This is a seriously dysfunctional book. About the only bright spot this reviewer can see is the fact that he is in no way codependent on it. He never wants to see it again.
The authors maintain that America is awash in codependent relationships. What it is actually awash in is volume after volume of pop-drivel psychobabble. Like this one.
No, seriously. What did you think of the book?
The first problem with this book (and the legions of others like it) is that, although destructive behavior is identified as destructive, it is never identified as rebellion against God, or as sin. This, in spite of the fact that the Bible directly addresses these "compulsive behaviors." The apostle Paul talks about "outbursts of wrath" and warns that those who live this way will not inherit the kingdom of God. Hemfelt, Minirth and Meier talk about this same kind of behavior, only they call it "rageaholism." And nothing should be more apparent than the fact that the "disease model" for such rebellion is itself a form of rebellion.
Second, when observations are made that are obvious, and in accord with common sense, they are commonly transformed into an excuse. For example, it is obvious that when someone grows up in a messed-up home, they will usually bring a lot of that mess into any home that they seek to build. This is quite true, as every biblical counselor knows. The sins of the fathers are visited upon generations downstream.
But in the minds of many, this observation is used to transfer the guilt for their own hatred of God back to their parents. And instead of encouraging Christians to honor their parents (even the poor ones) as the Scriptures require, books like this set them up for the temptation of dumping on parents. ("The reason I am this way is the fact that you . . .)
Third, through books like these many people are lured into the logical fallacy of Affirming the Consequent. The foolishness of the fallacy can be seen in this example: "If a burglar breaks into our house, the dog will bark. The dog just barked. Therefore, there is a burglar in the house." But can't a dog bark for any other reasons?
Here is how the fallacy looks in the minds of many reading a book on codependency. "If I grew up in a dysfunctional home, then I will deny that I did. Why, I do deny that I grew up in a dysfunctional home! Therefore, my formative years must have been a mess." The problem of course is that there are at least two reasons why someone might deny they had a stretcher case of an upbringing -- one of more important reasons being that the claim could be true.
This also takes the form of people claiming that one of their principal reasons for claiming they were abused as a child is the irrefutable argument that they don't remember a thing about it. Go on, you logic-choppers, argue with that.
Books like this are painful to read. The only really worthwhile thing that may come from such reading is that it equips one to warn others to stay away.
Life Recovery Guides (eight booklets)
IVPress has published a series of booklets by Dale and Juanita Ryan called "Life Recovery Guides." Their titles include:
Recovery from Codependency, Recovery from Bitterness, Recovery from Distorted Images of God, Recovery from Family Dysfunctions, . . . etc. To be frank, they are horrendous.
Many of the study questions in this series encourage the student to look away from rather than to the text to find counsel. For example, in Recovery From Codependency the student is asked this question regarding the selection of elders in Exodus 18: "What losses might Moses have experienced as he took Jethro's advice and gave up being over-responsible?"
Here's another example from Recovery From Bitterness, this time referring to Joseph's being sold into slavery by his brothers: "What might Joseph have been thinking and feeling?" In this instance, the authors go on to point out that Joseph did not forgive his brothers when they first came to meet him in Egypt. From here the reader is called upon to ponder, "What experiences have you had with trying
Messiah: Governor of the Nations of the Earth
This is a tiny book with a vast point. The point is one which modern Christians need to hear over and over again -- Jesus Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, and His authority is not limited to some invisible "spiritual realm." As the book of Revelation states it, He is "ruler over the kings of the earth" (Rev. 1:5). But modern Christians are so befuddled by the repeated lies of "autonomous" man that they read passages like this and do not notice them at all, or they immediately seek to make it into a "spiritual" truth, i.e. one they need not pay any attention to.
So here is a little test to ascertain whether or not you need to order this small book.
Resolved: The United States has a moral obligation to acknowledge the lordship of Jesus Christ in the Constitution.
If your immediate response was, "But, but, but . . ." then order today!
The author wrote the book in the early ninteenth century. Our Consitution was just as secular then as it is now, but the results of that secularization were not as apparent. Sadly, the fact that the results are more obvious does not mean that Christians have been enabled to grasp the obvious. Purblind Christianity marches on.
The book can be obtained from Reformed Presbyterian Press, PO Box 402, Elmwood Park, NJ, 07407. It costs $7.95, and if you order 5 or more, then they are $4.00 each.
The strength of this book is that it does precisely what the title says -- it lets God speak. Much of the book consists of quotations from Scripture, arranged around the topics of the various chapters. These chapters are "Why Believe the Bible," "The Sovereignty of God," "Salvation," "Obedience," "The Holy Spirit," "Election," and the "Author's Testimony."
McDavid is solidly Reformed in his theology, and is not at all embarrassed to quote verbatim, and stand by, what the Bible says. (Indeed, in my reading on the subject of the sovereignty of God I have noticed that this appears to be a significant stylistic difference between Reformed and Arminian writers on this subject. The former tend to quote Scripture in full, while the latter merely cite the references.)
Nevertheless, the book could have been improved in two areas. One is the apparent evidentialism of the first chapter. While McDavid marshalls his evidence well, still, when all is said and done, without faith "evidences" cannot be conclusive.
The other difficulty is that the reader is left wishing the author had provided more exposition of Scripture to accompany his profuse citation of Scripture. McDavid obviously has done a great deal of study in the Word, and readers of his book probably will wish they had heard from him more.
Those who are interested can obtain the book from Hope Publishing, PO Box 131447, Birmingham, AL, 35213. The book is recommended.
The Church of Christ/2 Volumes
Before anything else is said, it is important to note that these volumes have nothing whatever to do with Campbellite heresy which calls itself The Church of Christ. On the contrary, Bannerman spends his time on the true Church, gathered around the true gospel of grace.
Upon reading these volumes, the modern American Christian will discover how insulated his religion has been. The reader will not only find here answers to questions that have puzzled him for some time, he will also find answers to questions that have never even occurred to him.
One of the best portions is where Bannerman treats the subject of church government in meticulous detail. There are three basic options when it comes to church government -- episcopacy, independency, and presbyterianism. (I use the lower case because I am not referring to particular denominations, but rather to particular views of government. For example, the Methodist church is episcopal in its government.)
He is also very good on the subject of the relationship of Church and State. He carefully refutes the error of Erastianism, which would make the Church simply a department of the State. He also deals with the opposite Roman Catholic error, which seeks to make the State subordinate to the Church.
There is one appendix which is almost worth the price of the entire book. In it, his zeal for unity between true Christians is apparent. He argues forcefully for unity between Christian churches unless two conditions apply -- "Union, and not division, is a Christian axiom, lying at the very root of all our ideas of a Christian Church; and neither individual Christians nor Churches can acquit themselves of sin in their separation from other Christians or Churches where Providence offereth opportunity for union, unless upon one or other of those grounds, either -- first, that it is impossible to acknowledge them as Christian men or Churches; or, secondly, that while acknowledging them as such, it is impossible to work together with them without sin. One of the other of these two reasons will alone justify separation, where opportunity of union is given; less than one or the other of these reasons will not exempt from sin the man or the Church that chooses division rather than oneness in Christ Jesus."
One critique should be made of the book, however. In common with many Christians of the last century, Bannerman has little difficulty in arguing a particular case from both revealed religion (Scripture), and natural religion (reason, conscience, etc.). One of the advantages of perspective we have in looking at these controversies of the last century is that we can see how much of the content of revealed religion had been quietly incorporated into the makeup of natural religion. But Victorian infidels borrowed far more than they knew from Christianity, and many Christians of that day did not notice the surreptitious borrowing. But today, our modern unbelievers borrow far less from us. Five minutes of watching the barbarians on MTV screaming at the gates of our city should be more than sufficient to establish the point.
Still, the arguments from Scripture contained here are invaluable. These volumes are highly recommended.
