L Ron Hubbard. I read it before I became a Christian and even then it read like a bunch of psychobabble garbage.

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Steve Butts - Former SBC-er
Three Forms of Unity - Bradenton CRCNA - Bradenton, Florida
(A conservative member in a conservative congregation)

"Turning away to false Theology is equal to turning away to false gods" — Francis Schaeffer (Death in the City)

A New Kind of Christian by Brian McLaren.

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Josh Hicks, Chloë's Dad
Christ Covenant Reformed Presbyterian Church, RPCGA
Facebook - The Calvinist Vent
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It is God that multiplies our sorrows.... God, as a righteous Judge, does it, which ought to silence us under all our sorrows; as many as they are, we have deserved them all, and more: nay, God, as a tender Father, does it for our necessary correction, that we may be humbled for sin, and weaned from the world by all our sorrows; and the good we get by them, with the comfort we have under them, will abundantly balance our sorrows, how greatly soever they are multiplied. - Matthew Henry

If you did not know, Grenz passed away in 2005. Grenz and Olson have banged the drum pretty loudly for contemporary post-modern tinged Arminianism.

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Dennis E. McFadden, Ex Mainline Baptist (in Remission)
Atherton Baptist Homes, CEO
First Baptist Church of Alhambra, Member, Transformation Ministries (CA)

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When I saw this thread, I immediately thought, "Velvet Elvis!"

And I definitely agree with you about the recent episodes of White Horse Inn.

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Dan Pemberton
Vacaville, CA

Member, First Baptist Church San Luis Obispo
Formerly ABUSA (We left, so I guess that makes us American Baptists Unleashed!)

ANY book by Brian McLaren.

What Love is This Dave Hunt...

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John
Member
Christ Presbyterian Church (OPC)
Salt Lake City, Utah
www.christpres.net

Chosen but Free has to be up there somewhere.

Also ANY "book" by Osteen.

Hi:

Desiring God: Meditations of a Christian Hedonist, by John Piper.

Well, maybe not the worst, but it is up there in the top 3.
-CH

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In Essentials Unity, in non-Essentials Liberty, in all things Charity.

Robert Paul Wieland
Springs Reformed Presbyterian Church
Colorado Springs, CO RPCNA
Student at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Pittsburgh PA
Never be afraid to do something new. Remember, amateurs built the Ark, but professionals built the Titanic.

The Final Quest by Rick Joyner

The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee

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Davidius
Husband of Emily
Member of All Saints Anglican Church - Chapel Hill (AMiA / Anglican Church of North America)
Student: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, German and Classics

"Myth of a Christian Nation" by Gregory Boyd. I was about 3/4 the way through the thing and kept thinking 'this dude is strange'. Then I found out he was an open theist.

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Psa 55:16 As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me.
Psa 55:17 Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice.
James Farley
Husband of Melissa and father of Ann.
Members of Redeemer Church ARP, Blacksburg Va.
http://www.redeemerblacksburg.org/

Yes, I'd have to agree, although I have not read any of his works all the way through (for obvious reasons!).

Ive read like 2 Charles Stanley books. The few biblical truths they did contain were very simple, and overall modern psychology and Man centered biblical exegesis were the focus of his books.

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Bryan Riddle
1689 London Baptist Confession
Bethel Baptist Church Owasso, Oklahoma

The Powers That Be... By Walter Wink.

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N. Robert; Trinity Reformed Church RCA, Holland MI

"Once in a while you can get shown the light, in the strangest of places if you look at it right."

Purpose driven life is a stinker.

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David E Yoder II
Deacon, serving at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oak Ridge, TN (PCA)
Living in Knoxville, TN

Velvet Elvis, Sex God and Purpose Driven Life. All horrible.

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Jeff Wyman
Man Under Care
Little Farms Chapel OPC, Coopersville, MI
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

"Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." - Isaiah 45:22 (ESV)

"Velvet Elivis" should be taken off "the list." It is a very good book. Rob Bell is so smart that you guys probably think he's messed up. Read it again...slowly...and you'll find some great stuff!

Also, "The Shack" is one of the BEST books I've recently read. Yes, I had a hard time with the idea that God could reveal Himself as a large black woman who bakes...but remember "The Matrix???" Also, what Calvinists often forget is that they're "perfect" theology must work on this earth, in real time and space and with people who are fallen and often live with horrible tragedy.

Greg Boyd is super intelligent and probably is often misunderstood. Most pure Calvinists seem to want to write off anyone who claims to be BOTH Calvinist AND Arminian. Why not recognize the Truth in both???

Just my !

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David Silvey
Bethany Church (Evangelical Free)
Pasadena, CA

The Freedom of the Will by Jonathan Edwards

It made angry at God for a solid year. I knew he was right, but hated the truth. I desperately wanted to hang on to my notions of man's autonomy. It was miserable.

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Jeremy Gage
First Baptist Church
Durham, NC

"No heart can conceive that treasury of mercies which lies in this one privilege, in having liberty and ability to approach unto God at all times, according to his mind and will." - John Owen

"Battlefield Earth" by L Ron Hubbard, I wasted a week of my life reading that book in the hope it would get better and it just got worse.

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Mike
London City Presbyterian Church
London
England

"Surely, we wish to be orthodox, but we must first learn what real orthodoxy is. Surely, we wish to be progressive, but we must first have a basis to progress from."

A ""pure Calvinist" is a strange concept in itself, you either believe in a sovereign God or you do not. You cannot be both a Calvinist and an Arminian, you can take bits from both and be inconsistent and unbiblical but you cannot be both.

The Arminian gospel (in its pure form) is a false gospel, thank God that most Arminians are not five point Arminians.

The Millenial Maze by Grenz was pretty good.

As far as bad books go....

So Great a Salvation by Ryrie.....

I had to go out of my way to read it because we were doing critiques on Lordship salvation. Zane Hodges book was terrible also. I was first discipled by guys who were dispensational in thinking so they introduced me to Clarence Larkin's Dispensational truths. I round filed it right away when Larkin said the Church wasn't in the Old Testament and that its birthday was at Pentacost.

I avoid bad theological books. I don't have enough time to read all the good ones.

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Norseman Moderator

R. Martin Snyder
1689er
http://www.puritanboard.com/blogs/puritancovenanter/

"Our object should not be to have scripture on our side but to be on the side of scripture; and however dear any sentiment may have become by being long entertained, so soon as it is seen to be contrary to the Bible, we must be prepared to abandon it without hesitation."
William Symington

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As part of going to a mainline seminary I have read some bad stuff but nothing beats this little gem.

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Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

No one would deny that Boyd is an intelligent man. He is an open theist though. Open theism is rank heresy of the worst sort. Piper has tried to get the GBC to run the open theists out.

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Daniel Ritchie
Saintfield, Northern Ireland - Queen's University, Belfast:History/Politics
Member of Dromara Reformed Presbyterian Church of Ireland (Covenanter)

Wild at Heart by John Eldridge - Be a man: twist the scriptures, create your own "risky" God who is no longer sovereign and quote a bunch of movies!

Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli - Hey its all good man, look at all the dudes in the bible that screwed up, therefore we can screwup and be okay with it, like Noah got drunk and yeah... so me too!

Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren - This is the purpose of life... oh and here are a handful of scripture verses that make it look like God agrees.

Desiring God by John Piper <ducks>

Diary of Anne Frank - Old school requirement, it was like reading someone's diary from cover to cover, and ... well, that should say it all.

The Merry Adventuress of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle - Very interesting if you are in to seeing what a bunch of drunken lazy men do when they are bored - chapter after chapter after chapter.

That is all I can think of off the top of my head. Most of the time these days if I am reading a book and it is that bad, I stop wasting my time and refuse to finish it.

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Christopher Reeder
Husband to Kara, Father to Abigail (8), Caleb (7), Grace (5 1/2), Zoë (4), Elijah (2), Hannah (1), and Mary (due February 2010)

Member: Pilgrim Presbyterian Church (OPC), Raleigh, NC

Oh yeah not to mention all the John Hagee and Benny Hinn books I read way back in the day. I almost forgot about those (blessed repression).

I'm the librarian at our church, and people frequently "donate" books to be placed in the Library. I review all books before processing them and putting them on the selves.

Many never make it to the shelves. I've read some real bombs, but I think--

Benny Hinn, Good Morning, Holy Spirit, (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990)

has got to be the worst book ever written, and not placed in our library.

Also, right up there on the list is:

Stephen A. Macchia, Becoming A Healthy Church (Baker Books, 1999)

and--

Karen Scalf Linamen, Just Hand Over the Chocolate and NoOne Will Get Hurt (Fleming H. Revell, 1999)

Truly a shame that trees are sacrificed to produce paper -- only to print nonsense such as that on!

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Sterling Harmon
Presbyterian Church of Coventry (PCA)
Coventry, CT
Deacon
________________

"Whatever is laudable in our works proceeds from the grace of God."
-- John Calvin, Institutes III:xv.3.

"Our Lord God must be a good man, to be fond of worthless fellows. I cannot like them, and yet I, myself, am one."
-- Martin Luther, Table Talk
Interim Pulpit Supply of New England

My Facebook

Owner/Administrator @ Reformed Theology Institute

The ratio of useless postmodern tripe to useful content in Bell, McLaren and others of their friends is so high that they're not worth reading. Beyond that, a number of things they say are beyond stupid, and into the heretical.

Perhaps so - but one cannot replace truth with ridiculous blasphemy in order to "make it work".

Greg Boyd is a heretic who denies God's sovereignty, and whose books ought to be dropped by the boxfull into the latrine.

I sincerely hope you do not actually subscribe to Boyd's views on God's person and work. Beyond being unconfessional, they are dangerously heretical.

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Todd K. Pedlar
member, First Congregational Church, (CCCC) Cresco, IA
http://inprincipiodeus.solideogloria.com
http://puritanwisdom.blogspot.com

"As God did not at first choose you because you were high, He will not now forsake you because you are low."
John Flavel in Keeping the Heart



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This is one of the negative consequences of the invention of the printing press.

Scott Hahn, Hail, Holy Queen and and The Openness of God by Rica, Sanders, Pinnock and Hasker are pretty much tied for most horrible. Of course, there are several books I've started and had to lay aside which might have been worse.

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Ruben
Moderator
F.P.C.I.
Indiana

Vanities and disguises have covered us, and thereby we are naked; licenciousness hath inflam'd us, and thereby we are frozen; voluptuousness hath fed us, and thereby we are sterved, the fancies and traditions of men have taught and instructed us, and thereby we are ignorant.
John Donne

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Calvinistas Conversando
Teología en Mexico
The Howling Wilderness

Amen, Amen, and Amen--sadly, these are the three most frequently read books in my fellowship, and in much of American Christianity.

God: A Biography| jackmiles.com: Jack Miles Online

What should I have expected from a Jesuit? Very difficult trudging through his morass of blasphemy.

Although I haven't read this (nor do I intend to) check out his new one. Read the excerpts if you can stomach them and his quotes.
Christ: A Crisis in the Life of God| jackmiles.com: Jack Miles Online

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Donald P. Grubb
theol46@embarqmail.com

Berean Baptist Church, Mansfield, OH
Mansfield, OH

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

What St. Paul Really Said, by N.T. Wright

The last two volumes of Westermann's Genesis commentary

The Call of Grace, by Norman Shepherd

The Covenantal Gospel, by Cornelis van der Waal

A Faith That Is Never Alone, edited by Andrew Sandlin

Women in the Church, by Grenz and Kjesbo

The Federal Vision, by Wilkins and Garner

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Rev. Lane Keister
Teaching Elder, PCA, North Dakota (working out of bounds in a CRC and an RCA church)
http://greenbaggins.wordpress.com
http://brahmsgreenglove.blogspot.com
http://accenttranslation.blogspot.com
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First off....GREAT topic idea

BUT, I really haven't read that many bad theological books. As has been said, I just don't have time for them. I do have to admit that I read Left Behind and a few of the sequels. Terrible! Not even worth using for kindling. Not only does it have a terrible theological foundation, but it's simply a boring story.

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Devin Brian
1689er
Attending Trinity Baptist Church in Shreveport, LA.
Vivian, Louisiana, USA

"...If you are not firm in faith,you will not be firm at all." - Isaiah 7:9
"The fall of man is written in too legible characters not to be understood: Those that deny it, by their denying, prove it." - George Whitefield

Well that piqued my interest. Though I certainly wouldn't rank it as my favorite, I am interested as to why you would rank it as one of the worst you have ever read.

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Rev. Daniel Kok
Pastor of Grace Reformed Church (URCNA)
Leduc, Alberta CANADA

"What sort of pledge and how great is this of love towards us! Christ lives for us not for himself!"
John Calvin, Commentary on the Hebrews (7:25)

This is an interesting thread. I guess I'm surprised by both ends of the spectrum and find myself in the middle of the road...again. Of course being in the middle of the road makes one more likely to be ran over.

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Ivan R. Schoen, B.A., M.A., M.L.I.S.
Pastor of Maranatha Baptist Church (SBC)
Poplar Grove, IL, USA
http://maranatha-sbc.org

Well this isn't theological but I still kick myself for reading
The World According to Garp by John Irving way back in 1978.

And yes Bennie Hinn's Good Morning Holy Spirit haunts me like a stomach flu.

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Richard H. King
Providence PCA
Lubbock, Texas
You know what my main problem is? I start things but rarely finish anyth...